What's Happened in Marketing in September 2026? Trends and Insights
Is Summer finally over? Time to put away the fans and ice packs; we're about to hit the Autumn period. For businesses, this often means gearing up for Halloween campaigns and planning for the last quarter of the year.
In September, we've seen a few controversies, including the rise of Meta glasses (and the people protesting against them) as well as the most recent Converse campaign. But there's also been some interesting crossovers, new data around content creation and bolder messaging for brands.
Let's take a look!
Converse pulls campaign after backlash over its imagery
Converse pulled an image from a campaign for its Chuck 70 X sneaker after it received widespread criticism online. The campaign, created in collaboration with Aespa member Karina, included an image showing the lower half of a person wearing a long white garment while holding a pair of black Converse trainers.
Critics argued that elements of the photograph evoked imagery associated with the Ku Klux Klan. Converse subsequently removed the image and apologised, saying it understood why people found it “deeply upsetting” and acknowledging that it had got the image wrong.
The fallout didn't end there. Reuters later reported that Converse had told employees it was pausing marketing for the week, although Reuters said it had not independently verified that report.
UK creator marketing is officially a billion-pound industry
If it feels like every brand is working with creators at the moment, there’s now some pretty substantial data to back that up.
New research from IAB UK estimates that investment in UK creator partnerships will reach £1.217 billion in 2026, passing the £1 billion mark for the first time. That’s a 26% increase on 2025, when creator partnership revenue reached £966 million.
Perhaps more interesting than the billion-pound headline is what it says about where creator marketing now sits. Influencer partnerships were once the slightly experimental part of the marketing plan. Now, they’re increasingly becoming a core media channel in their own right.
And the industry around them is growing up too. IAB UK’s September Creator Marketing Summit focused less on follower counts and “going viral” and more on long-term partnerships, trust, brand fit, commerce and measurement.
In other words, brands aren't just sending products to people with lots of followers anymore. Creator marketing is becoming a much more established, strategic and, apparently, very valuable part of the marketing mix.
Don’t send flowers, says Bloom and Wild
Bloom and Wild cemented their position in September, not just as a flower delivery service but as an online gifting business.
They launched their “Don’t send flowers” campaign to encourage customers to think outside the traditional floral box and choose alternate presents.
I understand the messaging; they’re trying to be bold, slightly antagonistic and leading with reverse psychology with their phrasing, but equally telling the world not to do the one thing you’re known for does feel slightly risky. In softer messaging, they’ve used the phrase “don’t just send flowers”, which I think toes the line a little better for long-term positioning.
Another thing to mention is that another flower delivery company, eflorist, also had a campaign with this same messaging not that long ago with the ad “no, don't send flowers”. Perhaps there’s some inspiration in there.
Should Meta glasses be banned in public?
The revolution will not be recorded on Meta glasses, that’s for sure.
Campaign group Everyonehateselon gave the London Underground a signage upgrade this month by protesting the use of smart glasses on the tube. They’re raising awareness of how recording the public is an obscene invasion of privacy (obviously!) and trying to discourage public transport users from wearing them.
The signs are a fun play on the traditional blue and white safety signs you typically see, making them at first quite conspicuous. They also unveiled some bus stop posters and videos which are…less conspicuous but share the same sentiment.
The aim is to get better policy around smart glasses in public.
We’re also seeing similar backlash with groups in Australia; getup_Australia and nonnotcamscott unveiled the “PERVERT GLASSES” box on Australian beaches. These boxes encourage people wearing the glasses to give them up and, more importantly, send the same message: these glasses are an unwanted invasion of privacy.
Some communities have already begun banning them, which is great news.
Specsavers leans on 1000-year-old tapestry buzz
Specsavers has long been part of British advertising royalty. Their smart, funny and creative campaigns translate just as well to video as they do to a single image on a bus stop, billboard or social feed.
Well… they might have done it again.
Part of what makes a great campaign is being plugged into culture and what’s happening around you. And unless you’ve been keeping a particularly close eye on medieval embroidery, you might have missed that the Bayeux Tapestry is currently having a bit of a moment.
The nearly 1,000-year-old tapestry, which tells the story of the Norman Conquest of England, has gone on display at the British Museum in London. And one of its most famous scenes depicts the death of King Harold at the Battle of Hastings, traditionally associated with an arrow to the eye.
You can probably see where Specsavers comes in. The brand has taken the scene and turned it into an out-of-home ad with the line: “Something in your eye? Should’ve goneth to Specsavers.”
It’s simple, silly and instantly recognisable as Specsavers.
But what we really like about this campaign is how naturally it taps into a cultural moment. Specsavers hasn’t jumped on something trending just for the sake of it.
There’s an obvious connection between the story, the famous arrow-in-the-eye imagery and a brand that has spent more than two decades building its advertising around eyesight-related mishaps.
IKEA activates the gamers
IKEA and Skyrim? Am I reading that right?
This is one of those collaborations that makes you scratch your head for a while when you hear about it. This all started when IKEA UK posted this video on socials, with the caption “A Creation coming to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim ⚔️09.09.26 ⚔️”
So what does this collab actually entail? Well, this one's for the gamers. If you’re a fan of Elder Scrolls and their legendary open-world RPG Skyrim, you’ll be able to download a digital version of IKEA’s “Kallax storageborn” shelving unit in the game. This mod is free to download, and actually begins with a quest.
And they even convinced Matt Berry to get in on the action - he’s voicing the talking shelf!
For starters, it’s a very niche brand collaboration. Not only do you have to be a gamer, but a gamer that loves Skyrim (to be fair, is there any who don’t!?). We love how creative this campaign is, and IKEA centres it around the very real world and in-game problem of needing more storage.
What we would also have loved is if this somehow translated into a product for IKEA. For example, an updated furniture range designed for gamers or at least a Skyrim-style plushie?
Bristol cracks down on high-carbon advertising
You might start seeing fewer ads for flights, SUVs and fast fashion around Bristol.
In September, Bristol City Council introduced a new advertising policy restricting the promotion of high-carbon products across council-owned advertising spaces, including bus shelters, billboards and digital screens.
The restrictions cover categories including airlines and flights, fossil fuels, petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles, SUVs and some advertising encouraging excessive fashion consumption.
Bristol isn't the first council to introduce restrictions on high-carbon advertising, with similar policies already adopted elsewhere in the UK. But there is an interesting first here: Bristol is reportedly the first UK council to specifically restrict ultra-fast-fashion advertising, including promotions referencing flash sales, limited-time offers and Black Friday.
It's an interesting development because it puts advertising itself into the climate conversation.
Rather than focusing solely on how products are made or transported, the policy also asks what role marketing plays in encouraging consumption.
And with other councils already adopting their own high-carbon advertising policies, it’ll be interesting to see whether restrictions like these become increasingly common.
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