There’s no other industry that loves being at the vanguard of emerging trends more than AdLand. And to be fair, why wouldn’t we? Advertising is at the intersection of creativity, technology and innovation, and its impact on society and culture has been immeasurable. 

So, each year our predictions come dressed up in flashy PowerPoints, with a liberal sprinkling of the latest buzzwords and jargon. From "the year of mobile" (which lasted about a decade) to our fleeting flirtations with QR codes – before their unexpected pandemic comeback – our industry has a penchant for obsessing over what’s next.

And while we’ve been spot on the money for some predicted trends that have become main stayers, we’ve naturally taken some missteps. Remember when VR was the next big thing for immersive branding? We’ll get GTA 6 first.

With 750+ performance specialists spanning our award-winning Experience, Media, Content, Strategy and Technology teams, we bring unmatched expertise across 30+ crafts, and our powerhouse of talent are taking a punt on the trend predictions they think could genuinely reshape the industry in 2025 and beyond.

Think AI, but less about Chat GPT and more about how generative AI will supercharge creativity and efficiency in video production. Toss in some regulatory headwinds, like tighter rules around unhealthy food and drink advertising, and you've got an industry poised for a reset. Oh, and don’t sleep on data trends - things like clean rooms and first-party data strategies are about to dominate conversations as we continue the cookie deprecation.

In this year’s trends POV, we've dived into these forces of change, unpacking how they’re setting the stage for the next era of advertising, and what it means for brands looking to stay ahead of their competition.

Here’s a quick look at three key trends in eComm, Data, and Media, but want the full scoop? You can download the full trends POV right here! And if you’d like to discuss any of these trends, tech or regulations in more depth, please drop us a line at: say-hello@kinesso.com

Huge thanks to all of our contributors: Heather Dawson, Dan Walker, Liam Brake, Steve Chambers, Pete Adams, Andy Duke, Rob Carson, Tom Clough, Deolu King and Hope Root for their expertise.

Commerce Media Networks are becoming every brands favourite side hustle

Heather Dawson, SVP Global Commerce Solutions, KINESSO

Advertisers are looking at an exploding landscape of more than 220 retail media platforms. A commerce media network (CMN) and a retail media network (RMN) are basically the same, except a commerce enabled company isn’t a classic big box retailer – it could be an airline, a makeup brand, or service app – anyone who closes a transaction and sells things.

The conversion and the user profile makes the data more robust and (jargon coming up) ...deterministic. A highly valuable alternative for brands looking to supplement what they lost in cookies. Any company with interesting consumer data to sell to the grid are doing just that – leaping directly to the ad exchanges and utilising much more standard advertiser-friendly ways to do it.

What does this mean for brands?

In 2025, there will be high fragmentation as more RMNs or CMNs join the landscape. We will see smaller companies like D2C commerce brands ramp up their data offering. At the same time a lot of those offerings hit the market in simpler ways that are more advertiser-friendly.

There won’t be many more mega-retailers building isolated ecosystems that require a highly customised approach from advertisers to work with them. Of course, there will always be a few dominant RMN players to keep track of, and tech aggregators helping to orchestrate the rest of the long tail.

But the number of partners and data providers will just keep growing. Advertisers are hitting the limit of the number of custom ad formats they’re willing to deploy so new CMNs are taking that into consideration.

Who doesn’t want to make a little extra revenue from their data? Ad networks are a great side hustle – but it’s not their core business so it does take some extra talent to stand it up (hint - Call us! We build and monetise networks!).

Goodbye third-party data, hello first-party data:  Evolving MarTech in 2025

Robert Carson, Head of Platform and Effectiveness Practice – Audience and Identity, KINESSO UK&I

2024 was a pivotal year for the advertising industry. After years of resistance, Google finally relented on its plan to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome.

While the direct ban is off the table, the consumer opt-in model will effectively spell the end for these cookies. Coupled with the increasing popularity of ad-blockers and privacy-focused browsers, the future of third-party cookies appears bleak.

What does this mean for brands? 

A continued focus on testing, refining, and optimising their data and tech strategies is essential for brands.

Data Clean Rooms, Data Cloud Solutions, and Customer Data Platforms are gaining traction as critical components of the post-cookie advertising ecosystem. While these solutions offer valuable capabilities, they alone, individually or collectively, are not a silver bullet and would be a sum of the parts.

To effectively measure and optimise media campaigns in a third-party cookie-less future, brands should also be investing in server-side MarTech solutions such as Server-side Tag Management, Server-side Web Analytics, Mobile SDK, Conversion APIs, and, if/where possible, Identity solutions.

However, not all brands are equal. All have varying degrees of first-party data collection, the types of first-party data they can use, and where and how it can be used for media purposes.

To unlock the full potential of these solutions, brands must prioritise transparency and offer greater value exchanges to consumers. By encouraging consumers to share their first-party data, brands can gain deeper insights, improve measurement, and deliver more personalised experiences.

Audio only advertising to rise with introduction of junk food ban restrictions

Hope Root, Product and Strategy Director, KINESSO UK&I

Evidence shows that children’s exposure to advertisements for less healthy food or drink can affect what and when they eat, and in the long-term shape children’s food preferences.

From 1st October 2025, a 9pm watershed for foods that are high in fat or sugar will be imposed on advertising across television. The move also encompasses all on-demand programme services (ODPS) under the jurisdiction of the UK and regulated by Ofcom.

This change in legislation will also introduce a restriction on paid-for less healthy food and drink advertising online, including non-Ofcom regulated ODPS. The effects on online advertising are far greater with the ban being 24/7.

The restrictions will only apply to the identifiable products in an advert, such as pizzas or burgers.

What does this mean for brands?

For brands with products classified as less healthy, there will be a complete ban on online advertising. They will only be able to advertise across TV and IPTV after the 9pm watershed  or deliver against Audio only inventory.

Audio only advertising is a great solution for LHF brands to consider, and we expect to see more brands lean in during 2025. Audio with no visual advertising does not fall under the ban and therefore is an area that these brands can serve ads 24/7.

Tech advancements have improved the addressability across audio, allowing for a more targeted approach than ever before.

OnDemand TV ads will still fall under a 9pm watershed but are also a good solution for these brands.

With access still available to premium online video content to help drive their business outcomes, we can support our brands in keeping awareness and consideration high.

Robust testing in digital-only TV channels such as Amazon Prime Video and FireTV will become essential for our campaigns to build strong strategies before the ban takes place.