ALWAYS BUY RETAIL

TV's Long Retail

Happy Monday War & Peaceniks. Are you ready to buy retail?

2025 PREDICTION #2: RETAIL MEDIA WILL GO MORE MAINSTREAM NEXT YEAR, WITH A WAVE OF RETAIL MEDIA ON CTV.

This is the second sneak peek of my Top Ten 2025 Predictions. My first peek was last week. My full Top Ten List drops January 6. Then, from CES, I’ll compare my Top Ten with Marion Ranchet’s top 10 predictions for 2025, on our new podcast The Media Odyssey. BTW, thanks to the amazing people at Ateliere for sponsoring my 2025 Top Ten!

According to Advertiser Perceptions, the three fastest growing segments in advertising are Social Media, Retail Media, and Connected Television advertising. And according to Group M’s latest forecast, “Retail Media will overtake global TV ad revenues in 2025, reaching $176.9 billion and representing 15.9% of global total ad spend.”

This year, in the US alone, Retail Media generated $54 billion. 75% of that went to Amazon.

Retail Media growth in 2024 was not from rate increases, which were relatively flat, but rather from increased demand and spend on off-platform media, outside of the specific retail environment itself.

There are three converging factors bringing Retail Media dollars to the CTV. The first is a movement, even within outcome-driven Retail Media, to serve the full marketing funnel. There is a rising fear of investing in the lower funnel at the expense of overall awareness and brand loyalty.

This year, US off-site retail media ad spend grew 61.5%. Rather than just branding or transactions, marketers are now finding ways to market both HEARTS AND CARTS.