Media Planning
Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2024 [REPORT]
Just released: IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2024. The digital advertising industry reached a record $259 billion in revenue in 2024—a 15% year-over-year increase, highlighting its ability to adapt to changing technologies and consumer behaviors.
How To Be A Creative’s Favorite Strategist
This was inspired by a conversation with Dominique Monet and others in the 4As Jr. Strategy Collective about what it really takes to be a strategist creatives trust—and want in the room. It’s a distillation of what I’ve seen work—and not work—when trying to build real partnerships.
Marketers Vastly Understate The Sales Effect Of Creative And Significantly Overestimate The Impact Of Targeting
Over the last six years, the Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group has commissioned Advertiser Perceptions annually to survey brands and media agencies on the sales contribution of five advertising effectiveness factors:
- Brand
- Creative
- Reach
- Recency
- Targeting
Tackling the Media Mix: How Advertisers Can Overcome Fragmentation in 2025
TV advertising is more fragmented than ever, which has increased complexity for advertisers to get the media mix right. Viewers are consuming content across a fragmented ecosystem that spans linear TV, virtual cable, and streaming platforms, each with its own set of challenges and opportunities. To capture audience attention in 2025, advertisers must rethink their approach — balancing reach with precision, embracing multi-layered strategies, and leveraging emerging opportunities to maximize performance.
Latinas in advertising: The untapped powerhouse agencies can’t afford to ignore [REPORT]
As a Latina who has worked in the Hispanic marketing industry for over 20 years, I have spent my career uncovering the potential of our market. And let me be clear—the opportunity is massive. The U.S. Hispanic market represents a $2.7 trillion economic force. Latinos account for 51% of the country’s population growth, and we are one of the most influential and affluent consumer groups. Even more striking? We are young—58% of U.S. Hispanics are under the age of 34.
Mastering the Art of Marketing Measurement
Measuring ad effectiveness is both more critical and more complicated than ever. Advertisers are expected to prove the value of their media spend across multiple channels while navigating a complex ecosystem that is increasingly privacy-conscious and fragmented. Gone are the days when simple tracking through cookies or last-click attribution could provide basic insights. Instead, brands now rely on three major measurement approaches: media mix modeling (MMM), multi-touch attribution (MTA), and lift studies.
Principal Media: Friend or Foe?
I will start with a belated public shout-out to Jared Belsky, recently named Ad Age's 2025 Agency Executive of the Year. That is quite the honor as this recognition is reserved for just one person, in an industry rich with many talented people. While there were multiple reasons that Jared was selected, what stood out was his public stance against principal media.
Why First-Party Data Is Critical for Personalization (and Why Syndicated Data Alone Won’t Cut It Anymore)
In the age of hyper-connected customers and rising expectations, personalization is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a baseline requirement. Brands are expected to understand who their customers are, anticipate their needs, and deliver the right message at the right time, through the right channel. And to do that, the kind of data you use matters—a lot. By Monique De La Rosa - Translating complex data into actionable, experience-led solutions -- architecting Personalized Interactions with Storytelling ... where Data Talks & Strategy Speaks
Why Sacrificing Channel Expertise Can Lead to a Vicious Cycle of Diminished Performance – Cutting costs or cutting corners?
The conversation between CMOs and CFOs has become increasingly focused on cost efficiency. Faced with rising scrutiny on budgets, many CFOs are questioning the value of maintaining multiple specialized agencies and advocating for consolidation to reduce fees. For CMOs, this creates a dilemma: How can they justify the need for channel expertise when every dollar is being watched?
How are your peers splitting their media budget between traditional and digital channels?
With the increasing prominence of social and retail media, how can advertisers strategically allocate resources between digital channels, optimized for bottom-funnel conversions, and traditional channels, like TV and radio, for building brand equity and awareness at the top of the funnel?
MAGNA rleases U.S. Advertising Forecast Spring 2025 Update – “Uncertain Times”
MAGNA always anticipated a market slowdown in 2025 due to the strong comparables, but we have further reduced our growth forecast in this update. The lack of economic visibility and a decline in confidence may impact marketing and advertising budgets in the short term. In this uncertain economic environment, the most vulnerable industry sectors include consumer goods (packaged food, beverages, and personal care), quick-service restaurants (QSR), and automotive. Despite the challenges posed by economic uncertainty, organic growth factors—such as media innovation, AI, retail media, and ad-supported streaming—will continue to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of advertising formats, encouraging advertisers to maintain or expand their budgets. Factoring all drivers and inhibitors, media owners’ advertising revenues are projected to grow by +4.3% in 2025 (down from the previous forecast of +4.9%). When adjusting for cyclical spending in both years (political advertising and the Summer Olympics in 2024), non-cyclical ad revenue growth in 2025 is revised from +7.3% to +6.7%, still solid by historical standards.
4 Paths to Absolving the Cardinal Sins of Digital Advertising
In digital advertising, there are two surefire ways to get fired as an agency or ad tech provider:
- Fail to spend all a brand's allotted budget.
- Put a brand's creative in a brand-unsafe environment.
Why Retail Media Breaks Marketing Mix Models (MMMs)
For decades, brands have relied on marketing mix models (MMMs) to prove the value of their investments in advertising. These models, built to assess the mix of paid media channels like TV, print and digital display, helped marketers justify budgets and optimize their allocations. But as retail media networks (RMNs) attract billions in ad dollars, marketers are running into a major problem — MMMs weren't designed to handle the complexity, speed and ever-changing nature of retail media.
Why the Work of the Immigrant Archive Project is More Important Now Than Ever
In a time when the contributions and struggles of immigrant communities are being systematically erased from public consciousness, the Immigrant Archive Project (IAP) stands as a powerful counterforce—preserving the stories that define America’s rich and diverse narrative. The IAP, the leading oral history project documenting the modern immigrant experience, is more than a repository of memories. It is an essential safeguard against the dangers of historical erasure, and its work has never been more crucial than it is today. By Tony Hernandez - Founder of The Immigrant Archive Project
Nielsen Launches its 2025 Global Media Planning Report [REPORT]
Nielsen released its 2025 global media planning report. With the media landscape now so fragmented and complex, the report aims to help advertisers and publishers navigate their way through an ecosystem that is more nuanced and multifaceted than ever before.
The Great Unbundling – 2025 is the year advertising technology resolves conflicts of interest
For more than a decade, the advertising industry has been defined by a structural tension: Platforms providing buy-side technology have also been deeply entrenched in selling media inventory. Companies like Google leveraged their scale, deep pockets, and technological resources to dominate both sides of the coin. Any capitalist with such advantages would have done the same.
Five Trends Shaping Media in 2025
Welcome to the media jungle. It’s gnarlier than ever. New platforms and devices create twists and turns. Ever-evolving consumers roam freely, demanding personalized experiences and diverse content. Traditional advertising models struggle to keep pace. Yet, amid these struggles lie exciting opportunities for innovation and growth. To survive in this environment, we all need to adapt and innovate. Let’s take a closer look at five trends that will make the journey in 2025 exciting — and risky unless you’re prepared with the right strategy. In future articles, we will dive into these trends even more.
Publicis Media appoints Lonnie Limón to Head its Multicultural Arm
Lonnie Limón has been named the Head if Publicis Media Multicultural. He replaces Lisa Torres, who will begin her consultancy company.
What I Just Learned About Retail Media
Retail media is hot. The ANA just held a members-only conference focused on retail media, hosted by Kroger Precision Marketing in Cincinnati. We learned so much.
