What’s really going on with the media in 2025? What should online retailers actually do about it?
We dug into the latest Year of Impact report from Dentsu on global media trends and pulled out what matters most for you. And let’s be honest – things are changing fast.
And if you’re running an online store, you need to know where real attention is going, how people are actually discovering products, and what the smartest brands are doing differently.
Trends for Artificial Intelligence
AI is becoming normal. But what really matters is how it’s moving from something you visit into something you live with. This technology is showing up in the background, quietly and constantly, so let’s check out some real trends.
Source: Dentsu, The Year of Impact, 2025 Media Trends report
Life powered by AI
Generative AI is leaving the chat box behind. Instead of being a separate destination, it shows where people already are. That’s a significant shift. People don’t want to “go use AI”. They want their tools to get smarter quietly.
For example, Reddit tests full-site translations using AI. Duolingo offers AI-powered tutoring with real-time corrections and feedback. Spotify’s AI DJ drops commentary between songs, learning your taste over time. These aren’t gimmicks. They’re sticky, useful, proper, and normal.
However, there’s also the carbon question.
AI requires serious energy and resources, from cooling to computing. Thus, retailers aiming for carbon goals need to think twice before over-automating.
The augmented media toolkit
AI is becoming the core engine of how media is planned, produced, and measured. Over the past year, marketers leaned into AI tools like Google Performance Max and Meta Advantage+. These systems work, but they’re tied to individual platforms. That limits the view. And it’s a problem, especially when 28% of CMOs say integrating emerging tech is their top challenge.
So what’s changing in 2025?
Retail brands are stepping up. Instead of relying on plug-and-play solutions, they take control of AI across the entire media value chain. That means:
- more innovative budget planning,
- real-time channel optimization,
- richer audience modeling,
- and campaigns that reflect the customer journey more precisely.
Note: Data is the foundation. You need clean, connected datasets, smart tools to process them, and clear access rules. Even more important? Governance. Transparency, fairness, and accountability are for you, to keep your AI outputs reliable, ethical, and usable across departments.
Source: Dentsu, The Year of Impact, 2025 Media Trends report
A million micro-elements
People used to click their way through the internet. Now? They don’t have to. Nearly 60% of Google searches in the EU and the US end without a single click. The answer shows up right there in the preview.
That’s where micro-moments come in. They are tiny, low-effort interactions that move someone closer to a decision. And for retailers, they’re pure gold. But only if you’re present at the right time, in the right tone, with the right offer.
Here’s what it looks like in action:
Klarna’s AI assistant handled 2.3 million customer chats in a single month. It worked 5x faster, cut repeat questions by 25%, and is expected to save the company $40 million in 2024.
Messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Line, and WeChat are turning into conversion channels. How? WIth:
- Personalized replies
- Context-aware recommendations
- And real-time feedback loops
Are the brands winning here? Yes!
They don’t push messages. They respond in the moment, with relevant, useful content, and are ready when the customer is.
Stories, expanded
Storytelling is the smartest way to cut through algorithm noise. The platforms are shifting, and attention spans are changing. Now, growth often starts in unexpected corners: niche communities, loyal fandoms, and creator-led spaces.
To make an impact in 2025, retail brands need to rethink how stories are built, shared, and scaled. Here are more insights:
Source: Dentsu, The Year of Impact, 2025 Media Trends report
Power in niches
Creators and online communities have become trusted voices for millions. They don’t just entertain—they drive action. CMOs are paying attention: 85% plan to keep or grow investment in short-form video, 82% in influencer campaigns, and 81% in livestreams this year.
Some communities are huge. Costco and Silverado rank among Reddit’s top spaces without any help from the brands. Xianyu, a Chinese resale app, has 500 million active users who have turned product listings into a full storytelling format.
So yes, niches aren’t small anymore.
Whether it’s beauty, gaming, finance, or even B2B manufacturing, there are creators who shape buying decisions with authority and reach. Platforms like Reddit now offer tools like Reddit Pro to help brands show up more naturally inside these trusted circles.
Even global stars like MrBeast influence sales more than traditional ads among Gen Z. What matters is not the platform or format, but the loyalty and credibility these voices bring.
Connected television gets real scale
What keeps people watching is comfort content and live moments. Netflix’s One Piece hit 72 million views, but Suits (a show that ended in 2019) drove over 1.5 billion viewing hours in the same period. Meanwhile, the 2024 Super Bowl became the most-watched single-network broadcast in U.S. history. That’s why live sports are now the prize.
Highlights:
- Amazon signed an 11-year deal with the NBA.
- Netflix locked in WWE for a decade.
- Japanese platform U-Next now carries Premier League matches for the next 7 years.
These are long bets, designed to win time, attention, and loyalty.
Ad-supported tiers are also exploding. Most new users on Peacock, Hulu, Disney+, and others now choose the cheaper, ad-backed plan. Prime Video took it further, making ads the default for 200 million users. That could add 50 billion new impressions to the CTV space by the end of 2024.
Retailers now have a chance to pair premium content with real insights. No more guessing who’s watching.
Source: Dentsu, The Year of Impact, 2025 Media Trends report
The pivot to algorithm planning
The old playbooks focused on mass reach or precision targeting. Now, platforms use AI to decide what content and ads perform best, moment by moment. To stay relevant, retail brands need to plan with the algorithm, not around it.
