PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CMI Media Group, a leading WPP (NYSE: WPP) agency focused on the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, today announced the release of its highly anticipated 2026 Media Inflation Report. Coinciding with the agency's third annual Agility Philadelphia: Hype to Hope to Health event on September 8th, the report provides life sciences clients with essential data and strategic guidance to navigate the increasingly complex and costly media environment.

The 2026 Media Inflation Report offers a comprehensive analysis of year-over-year investment trends across major media channels, alongside anticipated baseline and aggressive inflation potentials. This critical intelligence empowers brand and media teams to make informed decisions, optimize investments, and demonstrate robust ROI in a highly regulated sector.

"In today's dynamic media landscape, understanding and anticipating inflation is not just an advantage – it's a necessity for our life sciences clients," said Justin Freid, Chief Media & Innovation Officer, CMI Media Group. "Our 2026 Media Inflation Report is more than just data; it's a strategic roadmap designed to help them identify pressure points, uncover mitigation opportunities, and ultimately, achieve their marketing objectives with greater efficiency and impact."

Key insights from the 2026 Media Inflation Report include:

• Digital Dominance with Nuance: While digital media continues its rapid growth, the report highlights varying inflation rates across digital display, custom endemic content, online video, connected TV, social, and search. Programmatic buying is strengthening, and AI expansion in search marks a pivotal shift in platform use, particularly for health-related queries.
• Traditional Media's Evolving Role: The report delves into the inflation dynamics of traditional channels like linear TV, audio/radio, print, out-of-home (OOH), point-of-care (POC), and point-of-purchase (POP). It underscores the continued importance of a holistic video strategy to match changing consumption habits and notes the ongoing challenges and opportunities within each channel.
• Healthcare-Specific Challenges: The report emphasizes the unique challenges faced by pharma marketers, including limited inventory, strict compliance, and audience targeting restrictions. Increased competition in digital media is driving up rates, directly impacting reach, frequency, and patient/HCP engagement costs.
• Smarter, More Agile Planning: The overarching takeaway is the imperative for smarter, more agile planning to combat rising media costs. This includes leveraging insights into channels with declining spend, understanding market volatility, and adapting to transformations in areas like EHR platforms for audience targeting.

The 2026 Media Inflation Report can be requested at this link.

About CMI Media Group
CMI Media Group, a WPP company (NYSE: WPP, http://www.wpp.com), is a global, full-service media agency focused solely on health, wellness, and pharmaceutical marketing. CMI Media Group’s core offerings include Audience Strategy, Planning, Development, and Insights; Data and Analytics; Buying and Investment; and Direct Response and Customer Experience. As the leading media resource for the world’s top healthcare companies, CMI Media Group brings together leading technology, data, and talent to deliver seamless capabilities for clients. CMI Media Group has been recognized as a leader in inclusivity, talent retention and employee development as well as one of the industry’s best places to work. To apply for a position within our teams visit https://www.cmimediagroup.com/careers/

Press contact:
Carly Kuper
+1 610 731 5409
ckuper@cmimediagroup.com