Social media to account for quarter of ad spend in 2025
Social media will account for a quarter (25.8%) of all ad spend this year – up 12% to $298.3bn (£220bn) – according to WARC’s Global Ad Forecast.
The analysis finds search will account for more than a fifth (21.5%) of the ad market in 2025, with spend rising 7.4% to $248.6bn (£183bn) despite regulatory threats. Retail media will be the fastest growing advertising medium this year, up 14.4% at $176.2bn (£130bn) and claiming a 15.2% share of global ad spend.
According to WARC, however, global ad spend is on course to grow 6.2% this year to $1.16trn (£855bn), a downgrade of half a percentage point from the March forecast due to growing market volatility. Key sectors such as retail (-6.1%) and automotive (-4%) are set to cut ad spend this year, while growth in spend across tech and CPG brands is muted compared to previous rates.
The AA/WARC Expenditure Report forecast for the UK ad market stands at +6.5% in 2025, rising to a total of £44.3bn. Online ads will account for over four in five (84.6%) ad dollars this year in the UK, with social (+13.1% this year) and search (+8.2%) fuelling growth despite weak economic prospects.
Source: WARC
Marketing budgets under greater scrutiny than a year ago
Over four in five (82%) CMOs believe marketing budgets are under greater scrutiny than 12 months ago, with global volatility playing a key role.
The World Federation of Advertisers’ (WFA) survey of 29 CMOs and global heads of public policy companies – whose companies represent roughly $65bn (£48bn) in global ad spend – found 53% say the CEO is paying closer attention to their marketing campaigns than they did 12 months ago.
Some 93% of respondents believe the geopolitical environment is much less or less predictable than it was a year ago. Less than a quarter (22%) say the current operating environment “feels like business as usual”.
When asked to score different risks on a scale of one to 10 (one being no risk and 10 being the biggest potential risk), the geopolitical environment (8.4) emerged as the biggest perceived risk factor, followed by the economic trends and outlook (8.1).
Tighter regulation (6.9) was another source of concern, followed by the pace of technological developments such as AI (6.3), the policies and practices of the big social media platforms (6.1) and brand boycotts (5.9).
In response to these risks, almost three-quarters (74%) of respondents are applying greater due diligence in relation to their marketing campaigns versus 12 months ago, while a similar proportion (75%) are more likely to be collaborating cross-functionally to mitigate risks.
Source: WFA
Over quarter in creative industries experienced burnout in past six months
Over a quarter (26%) of people working in the creative industries have experienced burnout in the last six months.
All of the 250 British creative professionals surveyed, including those in marketing, advertising and PR, reported experiencing burnout at some point in their careers.
Heavy workload (48%) was identified as the main contributing factor, followed by long working hours (45%) and unrealistic expectations (32%).
Two-fifths reported (40%) anxiety and feelings of frustration (40%), while over a third (36%) felt unable to relax/constantly angry/irritable, unproductive or lacking motivation (36%). A third (33%) also reported difficulty concentrating.
Marketing Week’s own 2025 Career & Salary Survey of more than 3,500 marketers found over half have felt overwhelmed (58.1%) and undervalued (56.1%) over the past 12 months. Half of respondents (50.8%) have experienced emotional exhaustion during the past year, while 48.2% admit to a lack of enjoyment in work that used to engage them.
A further 47.6% report feeling a detached or negative attitude and 40.3% have experienced a sense of ineffectiveness – key symptoms of burnout.
Source: PPL PRS
Inclusion at core of most winning Effie UK campaigns
Inclusion was at the core of more than half (58%) of winning Effie UK 2024 campaigns.
Creative Equals’ analysis of all 52 Effie UK 2024 winning and finalist campaigns found, by comparison, inclusion was core in the campaigns of less than half (46%) of finalists.
The data also finds the higher the inclusion score, the better the campaign performed. Those campaigns which were just Effie UK finalists received an average inclusion score of 1.46 compared to Bronze (3.33), Silver (4.31) and Gold (4.6) winning campaigns.
The research points to four key impact territories at the heart of the most effective campaigns, starting with accessibility and breaking down barriers to create inclusive brands. The second is women’s health and wellbeing, where the winning brands broke down taboos and led conversations previously not part of the public discourse.
The third was leading on economic inclusion and tackling the challenging financial situation many people find themselves in by introducing accessible pricing and helping to tackle confidence gaps. And, finally, the fourth was reflecting the modern family that makes up the UK, with the report pointing out that 65% of Brits believe there is no such thing as a ‘normal family’ any longer and 42% identifying as part of a non-traditional family structure.
Source: Creative Equals/Effie UK
Most UK consumers question credibility of brands’ eco claims
Three quarters (75%) of UK consumers question the credibility of brands’ environmental claims, while two-thirds doubt companies are genuinely committed to sustainability.
An analysis carried out by Getty Images with more than 60 visual content and advertising experts, with cultural insights, proprietary search and download trends from Getty Images and iStock, found over half (55%) of UK consumers say climate change directly affects their daily lives.
Despite questioning companies’ interest in sustainability, most consumers (82%) believe businesses should use their resources to improve society and the environment.
When it comes to how they want to see the climate crisis portrayed by brands, most respondents value authenticity. Three quarters (74%) of consumers want to see visuals showing how the environment is being affected as a direct result of climate change, favouring transparent and realistic imagery. A further three quarters (75%) want to see images and videos that reflect how people have been personally affected by climate change, from the communities most impacted.
Most of the sample (65%) also want to see visuals showing how companies and governments are addressing climate change, not just via isolated campaigns.
In addition, consumers are looking for a dose of optimism, with over two-thirds (68%) saying they want to see how the situation is improving – whether through individual, corporate, or policy-driven action.
Source: Getty Images
