Over Half of Global Marketers Are Planning to Slash Ad Budgets in 2025: Nielsen’s Annual Marketing Report

By The Malketeer

Nielsen’s latest report reveals a global squeeze on traditional ad spend and a widening measurement blind spot

If you thought 2025 would be a year of marketing resurgence, think again.

Nielsen’s just-released Seventh Annual Marketing Report paints a sobering picture: 54% of global marketers plan to slash advertising budgets this year.

Even as technologies like AI-driven personalisation and Retail Media Networks grab headlines, the reality behind boardroom doors is clear—caution is back in style.

The report, based on a global survey of 1,400 senior marketing professionals managing budgets of USD$1 million or more, reveals an industry caught in a delicate balancing act.

While innovation remains on the radar, economic headwinds are steering decisions more than creativity.

Cutbacks Meet Clicks: The Media Reallocation Dilemma

Retail media and Connected TV (CTV) are the new darlings of adland—65% of marketers plan to increase their retail media investments, while 56% are boosting OTT and CTV spend.

Even traditional out-of-home advertising is enjoying a mini comeback, with 16% of marketers ready to pump up their OOH budgets by over 50%.

Yet, despite these shifts, more than half of all marketers are tightening belts overall.

There’s a clear sense that media buying is being recalibrated, not expanded—a reallocation rather than a resurgence.

AI Takes the Spotlight, But Brand vs. Revenue Tug-of-War Persists

Big-budget brands (US$1 billion and above) are charging full steam ahead into AI adoption, with 71% citing it as a top trend.

From personalised campaigns to optimisation engines, AI is no longer a buzzword—it’s a survival strategy.

But even as AI promises future efficiencies, marketers are wrestling with an age-old dilemma: build brand or chase revenue?

The divide is stark.

North America and Asia-Pacific show a nearly even split between the two priorities, but Europe leans heavily toward performance over presence, with 59% prioritising revenue.

Globally, 44% of marketers are trying to balance digital and traditional media—but digital remains in ascendance, turbocharged by data, speed, and a hunger for measurable ROI.

Measurement—Still the Achilles Heel

Perhaps the report’s most revealing insight is that only 32% of marketers can measure cross-media spend holistically.

That means two-thirds are flying partially blind when it comes to understanding how campaigns perform across digital and traditional platforms.

In Europe, the figure plunges to a mere 23%.

In Latin America, 29%.

The barriers?

Fragmented data, limited tools, and murky transparency—especially in fast-growing but poorly measured arenas like retail media.

Agility Amid Adversity

“Despite difficult economic uncertainties, marketers are demonstrating their inherent agility,” says Alison Gensheimer, SVP of Marketing at Nielsen.

Yet that agility is now being tested—not just by economic pressures, but by the industry’s own data gaps.

For marketers in Malaysia and the wider ASEAN region, Nielsen’s findings are both a wake-up call and a playbook.

Cutting budgets doesn’t have to mean cutting corners—but it does require sharper tools, better measurement, and clarity on what success truly looks like.

Because in 2025, the question isn’t how much you spend—it’s whether you know where it’s working.