Digital Advertising Forecast: Shaping the Future

According to the Chinese calendar, 2025 is the Year of the Snake which is associated with wisdom and transformation. As we wrap 2024, our Council Chairs and CEO look at five aspects of digital advertising that will continue to shape the future in 2025.

The Creator Economy by Kate Grigg Chair of the IAB New Zealand Digital Effectiveness Council, Head of Publicis Media Group NZ. The Creator Economy is expected to reach $480 billion globally by 2027, driven by millions of content creators who are revolutionising how consumers engage with content, discover brands, and make purchases. This dynamic ecosystem blends creativity with commerce and spans creators, podcasters, merchandise, memes, gaming, celebrities, live streaming, and more. As we move into 2025, marketers should consider effective ways to collaborate with creators to align with and amplify their brand’s purpose. To help navigate this complex ecosystem the IAB US team recently released its Creator Economy Ecosystem Mindmap, which is a useful 2025 planning tool for marketers considering the creator economy landscape.

The Convergence of DOOH and Retail Media by Richard Pook Chair IAB New Zealand Programmatic DOOH Working Group, Co-Founder youdooh. This convergence is accelerating, with more brands combining DOOH’s mass reach with Retail Media’s precision targeting. This trend is driving a more integrated approach to media planning, and enabling a versatile use of digital screens tailored to specific campaign objectives. The IAB US recently published a new guide ‘Definition of Out of Home: Digital and Core Features’ useful for marketers considering DOOH and Programmatic DOOH as part of their 2025 marketing mix.

The Future is First Party Data by Qassem Naim Chair IAB New Zealand Data, Privacy & Measurement Council, Founder Team Circle. They say data is the new oil and this has probably never been more true in the context of AI and what we’ve learned about how models scale. Raw data, like crude oil, is abundant but unusable on its own. To unlock its full potential, marketers must refine it into actionable measurement, knowledge, and insights that drive strategy, innovation, and results.

The industry at large is increasingly accountable (from a privacy perspective) and equipped (by technology solutions) to tackle this task. The cost and barriers to entry are lower than ever while the capability and opportunity is arguably higher. By embracing this responsibility we will find great power to transform the way we engage audiences and people across channels in a cohesive way.

Data quality remains imperative, and the future is first party. Platforms increasingly rely on first party data to fill in the gaps in tracking and fuel optimisations and audience portability. IAB New Zealand Members can read more about first party data in our Council latest resource ‘The State of First Party Data: An Exploration of Cookies and Clean Rooms’.

Sustainable & Ethical Advertising by Angelina Farry IAB New Zealand CEO. Sustainability will continue to be a core focus as consumers demand eco-conscious practices. Brands will be focussed on reducing carbon emissions from ad delivery and promoting sustainability initiatives and transparently. Ethical and purpose-driven advertising will help brands build trust and appeal to socially aware audiences. Consumers will increasingly favour brands with environmental commitments. IAB New Zealand will be continuing to focus on this in 2025 with the Comms Council, Ad Net Zero and our Sustainability Working Group. You can learn more about becoming an Ad Net Zero supporter here.

AI and Marketing Effectiveness by Jake Calder IAB New Zealand Emerging Technology Chair, Head of Digital & Innovation MBM. AI has seen several iterations over the last couple of years. While Large Language Models (LLMs) have dominated, art is now starting to be captured by AI science. There have been some forays into AI creative in 2024, but 2025 promises to bring even more disruption with further advancements to image and especially video capable of near-cinematic quality. The impact AI has had on the digital advertising industry is already being felt, and we’re only scratching the surface as AI promises to help brands deliver more personalised campaigns and better user experiences. You can learn more in IAB Tech Lab’s useful AI in Advertising Primer.