MANILA, PHILIPPINES – As we start to settle into 2025, it makes one wonder what the new year is bringing us. However, it is a hard question to answer for those in marketing. After all, anyone in the industry is right to anticipate technologies that are always evolving, trends that are always emerging, and consumer behaviors that are always shifting.
However, to the trained eye that has observed the direction the markets have been leaning in 2024, it’s not at all impossible to anticipate what’s coming next. In fact, Kantar has ventured 10 trends they believe will mark the path brands and consumers will be heading over the next year.
Last January 23, 2025, Kantar Media Philippines Managing Director Jay Bautista touched on these trends when he presented Kantar’s Marketing Trends 2025 Report at the PANA (Philippines Association of National Advertisers) general membership meeting during his speech on Global and Local Media Trends: Impact and Insights.
These trends are what marketers should be anticipating as the year unfolds, and adobo Magazine is here to break them down and what that means for how brands should be rethinking how they engage, connect, and grow.
1. The voyage to total video
Smart TVs have established themselves as household staples. For audiences, that means they no longer see the choice between streaming and broadcast TV. The line has blurred, and instead of redrawing it, viewers have chosen to embrace both – which is exactly what brands should be doing and seem to be planning for 2025.
Investment patterns are shifting accordingly too. Despite 8% of marketers plan to cut broadcast spending and 55% intend to ramp up their streaming investments this year, we’re still seeing platforms like YouTube are rejoining TV measurement bodies like BARB in the UK.
With viewing habits so diverse throughout demographics, brands are starting to accept that picking a side simply won’t do anymore. The brands that will come out successful are the ones that see the nuances among the differentiated preferences and figure out the right mix when it comes to their video advertising efforts.
2. Social media needs to up its game
With how ubiquitous it has become, social media still may seem like the best place to reach your audience. However, as marketers get a deeper and more well-rounded understanding of attention works, that no longer seems to be a given in itself.
As the quick generation of content becomes a default, it’s not just the capturing and the posting that gets faster – it’s also the scrolling. Keeping the audience’s attention is tougher than ever. According to Kantar’s Media Reactions 2024, only 31% of people say social media ads hold their attention. That’s 12% less from the year before.
So, in 2025, the challenge lies in the fact that, more than ever, attention must be earned, not assumed.
It’s no longer enough for ads to be “platform-appropriate” – they need to break through the noise. And this will require bold creative choices – dynamic visuals, sharp storytelling, and unexpected formats. With attention becoming more fleeting, the most successful brands won’t just advertise; they’ll entertain, intrigue, and create moments of connection and storytelling worth remembering.
3. Safety first: Generative AI has to reassure marketers
A trend that probably doesn’t come as a surprise is that more and more marketers are embracing Generative AI.
However, the data in Kantar’s Media Reactions 2024 shows that while 59% are excited about its role in advertising, 36% admit they don’t think they or their teams have the skills needed to properly leverage it and 44% believe they can spot AI-generated ads. More importantly, 43% of consumers don’t trust AI-generated ads.
So, what’s the missing piece? It’s data provenance.
In 2025, brands must go beyond simply using AI – they need to know where the data is coming from. Learning more about the training data the models are based on will not only give marketers the necessary reassurance that they can leverage AI and that these providers are reliable. This can also enable them to be transparent to their audience and help quell that barrier of mistrust.
4. Sustainability and marketing must merge
While still may be skeptical of sustainability marketing as a whole, the insights in Kantar’s BrandZ data seems to suggest that it actually has already contributed as much as $193 billion to the value of the top 100 brands in the world.
And it’s only growing. By 2030, the most sustainability-conscious consumer segments are expected to rise from 22% to 29% according to Worldpanel by Kantar. On top of that, 93% of consumers want to live more sustainably as well. Where does this leave marketers?
This clear demand poses a challenge to marketers to integrate sustainability in campaigns that go beyond using it as just messaging strategy rather than a core business transformation.
Kantar quotes PepsiCo International Foods’ EVP and Chief Consumer and Marketing Officer and Chief Growth Officer Jane Wakely to drive this point home: “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.”
5. Brands tap into creator communities
Did you know that, in the United States, creator-led content exceeds US benchmarks in brand distinction by 4.85x? That may not come as a shock. After all, creators that audiences know and love have become one of the most popular channels for marketing over the past few years.
