Half of global advertisers plan to increase their 2025 media budgets, with a “major shift” towards performance marketing driven by retail media and connected TV, according to new data.

The 2025 Media Budgets Survey from Ebiquity and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) shows 42% of respondents plan to increase their share of performance marketing next year, while only 24% intend to increase their share of branding. In 2024, these numbers sat at 21% and 35%, respectively.

More than three in four (78%) respondents plan to either slightly or significantly increase global investment in addressable and connected TV and 75% plan to increase spend in retail media. Meanwhile, 50% of those surveyed plan to either significantly or slightly decrease spend in linear TV and 31% in digital display.

Ebiquity CEO Nick Waters says the emphasis on performance marketing over branding indicates a “move to short-termism and a need for results now”, while WFA’s CEO Stephan Loerke calls retail media a “transformative growth vehicle”.

“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,” Loerke says.

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The report surveyed 134 global brand leaders, including seven of the world’s top 10 global advertisers, collectively representing over $66bn in annual ad spend. It finds confidence is especially strong in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), while North American brands display a more cautious approach, reflecting pressures tied to regional economic and political factors.

“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,” explains Waters.

“Conversely, it is encouraging to see an upturn in European sentiment following a difficult few years. ”

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Elsewhere, AI is anticipated to drive significant change across media operations, with 70% of respondents expecting moderate to substantial shifts in areas like creative processes, dynamic pricing, and campaign optimisation.

Loerke says the industry needs to prepare for the AI transformation but not before implementing measurement frameworks equipped for an “increasingly fragmented ecosystem”.

“The next wave of transformation may come from AI – an area from which the impact can still only be loosely gauged,” he says.

The report also suggests the media industry has become more transparent this year compared to 2023, and respondents anticipate that prioritising the sustainability of media campaigns will be even more crucial in 2025.