Our Marketing Trends 2025 have been sourced and written by experts across Kantar. We look at macro and micro trends for marketers to consider as part of the strategic planning for their brand growth journey, and how they might suit their own objectives. From sustainability to livestreaming, from social media to Generative AI, we cover some of the key trends that we see emerging and growing over the next year.
Over the past decade, smart TVs have become mainstream, and the choice between broadcast and streaming TV has become invisible to viewers. Broadcast TV still dominates reach, yet 50% of people say most of their TV watching is streaming, according to TGI 2024 data. And marketers are struggling to figure out how to place their TV advertising.
The solution is diversity. People value individuality and variety more in this fragmented media landscape: viewing habits differ across different demographics and geographies. Many people still watch broadcast TV, while consumers in some markets prefer Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) over Ad-Based Video on Demand (AVOD), and vice versa. Marketers who take these nuances into account will be successful in 2025.
The journey towards total video is a balancing act. While a net 8% of marketers globally are planning to decrease their investment in broadcast TV in 2025, a net 55% are planning to increase their investment in TV streaming, according to Kantar’s Media Reactions 2024. The heavy investment that has gone into broadcast TV advertising will continue to be spread across the TV portfolio, and further into video advertising as platforms like YouTube re-join TV bodies like BARB in the UK. It is key for marketers to test and learn what the right video mix is for their brand and for different objectives.
Gonca Bubani – Global Media Thought Leadership Director, Insights
Marketers’ understanding of attention is evolving, with a greater emphasis on the quality of engagement, as it has the most impact on creative effectiveness. In Kantar’s Media Reactions 2024, 31% of people globally claim that ads in social media platforms capture their attention, which is a marked decrease over last year’s 43%.
Previous debate has centred on the idea of an attention deficit in younger audiences, but this disenchantment is experienced by all generations. People have grown accustomed to the dynamic social media landscape, and the bar is rising for what captures their attention.
In 2025, attention will need to be earned continuously and consistently, and brands can’t settle with ‘suited for platform’, instead, they need to stand out.
The way to distinctiveness is not one size fits all. As our Media Reactions data shows, humour is the highest ad receptivity driver for Gen X and Boomers, Gen Y is equally receptive to humour and good music, and for Gen Z, music stands out. Creative innovation will be key. This could take the form of visual theatre, experimenting with camera shots, cuts, and bringing in new ways of telling an old story. Ads need to be so well conceived and made that viewers derive instant meaning.
Vera Sidlova – Global Creative Thought Leadership Director, Insights
Irene Joshy – APAC Head of Creative, Insights
The conversation around Generative AI continues, with new capabilities and claims emerging daily. This is a challenge for marketers who need to know where best to deploy Generative AI, to understand its impact, and what to watch out for.
We predict that in 2025 marketers will pay more attention to data provenance. And there will be more need for transparency in consumer-facing uses of Generative AI, which may come from consumers.
Positivity towards GenAI among marketers is growing: 68% are positive towards it, and 59% excited about the application of AI to ads (Kantar Media Reactions 2024). But there are watchouts about lack of transparency: 36% of marketers don’t think they or their teams have the skills required, and 44% say they can tell if an ad has used AI. Meanwhile, 43% of consumers say that they don’t trust ads that are AI-generated.
Whether using GenAI to generate insights or for content asset creation, marketers need to know that the training data the models are based on are trustworthy, relevant, and reliable over time. Marketers need to make crucial data-led investment decisions, so they must be assured by their providers about data provenance.
Jane Ostler – EVP Global Thought Leadership
Ashok Kalidas – Chief AI Scientist, Analytics Practice
In 2025, we will see a ramp-up in sustainability legislation in major economies that accelerates the corporate ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) agenda. In addition, 93% of consumers globally say they want to live a more sustainable lifestyle. This will force businesses to see sustainability as a risk and opportunity. So far, marketers have performed poorly in integrating sustainability effectively, creating meaningfully different propositions and communications that resonate with consumers.
Despite what seems like the well-intentioned failure of sustainability marketing, analysis of Kantar’s BrandZ data suggests that sustainability already contributes $193B to the value of the world’s top 100 brands. Kantar’s Worldpanel data projects the continued growth of the most sustainably active consumer segments from 22% in 2023, to a conservative estimate of 29% by 2030. Marketers are equally keen; globally 94% say that their sustainability agendas need to be more ambitious (Sustainable Marketing 2030).
As PepsiCo International Foods’ EVP and Chief Consumer and Marketing Officer and Chief Growth Officer Jane Wakely says; “Sustainability can’t be a marketing agenda. It has got to be a company-wide agenda, where marketing’s job is to find the authentic connection to make things relevant to the consumer and turn sustainability initiatives into growth drivers.”
Jonathan Hall - Managing Partner, Sustainable Transformation Practice
Communities are thriving in new ways. Today creators, rather than brands, are building those communities and aiming to establish trust. Goldman Sachs estimates that in 2024 the creator economy is a $250 billion industry and could reach $480 billion by 2027.
The tight-knit communities that creators bring together, whether about parenting, sports, beauty, or anything else, hold a great deal of power for brands to Predispose More People, and can drive equity and love with future audiences. Kantar’s Creator Digest reveals that creator-led content in the US is a strong differentiator for brands, exceeding US benchmarks in brand distinction by 4.85x. Creators that have an authentic voice will be a key way to reach audiences and establish trust with consumers in 2025.
