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January is a reset for marketing teams.
New goals.
New budgets.
Often new agencies.
Senior marketers move roles. Brands change direction. Campaigns get paused, approved, or quietly killed. Suddenly, decisions that were meant for later in the year are happening right now.
January 2026 was no different.
Here are some of the headline stats:
And that is just the obvious stuff. There were thousands more changes tracked last month.
On their own, these look like statistics.
In reality, each one is a moment where something shifts.
A priority. A budget. A partner. A problem.
Some of those moments matter to you.
Most do not.
The difference is context.
Honch provides the context behind each signal so you can quickly understand which changes represent real opportunities for your business.
A new Director of Brand Marketing joined in January.
On the surface, this looks like a straightforward hire at a well-known, purpose-led brand. Look a little deeper and you see rising cost pressure, aggressive competition, and a constant balancing act between digital growth and environmental credibility.
That context tells you whether this is a good prospect for your agency or sponsorship, and how to approach them without sounding like an idiot.
Jennie Farmer was promoted to Chief Marketing Officer.
This promotion is directly tied to Pandora’s Phoenix strategy, shifting the brand from charm-led heritage towards affordable luxury. If you know what to look for, what follows is predictable. Increased marketing investment. Greater focus on digital and omnichannel. More integrated global campaigns.
This is not a congratulatory LinkedIn comment. It is a signal worth acting on.
LWC Drinks was one of more than 500 companies that launched a new website in January.
Easy to overlook. Most people do. But behind it sits major investment in distribution, technology, product development, and brand visibility.
This is not a cosmetic refresh. It is a business clarifying its proposition and sharpening how it goes to market.
That is a moment.
Tate & Lyle expanded internationally in January.
On its own, that sounds routine. Look beneath it and you see deeper investment across Asia-Pacific and Latin America, the integration of CP Kelco, and a clear push around health, sustainability, and innovation.
This is not incremental growth. It is a coordinated shift in capability, messaging, and market presence.
Swap raised $100m in a Series C round in early 2026, following a $31.6m raise in March 2025.
On a spreadsheet, that is just a number. In reality, it signals rapid hiring, expansion into new regions, new verticals, and pressure to scale go-to-market fast.
Their focus on unified ecommerce, sustainability, and reducing operational friction makes this a strong signal for anyone selling into ecommerce or retail tech.
There are thousands of marketing signals just like these every single month. 2026 will be no different.
Tracking the moments that can move marketers into your pipeline is critical for new business teams. Honch tracks the signals and provides the context behind every single one.
Spotting a signal is easy. Knowing what to do with it is not.
Bernard is a specialist new business AI agent inside Honch who helps you do three simple things.
He filters.
Bernard learns your offering and identifies which of the thousands of signals are actually a fit.
He adds context.
A new hire. A promotion. A website launch. Funding. Expansion.
Bernard analyses company, social, and marketing investment data to tell you what the signal really means.
He helps you act.
No templates. No “congrats on the new role”.
Just relevant outreach, written in your tone, based on what is actually happening.
The result is more conversations, with the right companies, at the right time.
Signals stop being noise. Pipeline starts appearing.
January delivered thousands of moments that could turn into real pipeline.
Right now, marketing decisions are being shaped inside organisations like DHL, Barclays, Dentsu, Kantar, Lenovo, Experian, Gartner, LSEG, Travelodge, Flutter, and Millennium Hotels.
February, March, and the rest of 2026 will do exactly the same.
The only question is whether you are seeing those moments, understanding what they mean, and acting on them before someone else does.
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