And in 2025, we’ll see more and more of how their authentic voice and the connections they make with audiences are crucial in reaching consumers and earning their trust. It won’t stop there either. It may be the already-whopping $250 billion industry we know today, but by 2027, it could reach as much as $480 billion according to Goldman Sachs’ estimate.
So, it’s essential for brands to incorporate and make the most out of the role creator collaborations play in their larger strategies.
6. Woke and definitely not broke: The Inclusion imperative
By 2024, nearly 80% of consumers consider a brand’s inclusivity efforts when making purchasing decisions. This is especially true not just for disenfranchised demographics such as LGBTQ+ communities, neurodiverse individuals, and people with disabilities, but also Gen Z, and Millennials as a whole.
Marketers may have historically underestimated inclusion as a strategic driver, but that’s changing. In 2025, brands that embrace inclusivity authentically – beyond token representation – will build stronger consumer connections and long-term loyalty.
The modern consumer expects more than statements. They an evolution in brand identity accepts, understands, and celebrates those who have been in the margins.
7. The puzzle of slowing population growth
For decades, population growth has fueled category expansion – but that era is ending. Global population growth has fallen below 1% annually, with some regions already experiencing decline. By mid-century, projections show a mere 0.5% growth, with negative trends emerging by the century’s end.
What does this have to do with marketers? Well, for decades, population growth has fueled category expansion, but that era is ending. After all, according to Kantar Worldpanel, brands are 5x more likely to grow if their categories are growing. But with fewer people, we can also anticipate fewer shoppers, making organic market expansion increasingly difficult.
For brands, passive growth is no longer an option. Kantar’s Blueprint for Brand Growth emphasizes three key strategies:
- Predispose More People to choose your brand
- Be More Present where decisions happen
- Find New Space by exploring underserved segments, premiumization, and emerging needs.
8. Stretching the limits of innovation
We’re already seeing this everywhere. From Oreo and Ferrero tapping into ice cream to Oral-B further establishing its household presence with more bathroom essentials, more companies are pushing past category limits, more brands are seeking new ways to stay relevant and expand their footprint.
And we’ll see even more of it in 2025, brand growth won’t just come from competing harder – it will come from thinking bigger. It doesn’t matter if a brand has already saturated their core markets. In fact, it’s exactly that success that may give them the momentum to stretch into new spaces.
It is a big risk, though – one that you must calculate before taking the leap. Ultimately, it’s the brand’s who truly understand the opportunity and know how to effectively reimagine what their purpose can become that will thrive in 2025 and beyond.
9. Retail media networks are evolving
Retail Media Networks (RMNs) are quickly becoming more and more of a powerhouse for brand visibility and precision targeting. Via first-party data, RMNs enable brands to serve hyper-personalized ads across e-commerce sites, mobile apps, and even in-store digital touchpoints.
The role they play in marketing is only getting bigger too. According to Kantar Media Reactions 2024, 41% of marketers globally are set to boost their retail media investments in 2025. Plus, by 2028, RMNs are projected to account for nearly a quarter of all U.S. media ad spend.
Here are some suggestions from Kantar if you want to utilize RMNs in an effort to Be More Present with your consumers:
- Work closely with retailers to to study their first-party data and unlock deeper audience insights
- Develop creative content tailored to RMN-driven consumer segments
- Address challenges around data access, measurement, and brand building
10. Livestreaming: alive and kicking
Kantar’s Context Lab confirms what marketers are already witnessing: livestreaming ads don’t just drive immediate sales; they build long-term brand affinity. Platforms like TikTok Shop are even democratizing social commerce, making it easier than ever for smaller brands to break through.
It’s livestreaming in China that has particularly shaped the power this channel has in retail. Through platforms like Taobao Live, Douyin, and WeChat, brands can reach half of the population for shopping and entertainment. This isn’t even the peak yet – McKinsey predicts that by 2026, 20% of China’s total retail will come from live-commerce, fueled by Gen Z and millennials.
However, to stay ahead, you can’t focus solely on behavioral metrics. You also need to pay attention to consumer sentiment and brand recall metrics, which suggest that it takes engaging narratives to actually hold viewers’ attention and drive repeat purchases.
Whether it’s the opportunities that the demand for diversity and sustainability open up or the rising value of creator collaborations or livestreaming, it’s vital to integrate these into your branding in meaningful ways as 2025 unfolds
By being aware of these trends and finding strategies that make the most out of them, you’ll have what you need as a marketer to create campaigns and initiatives that resonate with your audience and establish your place as a leading brand this 2025 and beyond.
