2025 Media Budgets: Strategies for a Transforming Landscape

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Ebiquity and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) present the 2025 Media Budgets Survey, capturing strategies from 134 global brand leaders, including seven of the world’s top 10 advertisers. With $66 billion in annual ad spend represented, this survey provides an essential guide to the evolving priorities, challenges, and innovations shaping media planning in 2025.

HIGHLIGHTS

50% of brands plan to increase media budgets, with stronger confidence in EMEA
Increased focus on performance marketing and retail media channels
AI expected to drive change across creative and campaign optimisation

The emphasis of performance marketing over branding indicates a move to short-termism and a need for results now, with the flow of funds into retail media contributing strongly to this trend. The rise of recessionary indicators in the US, fears the American consumer will roll over, and uncertainty created by the first year of a new administration is leading to caution in North America. Conversely it is encouraging to see an upturn in European sentiment following a difficult few years. With AI already impacting media planning and buying it is no surprise expectations are high for significant changes ahead

Nick Waters, CEO of Ebiquity

// Evolving Priorities:

Performance Marketing, AI, and Sustainability

Facing economic challenges, brands are increasingly focusing on performance marketing, driven by retail media, to achieve measurable, short-term results. AI is also set to play a larger role in media planning and creative processes, as brands explore ways to optimise campaigns and drive efficiencies. Meanwhile, sustainability is solidifying as a priority, with brands embedding responsible practices into their media strategies to align with evolving expectations.

Sustainability a rising priority in media planning
Talent shortages may impact brands' growth ambitions

With major political upheaval around the world, to say the future is uncertain would be an understatement. But in spite of the challenging macroeconomic climate, this year’s WFA and Ebiquity bellwether study shows continued positivity towards media budgets in 2025. Retail media has been a transformative growth vehicle and this looks set to continue next year, creating opportunity but also, potentially, some risk for the long-term health of brand building as we further embrace performance marketing. The next wave of transformation may come from AI – an area from which the impact can still only be loosely gauged. We need to prepare for this transformation but not before implementing the measurement frameworks we need for today, not least to ensure we can measure across an increasingly fragmented ecosystem..

Stephan Loerke, CEO of World Federation of Advertisers (WFA)