After several years marked by inflation and the high cost of living, 2025 is expected to enjoy greater stability than previous years. What’s more, it is estimated that global investment in advertising will reach 1.15 trillion dollars, leading 65% of advertising professionals marketing to be more optimistic about what the coming months hold.
Warc highlights five big trends that will determine marketing in the coming months
This is what the report states “The Marketer’s Toolkit” of warc by 2025. This is the fourteenth edition of the trend analysis carried out by the consulting firm and with which it hopes to help planning and decision-making for the next year.
On this occasion, the conclusions have been obtained from interviews with 1,165 marketing executives and the perspectives of Warc’s global team of experts.
The report includes the tendencies that will mark a year that, in general, will be determined by issues of different kinds, such as the tension between social networks and brand safety, the growth of individual lifestyle, the importance of the customer experience or the impact of artificial intelligence.
These are the five main trends that Warc anticipates for 2025:
Improvement of the economic situation
As the research indicates, two thirds of the professionals surveyed consider that the business environment next year will be more favorable. Little by little, inflation is moderating and consumers are gradually regaining confidence in the economy.
Expectations, however, vary depending on the regions. Thus, APAC professionals are the most pessimistic, with 13% of them indicating that next year will be worse than this, compared to 12% of the rest. However, the highest percentage of those who think the situation will be similar (29%) is in Europe, as well as the lowest percentage of those who believe it will be better.
In this sense, the consultant points out that the marketing challenge will move from communication focused on discounts and promotions to remembering the brand value for a higher price. Thus, brand construction will be revalued in the coming months.
The customer experience gap
The report points out that there are $3.7 trillion at risk as a result of bad experiences that lead customers to reduce spending or switch brands. The main challenge in this area is to close the Gap between brand promise and actual consumer experienceespecially in a context in which brands address more complex journeys, cost reductions and pressures on profit margins.
The challenge requires, first of all, a solid strategy. And, according to the consultancy, most brand marketing departments only directly manage two elements of the customer experience: the design of the website or application, and the measurement of customer satisfaction.
On the other hand, Warc recommends better aligning the promise and customer experience, driving memorability and differentiation at critical touchpoints, and request feedback on a recurring basis, both to clients and employees in contact with users.
A dilemma in the digital environment
The debate about the presence of hate speech and misinformation on social networks has been going on for years and, however, social networks and digital platforms They are emerging as essential in brands’ marketing strategies. What’s more, according to Warc forecasts, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta will represent 44% of global advertising spending this year.
As a consequence, according to the report, 40% of those surveyed understand that the brand safety have a significant impact on your marketing strategy in the next twelve months, which represents an increase of 10% in three years. However, only 8% plan to reduce or cut back on their social media spending.
Also worrying is the advertising fraud and the increase in websites created for advertising and generated with artificial intelligence. The company Jupiter Research estimates that 80 billion dollars are lost globally and annually in this type of space.
Therefore, brands must assume a more active role in the management of spaces where your advertising is displayed, and fine-tune media planning strategies and campaign management tools to mitigate risks.
The sustainability of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is changing the way of working in the advertising industry, but its use has implications on the environment and, therefore, in the CSR policies of the companies. And, according to various research, generating an image with a powerful AI model consumes as much energy as charging a smartphone, that is, between 5 and 10 grams of CO2.
However, few marketing professionals are paying attention to the intersection of AI, media buying and sustainability; and only 32% of those surveyed by Warc believe that concerns about the environmental impact of AI would influence their media buying next year.
Looking ahead to next year, brands and agencies must establish frameworks that consider the sustainability of artificial intelligence and the entire industry must collaborate to promote monitoring the impact of the use of AI in advertising.
Towards individual consumption
Family models are changing and it is increasingly common to find consumers who opt for a individual lifestyle. Last year it was estimated that there were 484 million single-person households around the world, which represents one fifth of all households. And the number is expected to continue growing.
However, according to the report, 68% of marketers are not taking advantage of the business opportunities offered by users who live alone, since they have not targeted this segment. For their part, 14% say they do not have specific products, but occasionally they make promotions aimed at them.
There are only 1% of businesses aimed at this segment.
In this regard, the consultancy assures that there is a real opportunity for brands to target this audience with products and services that meet their needs.