Collaboration is fundamental: brands need to align creator-led content with their larger strategy to generate resonance across channels. Not all content creators are competing for the dollar; platform experience, clout, and longevity are also important considerations. Understanding content creators’ evolving choices is vital for platforms aiming to grow their user base and ad revenue.
Nicole Jones – NA Chief Media Commercial Lead, Insights
Winnie Cheng - Senior Product Marketing Director for Media, Analytics and CX, Insights
For years, marketers have underestimated inclusion as a strategic lever for growth, despite mounting evidence of its impact.
In a connected world shaped by demographic shifts, inclusivity will continue to rise in importance as we see more people caring about it. According to Kantar’s Brand Inclusion Index 2024, the perception of a brand’s diversity and inclusion efforts influences buying decisions among almost 8 in 10 people worldwide, especially among Gen Z and Millennials, LGBTQ+ communities, people with thinking and learning differences, and people with disabilities.
Diversity, fairness, and inclusion are also more important to high-growth yet underserved populations: 89% deem it important in emerging economies compared to 71% in developed markets.
Additionally, UN data says that by 2050, 1 in 4 people in the world is expected to be African. This ‘Africanisation’ of the world presents a unique opportunity for brands to connect with diverse audiences seeking inclusivity and authentic representation.
A generational shift has opened the door to a wider range of identities, while also creating a new culture that expects everyone to be welcomed and understood. In 2025, brands will need to embrace the inclusion imperative as more than just a box to tick, to Predispose More People for future brand growth.
Valeria Piaggio - Global Head DEI, Sustainable Transformation Practice
Ndeye Diagne - France Chief Commercial Officer, Insights
Population growth is one way for categories to grow penetration, which makes slowing growth a threat: fewer people mean fewer shoppers. Global population growth is now under one percent annually, well below the 1963 peak. Projections are one-half percent growth at mid-century, and negative growth by this century’s end. Slowing growth is true across geographies - with a few countries’ populations already declining.
Holding market share might get easier, as slower growth means that fewer new shoppers are needed each year to stay even. But growth will get harder. Kantar’s Worldpanel data shows that brands are 5x more likely to grow if their categories are growing. And there are other compression forces at play. Young people are marrying later, having children later, living in smaller households. Declining fertility means lower-spending older shoppers will comprise more of the marketplace. On the upside, smaller households mean more total households.
Faced with slowing population growth, brands will need to get up to speed immediately to leverage the growth accelerators identified in Kantar’s Blueprint for Brand Growth: Predispose More People, especially since no brand has maxed out its penetration potential; Be More Present, especially to steal share; and Find New Space, especially in high-growth or underserved pockets, new occasions and premiumisation.
J. Walker Smith - Knowledge Lead, Consulting
Virginia Garavaglia - Global Marketing Director, Worldpanel
Nick Ross-Gower - Chief Commercial Officer, Worldpanel
Although it is imperative for larger brands that can’t easily grow in other ways, successfully stretching via innovation is never simple; incrementality comes with risk. Radically stretching into new territories must be undertaken with an understanding of the overall opportunity.
We know from our Blueprint for Brand Growth that brands that Find New Space double their chances of growth. Brands with high penetration and strong probability of growth in the future (Future Power) have momentum to reimagine what their purpose can be, and can stretch into new spaces to open new revenue streams.
Dr Nicki Morley - UK Head of Behavioural Science and Innovation Expertise, Insights
Elen Wedemann - Brazil Managing Director, Worldpanel
Sandra Bergamo - EMEA Regional Director of Advanced Analytics, Worldpanel
Studies show that retail media will account for almost one-quarter of all US media ad spend in 2028. RMN’s first party data enables precise targeting and personalised marketing. This means an opportunity to leverage detailed consumer insights to optimise ad spend and improve campaign effectiveness. In 2025, we see RMNs becoming full-funnel marketing assets specifically for CPG brands – they are not just a short-term play. Kantar Media Reactions 2024 shows that 41% of marketers globally are planning to increase their advertising investment in retail media in 2025.
A few suggestions to take full advantage of RMNs:
• Collaborate with retailers to analyse their first-party data, allowing for more targeted and relevant advertising.
• Tailor creative content to align with the specific consumer segments identified through RMN data.
• Be transparent about the key challenges holding back more RMN investments, including improved data access, specific media measurement needs, alignment on time frames, and the ability to drive brand equity.
Barry Thomas – Senior Global Thought Leader, Consulting
McKinsey forecasts that live-commerce sales could comprise 20% of total retail in China by 2026, with Gen Z and millennials as key audiences. While marketers focus on behavioural metrics, they often overlook metrics like consumer sentiment and brand recall. Successful hosts will craft engaging narratives to retain viewers and encourage repeat purchases.
Kantar's Context Lab reveals that livestreaming ads boost both short-term purchase intent and long-term brand affinity. For established brands, focus on building long-term assets such as driving ‘meets needs’ which can result in 10% to 15% uplift, while medium and smaller brands should prioritise increasing awareness (potential uplift between 10% and 23%) and driving immediate interest (lead to uplift of up to 30%) respectively.
The rise of social commerce lowers barriers for smaller brands, as seen with Made by Mitchell's $1m sales within 12 hours in a UK TikTok Shop event. Bigger brands must compete to protect market share. While live commerce suits fast moving and small items, success can extend to all sectors including automotive and luxury fashion.
Chirantan Ray - Greater China Chief Operating Officer, Insights
Hannah Walley - UK Head of Media, Insights