These are among the top findings from the analytics and consulting firm’s Media Reactions 2025, which canvasses the opinions of both marketers and consumers and ranks their preferences.
Why media preferences matter
Kantar’s research found that consumers prefer the variety of different ad experiences on Amazon and its various channels.
Consumers also generally prefer to view ads on platforms they trust. Amazon’s dominance with consumers indicates a high level of trust. “Twitch [acquired by Amazon in 2014] is a good example,” says Gonca Bubani, global director, media, at Kantar. “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.”
X is on the opposite end of the spectrum. “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,” Bubani adds.
When there’s no trust in a platform, it becomes increasingly difficult to justify media spend.
Takeaways
- For the second year in a row, Amazon comes out on top among consumers who were asked to name their favourite ad platforms, while two of its brands – Twitch and Prime Video – are new to the rankings and placed fourth and fifth respectively.
- Rounding out the top five among consumers are Snapchat in second and TikTok in third, with some saying that ads on those platforms are fun and entertaining.
- Marketers’ top five ad platforms are (in ranked order): YouTube, Instagram, Google, Netflix, and Spotify, the same as in 2024.
- X loses ground again: 29% of marketers plan to decrease their spend on X next year and nearly one in eight plan to pull their investment entirely.
- 61% of marketers plan to increase their spend on influencer content next year, coinciding with a predicted increase in social commerce investment, where 53% of marketers plan to increase spend.
- 54% of marketers plan to increase their investment in TV streaming and 19% indicated they’d spend more on TV and online video product placement; this offsets the 26% of marketers planning to decrease their spend on linear TV.
*The study is based on interviews with 21,000+ consumers (16 to 65 years of age) in 30 markets and with nearly 1,000 senior marketers. Sourced from Kantar
Source: warc.com