From chaos toClarity Unlocking the power of 2025 Annual Marketing Report 03 Introduction 04Section 1: Rolling with the punchesTrends to watch in global advertising Section 2: Finding the sweet spotThe great marketing balancing act 12 20Section 3: Seeing things clearlyMeasuring success in a changing world 28 Conclusion 29 Table of contentsAbout Introduction Many expected 2025 to be a dynamic year for marketers.AI‘s rapid evolution and the rise of shoppable advertisingare presenting exciting opportunities—and challenges. But2025 has also seen shake ups in the global supply chain For this report, we surveyed 1,400 leading marketers to find out what their priorities are this year andoffer a guiding light to marketers like you who still need to take action even as things keep changing. Rolling with the punches Marketers are resilient, and they have many options at their disposal to shiftspending in times of crisis. We’ll review growing trends around the world. It’s difficult to make long-term marketing plans whenyou don’t know if you’ll have products on the shelf in the But marketers are built for times like these. They know howto adapt to sudden changes, shifting budgets, advertisingchannels and strategies to stay engaged with customersthrough thick and thin. They also know that companies that Finding the sweet spot It’s a great time to remember that marketing is a balancing act between brandingand performance. Successful brands today are planning their media mix to drive Seeing things clearly This is the seventh edition of our Annual Marketing Report,and despite current uncertainty in the marketplace, thefindings this year show that most marketers around the You can’t find your way out of the fog without a compass. Marketers know whatthey need to do to measure the success of their cross-media campaigns, but Trends to watch inglobal advertising Over half of globalmarketers plan toreduce ad spend Figure 1.1 Share of marketers likely or very likely toreduce ad spend in 2025 After a strong year in 2024,4many marketers were alreadypreparing for a leaner 2025. The additional uncertaintyinjected into the global economy has now cemented many Over half (54%) of global respondents are planningto cut ad spending in 2025. No region or sector of theeconomy is immune, as figure 1.1 illustrates, but the Tech companies are responding to global supply-chaintensions, while financial firms are reacting to droppingconsumer confidence and, in the U.S., a challenging No matter the reason, many companies will be workingwith tighter ad budgets this year. But smaller budgetsdon’t always translate to reduced targets or goals. That Every industryhas its own set Figure 1.2 By industry Besides reducing ad spending, whatother tactics are marketers using for Many are shifting to less expensivechannels, switching to a more digitalmedia mix, placing more emphasison performance campaigns, and Retail brands, for instance, are morelikely to turn to digital channelsthan their peers, tech and financebrands are more likely to focus onperformance. Auto and pharmacompanies, for their part, remain Digitalcontinues to Figure 1.3 Share of marketers planning to increase budget on each channel bymore than 50% in the next 12 months compared to last year As marketers plan to reduce adspend this year, many will continueto increase investments in digital The channels at the top of the listare the same as last year6(socialmedia, display, video ads and search),but compared to last year, fewer Comparatively, more marketersare planning substantial increases(over 50%) to their traditional mediabudgets than they did last year. Inparticular, 16% plan to increase their New budgets still go predominantlyto digital channels, but not at the Connected TV istransforming television Share of marketers planning to increase their OTT/CTV One of the big developments in advertising in recent yearsof course has been the rise of streaming and connectedTV (CTV), not just as a vibrant new viewing platform for TV Globally, 56% of marketers report planning to increase theirspending on over-the-top (OTT)/CTV in 2025, up slightlyfrom 53% in 2024. This makes it one of the few digitalchannels where the share of global marketers reporting While streaming use differs from one country to the next7,its popularity continues to grow around the world.In the U.S., Thanks to much-improved reach and targeting capabilities,streaming platforms now offer a real alternative—or betteryet, a natural companion channel—to advertisers lookingto build up the ROI of their linear TV campaigns. And with Retail media isquickly becoming a Figure 1.5a In 2025, retail media networks (RMNs) are not anindustry buzzword anymore, and many specializednetworks have started to step out from the shadowof Amazon and Walmart in recent years.11They’re notlimited to retailers either. From travel to finance and Building on recent success,two-thirds of marketers(65%) see RM