Kantar media reactions 2025: The great divide

Kantar Media Reactions 2025: The great divide

Marketers and consumers don’t prefer the same ad platforms: What does this mean for brands?

Issued by Kantar

23 Sep 2025

Kantar Media Reactions 2025: The great divide

Kantar’s Media Reactions 2025 study, which surveyed over 21,000 consumers and around 1,000 senior marketers globally, reveals that no single brand ranks in the top five for both groups. Consumers favour Amazon brands, with Amazon itself taking first place, Twitch in fourth, and Prime Video in fifth. Snapchat and TikTok round out the consumer top five, ranking second and third respectively – TikTok’s position is especially notable now that its future in the US appears secure.

In contrast, marketers’ preferred ad platforms remain unchanged from 2024: YouTube, Instagram, Google, Netflix, and Spotify.

Consumers describe Snapchat ads as fun and entertaining, and they feel these ads are less intrusive than last year. TikTok ads are also praised for being highly attention-grabbing and enjoyable. Meanwhile, marketers continue to gravitate toward platforms they’ve favoured in the past.

These findings highlight a growing disconnect between where marketers want to advertise and where consumers are most engaged – and important consideration for brands planning their media strategies.

Gonca Bubani, global director, media at Kantar explains: “Brands need to fight for people’s attention, but marketers are not always reflecting consumers’ ad preferences. Amazon’s ad properties buck the trend by offering a variety of different experiences from its various channels. Twitch is a good example: consumers trust ads there more than anywhere else, but many marketers assume that passionate and substantial gaming and live-streaming audiences are niche, narrow groups.”

“One brand missing from both rankings is X. One year after Elon Musk sued brands for pulling their investment in the platform, things haven’t improved. A net 29% of marketers plan to decrease their spend on X next year, and nearly one in eight intend to pull their investment entirely. Having failed to make progress on content moderation, marketers have ranked X last among all global brands for trust for the third year in a row.”

Top-ranking media brands by preference, global

Brackets denote change in ranking from 2024. To download Kantar’s 2025 Media Reactions visit: www.kantar.com/campaigns/media-reactions

As part of its study, Kantar asked marketers their investment plans for 2026 across ad channels.

Creators and influencers should benefit as a net 61% of marketers plan to increase their spend on influencer content next year. This coincides with a predicted increase in social commerce investment, where a net 53% of marketers are planning to increase spend.

54% of marketers plan to increase their investment in TV streaming and 19% have indicated they’ll up their spend on TV and online video product placement. This is offsetting the net 26% of marketers planning to decrease their spend on linear TV.

Bubani continues: “Creator campaigns demand a departure from traditional ways of working. Creators aren’t actors doing a brand’s bidding, so the value exchange is very different. Every dollar spent on an influencer is a dollar over which marketers don’t have complete control. The most successful and authentic creator partnerships depend on flexibility within clear guardrails around a brand’s values, tone and assets.”

Research

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Senamile Zungu, Kantar 27 Aug 2025

On the shift in TV investment, Bubani explains: “People love to speculate about the death of linear TV but the decrease in ad investment is only one part of the story. Consumers trust broadcast TV advertising, and it still delivers the most significant brand impact. But the cost of creating TV ads makes it tempting to spend big to get them seen, meaning marketers tend to overinvest in TV relative to its return. Marketers are right to reallocate some of this budget so that their media mix is more efficient, but the creative process has to start by considering each platform’s strengths – not by adapting assets down the line.”

Consumer receptivity to ads is climbing

For the first time, more than half of people (57%) say they are generally receptive to advertising, jumping from 47% last year. Bubani explains: “Ad campaigns are seven times more impactful among more receptive audiences, and people are more receptive than ever. That’s good news for marketers in a tough economy, but not enough to overcome their anxiety over the fragmented media landscape, with only two-thirds of marketers confident that they’re successfully integrating their campaigns across media channels.”

Trust implications are swaying consumers, with the number of people bothered by AI-generated ads up slightly to 44% from 41% last year, and 57% concerned about fake GenAI ads. At the same time, general attitudes towards GenAI are getting more positive among both consumers and marketers, though more marketers use the technology to work more efficiently (70%) than creatively (53%).

Gonca Bubani continues: “AI is most valuable when it’s also embraced as a creative partner. It’s giving marketers new ways to explore ideas, test what resonates, and make smarter decisions faster. The opportunity it presents is huge but that will only come from a mindset of curiosity rather than caution.”

Top-ranking media channels by preference

Brackets denote change in ranking from 2024. *Compared with ‘sponsored events’ – these have been broken out as in-person / digital for the first time in 2025

Download the report and watch the digital launch.

About Media Reactions 2025

Kantar has been at the forefront of media experience and perception research for over 20 years. The Media Reactions 2025 report combines insights from both consumer and marketer studies to provide a comprehensive view of the current media landscape. This year’s survey engaged almost 1,000 marketing professionals from advertisers, agencies, and media companies worldwide between 4 April and 15 June 2025, alongside over 21,000 consumers aged 16-65 in 30 markets, conducted between 8 May and 5 August 2025.

It represents close to 90% of media spend: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Ecuador, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, KSA, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, Türkiye, United Kingdom, USA, and Vietnam. A minimum of 500 people were surveyed in each market.

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