AI and China Will Define Your 2026 Marketing Strategy
Marketing veteran Hermawan Kartajaya didn't mince words at the BTV Marketing Outlook 2026 in Tangerang. For marketers, two forces will set the agenda next year: artificial intelligence and China's role in the economy.
His message was simple: treat customers as individuals and rethink where you compete globally. If you keep doing brand-first marketing while ignoring customer management and international partnerships, you'll fall behind.
AI Moves From Campaigns to Customer Management
Most teams still use AI for content and promotions. That's fine, but it's the shallow end. Hermawan pushed a deeper shift: AI should drive how you manage customers - product offers, pricing, and promotions at the individual level.
He framed marketing around three pillars: customer management, product management, and brand management. The last one gets most of the love today. In 2026, customer management takes the lead.
- Move from segments to individuals: different product bundles, prices, and promos based on behavior and value.
- Stand up a unified data layer (CRM/CDP) and run weekly experiments on pricing and cross-sell triggers.
- Measure by LTV, churn risk, and margin at the customer level - not just reach and impressions.
- Build guardrails: human review for offers that touch price, compliance, and brand risk.
If you need a quick primer on this shift, this overview of personalization at scale is a useful reference.
Geopolitics Is a Marketing Input
Hermawan also put China front and center as Indonesia targets 8 percent growth under President Prabowo Subianto. Indonesia is non-aligned, so strong ties with both the US and China matter - that balance is a strategic asset.
He called Prabowo an "entrepreneurial marketer" for actively building relationships across major powers. Without that flexibility, Indonesian businesses would face a tougher time competing globally.
Compete Where You're Strong. Partner Where You're Not.
His advice on China was pragmatic: if you don't yet have the scale to win head-on, collaborate. He cited MarkPlus partnerships with Chinese marketing firms to develop ASEAN-China business cases.
- Map your value chain and circle areas where you lack scale or speed.
- Pursue co-development, distribution swaps, or shared data pilots rather than costly solo builds.
- Protect IP and customer data with clear scopes, sandboxes, and phased milestones.
Speed, Efficiency, Clarity - Lessons from China's Public Sector
Hermawan pointed to China's public-sector work culture: decisions are faster, and execution is cleaner. He urged new training programs for civil servants so the bureaucracy can keep pace.
For marketers selling into government or regulated industries, this matters. Faster approvals and clearer rules change how you plan demand, inventory, and campaign cadence.
AI for SMEs: Useful, Affordable, Human-Controlled
On AI adoption, he acknowledged both upside and risk. Fear turns tools into threats, he said, which is why MarkPlus is partnering with established AI firms to offer subscription tools for SMEs.
"AI must still be controlled by humans," Hermawan said. Use AI to scale decisions, not to abdicate them. Keep humans as the final checkpoint on pricing, segmentation logic, and ethics.
- Spin up a 90-day pilot: one customer lifecycle stage, one metric (e.g., churn), one AI tool.
- Define review thresholds (e.g., price variance limits) and escalation paths before you launch.
- Train cross-functional squads - marketing, data, legal, finance - on the same playbook.
What Marketers Should Do Now
- Rebalance budgets: shift a meaningful slice from brand-only work to customer management and data ops.
- Build a one-to-one offer engine: product, price, and promo by individual, tested weekly.
- Set up China strategy options: suppliers, channel partners, or co-marketing pilots - not just sourcing.
- Prepare for faster policy cycles: pre-approve creative and pricing ranges to keep campaigns moving.
- Upskill the team on practical AI - prompt workflows, measurement, and risk controls.
Level Up Your AI Skills (Marketing-Focused)
If your team needs structured learning, see this certification built for marketers: AI Certification for Marketing Specialists. For a broader view of current programs, browse the latest AI courses.
The signal is clear. AI will run customer management, and China will be a key partner for growth. Marketers who adapt their engagement models and collaboration strategy now will be in a stronger position next year.
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