Campaigns blend targeting, prospecting, and propensity. AI helps spot emerging audiences, shape creative based on performance data, and trigger ads when people are most likely to engage.
What changes everything is how media and creativity finally work together.
Instead of producing hundreds of random assets, brands focus on fewer, smarter ones. These are optimized before launch, built to adapt across channels, and tuned for the outcomes the algorithm rewards.
This shift also reduces waste. Every piece of content and every audience interaction starts to count for something measurable.
The quest for quality
Anyone can post content, launch a store, or generate copy in seconds, but that doesn’t mean it works. In a crowded, noisy media space, quality is what cuts through.
Retail brands are shifting focus to long-term value. That means cleaner media pipelines, stronger creative standards, and smarter partnerships. Let’s check out the details.
Source: Dentsu, The Year of Impact, 2025 Media Trends report
Retail reshapes media
Retail media is a core strategy for many:
- Amazon made over $50 billion in ad revenue in just four quarters.
- Walmart followed up by buying Vizio, gaining access to 18 million smart TVs and a shot at turning shoppable TV into a mainstream habit.
- Even CVS Pharmacy is stepping in, teaming up with The Trade Desk to offer self-serve ad tools.
This case pushes retailers to build complete ad ecosystems, where every impression, click, and purchase can be tracked in one loop. That kind of control appeals to retail brands looking for measurable results.
Other players are responding fast. TikTok now supports over 15 million merchants. Disney joined forces with Mercado Libre to combine media reach with shopper data. Even payment giants like PayPal and Chase are launching ad platforms built on spending behavior.
A better supply chain
Media supply chains are getting cleaner and more efficient. They shape outcomes, ethics, and efficiency across the board. Advertisers now expect more than impressions. They want clarity on business results like sales or store visits, and growing interest in societal impact changes how success is measured.
New tools like eye tracking help retail brands understand where attention really goes. That’s led to metrics like “attentive seconds,” which 87% of CMOs now use or plan to test.
Programmatic ad buying also needs protection. Private marketplaces, like Dentsu Media Exchange, are becoming more common, all to avoid fraud or risky placements. Overly strict keyword blocks, though, are backfiring. During the last FIFA Euro final, nearly half the coverage missed out on ads due to misunderstood words like “attack.”
The partnership gold rush
From influencer drops to co-branded campaigns, different collabs are booming. Generative AI platforms are racing to secure high-quality data sources to make their services more useful and credible. Examples?
- OpenAI has signed deals with The Financial Times, Reddit, News Corp, and Vox Media.
- And Perplexity teamed up with Der Spiegel and Time.
These moves could shift where people get their news, which means retail brands may need to rethink how and where they show up.
Streaming platforms are also teaming up. In the U.S., Disney+, Hulu, and Max now offer a joint bundle at up to 38% off. ESPN, Warner Bros, and Fox are planning a combined sports app. In India, Reliance and Disney joined forces to reach over 750 million viewers. Even Netflix is experimenting—one pilot in France bundles its service with Carrefour grocery discounts.
What promise do these alliances make? Lower prices for audiences and less fragmentation for marketers. To make it easier to plan, measure, and deliver media at scale.
Source: Dentsu, The Year of Impact, 2025 Media Trends report
Unevenly distributed
Tech looks the same everywhere, but what people actually get is starting to vary. Thus, a feature that launches in the U.S. might not reach Europe. And a regulation in Japan might open doors that stay shut in South Korea.
As platforms adapt to local rules, devices, and access levels, brands must also adjust. More information below:
Unevenly distributed
The internet is global, but think about the experiences – they are anything but equal. Platforms and governments are in a tug-of-war. Privacy laws, antitrust rules, and national regulations are forcing tech companies to reshape what they offer, and where.
- In Brazil, for example, Meta’s policy on using personal data to train AI was recently suspended.
- In the EU, some Apple AI features won’t launch due to data rules.
- In the U.S., those same features may work, but only on two flagship iPhones.
Is this a policy issue? Not necessarily. It’s a product gap. High-end AI tools often require expensive chips, and that leaves millions behind. Only 43% of consumers globally believe AI will lead to a fairer world.
The same split is happening with content. More media is being paywalled. The New York Times plans to charge for its podcasts, and other publishers may follow. Now, what people can access depends more and more on where they live and what they can afford.
For retail brands, fragmentation also matters. Your campaign might land differently in Tokyo, Berlin, or São Paulo, not because of your message, but because of the rules, devices, and access shaping how people experience it. This is worth bearing in mind.
Source: Dentsu, The Year of Impact, 2025 Media Trends report
Conclusion
The media in 2025 moves fast. Platforms play by their own rules, and attention is harder to win. But that’s not a bad thing – it just means you need to stay open, curious, and willing to try new things.
AI tools, tiny content moments, streaming bundles, creator collabs… they’re not fiction. They’re real ways to reach people, build trust, and grow.
You want to tap into niche communities? Great. Thinking about running your own retail media? Go for it. Want to stop wrestling with the algorithm and start working with it? That’s the move.
You don’t need to know it all. You just need to stay close to what’s changing. The smartest brands aren’t the loudest or the biggest. They’re the ones paying attention and showing up at the right time, in the right way.
That’s how you stay in the game. And that’s how you win.
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