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Walk the talk - 5 ways marketers can succeed in 2025
Marketers face a fragmented media landscape, pressured budgets, and rapid technology developments. Political and macroeconomic events add unpredictability. Kantar’s Blueprint for Brand Growth shows brands with strong predisposition have 9x volume share, 2x price command, and 4x likelihood to grow value share.
Success comes from touchpoints and interactions with consumers, making media landscape understanding crucial. Kantar Media Reactions 2024 surveyed over 1,000 senior marketers globally, revealing five ways to succeed in 2025.
1 - Meaningful data is key in making informed budget decisions
Half of marketers say multiple factors influence their budget allocation, with consumer preference, campaign objectives, and ROI being major influences. However, 36% feel their media mix isn't optimal.
Consumer preference is crucial, with 60% of marketers considering it. In 2024, point of sale ads were most preferred by consumers, but marketers increased spending on sponsored events and digital channels like online video and social media stories.
In 2025, marketers plan to boost spending on digital media, especially online video and TV streaming. Meaningful data and consistent measurement are essential for better investment decisions.
2 - Don’t just say brand-building matters; build your brand.
81% of marketers value both short-term and long-term ROI, with the optimal split being 60% long-term and 40% short-term. Despite this, 16% measure only short-term ROI.
All channels can build brands. Recently, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, and online display ads have shown high brand contributions, following broadcast TV and POS ads. These figures are expected to rise as marketers better customize ads per platform and context.
3 - Campaigns need to be integrated and customised
Integrated and customized campaigns perform 57% better. However, 35% of marketers lack confidence in understanding context, and 46% don't tailor content to channels. Testing ads early and in different contexts is crucial to avoid wasting marketing dollars.
Advertisers’ confidence about tailoring content to contexts continues to fall 
4 - Skill up and be efficient: AI is your ally
AI enhances effectiveness and efficiency in ad testing, customization, and measurement. Only 9% of marketers view AI negatively, while 74% are excited about its application, and 55% see AI predictions as valuable for testing ads.
However, 36% of marketers feel their team lacks the skills to use generative AI. Training is essential to leverage AI's capabilities and stay competitive in creative and media planning.
5 - Don’t let your eyes glaze over: pay attention to attention
Attention is crucial for media effectiveness, influencing budget plans and creative impact. Consumers prefer outdoor, cinema, and POS ads, while marketers favor influencer content, TV, and cinema ads.
Behavioral measures like time viewed and clicks are common, but facial coding, eye-tracking, and AI predictions should guide attention measurement to capture active emotional engagement.
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