Planning your audiovisual for 2026: Is it possible to be strategic and intentional in the new year ahead?

A few days ago, I was documenting the routine of an influencer alongside a partner and client.
During that time together, we were able to observe the sheer insanity of production aimed at results.
Whether in reach, engagement, quality, revenue for the influencer’s clients, or even her own brand positioning.

We talked about how such an absurd level of output—in volume and results—was possible, how it was planned, and for how long it could be sustained.

That’s when the conversation started to get interesting.

You won’t lose space in 2026 because you stopped producing videos.
You’ll lose space because, even while producing, no one managed to explain why your brand matters.

Planning your audiovisual strategy for 2026 begins when you understand that you’re no longer competing for reach, likes, or views, but for memory, trust, and meaning.

And that’s something this influencer understood.
She began to see it as a business—and to use audiovisual strategically in that sense as well.

That completely changes the way video is thought about inside a company.

It’s no longer about being present on every platform, nor about following the format of the moment, but about occupying a clear place in the mind of those who decide to buy, hire, or trust.

If this still sounds confusing, think about how many brands you see every day and can’t remember a single one. They show up, but they don’t stay. They produce, but they don’t build.

In my view, that’s exactly where most will stumble in the coming years.

Producing a lot is not the same as building something

Today, there’s a false sense of progress tied to volume. It needs to be appropriate. The more videos online, the greater the impression of movement.
In practice, “out of sight, out of mind” isn’t always true. In some cases, the opposite happens.
But that’s not the main point yet.

Imagine a large company with several internal departments, each with its own communication demands.
HR asks for an institutional video for internal communication and branding. Sales wants something to support and boost deals. Marketing needs to feed endless social channels. Leadership wants an inspirational film for an event.

Each request makes sense on its own.
The problem begins when no one looks at the whole.

Each video is born with a different aesthetic, a different language, a different message. I’ve talked about this here before.
By the end of the quarter, the company has produced a lot.
But if someone from the outside watches everything in sequence, they can’t answer a simple question: what kind of company is this?

That’s the cost of not planning. Audiovisual becomes a mountain of good intentions that don’t connect.

The trap of daily urgency

Another common issue is when audiovisual is driven purely by urgency. Meetings always start the same way: “we need to post,” “we need to launch,” “we need to show up.”

Briefings are rushed. There’s no time to think about context, continuity, or consequences. The focus is on fixing the now.

The problem is that when everything is made for yesterday, nothing is made to last.

A simple example: a video created solely to ride a language or aesthetic trend may perform well that month.
Six months later, it already feels dated.
A year later, no one wants to associate the brand with it anymore. The effort was real, the cost too—but the return was lost to time.

Planning your audiovisual for 2026 means stepping out of this cycle of eternal urgency and starting to use time as an ally, not an enemy.

When no one thinks about memory, management thinks about cuts.
Without long-term planning, audiovisual becomes a cost that’s hard to defend.
It shows up on spreadsheets as recurring expense, not as strategic investment.

That’s when uncomfortable questions arise.
Why are we spending so much on video? What real return is this bringing? Couldn’t we reduce it?

The problem isn’t the question. It’s the lack of a clear answer.

When there’s no logic behind what’s being produced, it becomes impossible to show how that content builds brand, accelerates sales, or reduces friction elsewhere in the business.

And when value can’t be explained, cuts become a matter of time.

Planning your audiovisual for 2026 is deciding what it’s for

A simple but impactful shift is replacing the question “what video are we going to make?” with “why does this audiovisual exist within our strategy?”

For example, if the answer is authority-building, the content changes. Instead of promotional videos, you move toward narratives that show process, vision, decisions, and behind-the-scenes.
If the goal is to support complex sales, the focus shifts from quick impact to clarity, depth, and trust.

Here’s a small practical exercise that helps a lot.
Take the videos produced over the past year and try to assign each one a clear function.

If many don’t fit anywhere, that’s a sign your audiovisual is being made without direction.

Narrative allows change without losing yourself

Many people say planning isn’t possible because the market changes fast.
That’s true. The mistake is thinking planning means locking formats.

Formats change. Platforms change. Language adapts. Narrative doesn’t.

When a brand knows which themes it stands for, which questions it asks, and which worldview it sustains, it can adapt without seeming opportunistic.

The audience recognizes the essence even when the packaging changes.

In practice, this means defining a few narrative pillars that guide everything—not as rigid rules, but as direction.
Before producing any video, the question becomes: does this reinforce one of those pillars, or is it just filling a calendar?

Thinking in series changes everything

Another simple adjustment with huge impact is stopping the habit of thinking in isolated videos and starting to think in “series.”

A series allows you to deepen a theme over time, create familiarity, and follow the real evolution of a business. Instead of trying to say everything in one institutional film, the brand shows chapters of its story.

Another example:
Instead of a generic culture video, a company can create a short series showing real daily decisions, conflicts, learnings, and behind-the-scenes moments. Each episode doesn’t need to “sell.” It needs to sustain a coherent vision over time.

This type of content ages better because it doesn’t depend on trends. It depends on essence and truth.

Before recording, think about where this can live later

Planning also means thinking about the lifespan of content before hitting REC.

The same material can generate social media pieces, sales videos, internal content, and institutional records—but only if that intention exists from the start.

Try this:
In your next production, before recording, write down three possible future uses for that content. If you can’t think of any beyond the immediate post, it may not be worth the investment.

A vendor delivers video. A partner protects the path

There’s a big difference between execution and accompaniment.

Planning your audiovisual for 2026 requires someone who helps you think, says no when needed, and protects brand coherence over time. It’s not about creative control. It’s about narrative responsibility.

Both I and the production company position ourselves exactly in this space. We don’t start conversations by asking which video needs to be made, but which brand needs to be built.

Documentary enters as a method because it forces you to look at the company’s reality—people, decisions, and time. It creates grounding. And grounding builds trust.

In the end, the future won’t reward those who speak the loudest or post the most often.
It will reward those who manage to make sense for longer.

I’ll leave you with a simple question:
If someone watches your videos today three years from now, will they still say who you are—or will they just reveal that you were in a rush?

So slow down. Analyze. And if you want, I’m open to hearing how that analysis went for you.

A hot coffee and a present mind.
Renan.