There are almost as many ways to market something as there are products to sell. As each year passes, and science makes a mockery of science fiction, more appear.<\/p>\n
One of the more seismic shifts in marketing could be just around the corner \u2014 and it might be a difficult thing for consumers to avoid. As drone technology advances, would you trade the view from your window for a brand\u2019s logo?<\/p>\n Wintertime is when marketing tricks are all on display. Halloween and Christmas both have a noticeable effect on branding, occupying retailers\u2019 storefronts \u2014 physical or digital.<\/p>\n For instance, game developer Inspired Gaming<\/em> has rebranded its popular Wolf It Up!<\/em> slot for Christmas, giving it a snowy makeover. The Wolf It Up Christmas<\/em> online slot features sugary imagery like a gingerbread house and a Christmas pudding.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also a time for novelty seasonal products, like Marks & Spencer\u2019s Cheesy Garlic Christmas Tree<\/em> or Christmas Charcuter-tree Pinchos<\/em>. Sofa-surfers enjoy these festive foods while seasonal movies slowly take over the airwaves, accompanied by regular adverts reminding viewers exactly what time of year it is.<\/p>\n Shopping-wise, YouGov\u2019s Big Survey on Christmas<\/em> reports that the highest festive costs for 2025 will be presents between partners (\u00a351\u2013\u00a3100) and for parents (\u00a331\u2013\u00a350).<\/p>\n We\u2019re all used to this type of marketing. In fact, we\u2019re often able to tune most of it out \u2014 much to the chagrin of product managers. But another potential shift in marketing was on full display in Dubai this month: drone displays.<\/p>\n The coming year could be a strange one for advertising. Marketing company Kantar<\/em> predicts that brands will pivot towards \u201csynthetic data\u201d in 2026 \u2014 AI-generated audiences used for campaign testing. In other words, selling to humans might soon involve fewer real people.<\/p>\n Drones, however, are perhaps a more tangible addition to the marketer\u2019s toolkit. While sky advertising was once the domain of hot-air balloons or planes trailing banners, drinks brand Red Bull<\/em> recently demonstrated the potential of sky-based marketing with a fully interactive display of 2,800 drones.<\/p>\n Admittedly, it\u2019s currently an expensive way to sell a product. Professional drones often retail for over \u00a31,000, with even entry-level models starting in the double figures.<\/p>\n Aerospace news site ADS Advance<\/em> reports that support for drones among Brits reached a new high in 2025. Public acceptance of their use in emergencies rose by 10% over the previous year to 86%, while drone use for infrastructure inspections and deliveries also gained popularity.<\/p>\n Drone-based advertising is still a developing niche \u2014 more experimental than mainstream. The Independent<\/em> notes that drones have already been used to advertise products from Nike, Raid, the NBA, and Volkswagen as early as 2022.<\/p>\n But will consumers accept the loss of the night sky for marketing? Consider the controversy over space billboards, which dates back to 1993, according to Popular Science<\/em>.<\/p>\n As of March 2025, the International Astronomical Union is pushing to ban space advertising altogether, calling it a \u201cuseless way\u201d to promote products and dubbing it the \u201cultimate light trespass.\u201d<\/p>\n In short, while drones are a flashy new tool in the advertising world, getting them off the ground \u2014 both literally and figuratively \u2014 might prove to be its own marketing challenge.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dailybusinessgroup.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/jason-mavrommatis-XYrjl3j7smo-unsplash-scaled.jpg\")
Photo by Jason Mavrommatis on Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nSeasonal Products<\/h3>\n
Drone-Based Advertising<\/h3>\n
Among the Stars<\/h3>\n