Advertising Market 2025: Navigating a Changing Environment

The advertising ecosystem is constantly evolving and 2025 brings new challenges and opportunities. While digital media continues to dominate, traditional channels like television are finding their way in a changing landscape. Experts Ronald Brašeň, Radovan Pišný and Juraj Janošovský share their insights on the trends that will shape the advertising market in the near future.

Television advertising, despite the pressure from digital, still maintains its relevance, according to Ronald Brasen, mainly due to its reach to the core audience of linear TV. It remains cost-effective for brand and product communication, although its influence on younger generations is waning. However, rising prices, driven by high demand and declining space availability, are forcing commissioners and agencies to optimise and look for synergies between brands. Medium and smaller advertisers will more carefully consider the ROI of TV advertising and may prefer to be more flexible online when visibility is low. Limited creative and sold-out ad spots are pushing TV to innovate - partnerships, integrated programmatic visibility and linking with the online environment. Although TV is expanding into digital, the linear form still has a place in the media mix, largely due to the specific nature of content consumption. The key to success in TV advertising will be demonstrating measurable results, scaling successful projects and building strategic partnerships.

Radovan Pišný predicts double-digit growth in investment in digital media, driven by limited space on TV, inflation and market transformation. Artificial intelligence is increasing the accuracy and conversion potential of search advertising. Demand for quality digital advertising with an emphasis on viewability and brand safety is growing at the expense of cheap quantity. New platforms such as smart TV screens and podcasts are expanding advertising opportunities, and TikTok is attracting investment aimed at younger generations. Demand for display quality and short video formats is expected to grow, while longer formats are losing popularity. Podcasts will see significant growth and the position of data-driven retail will strengthen in conversion advertising.

Juraj Janošovský adds a more comprehensive view of the advertising market in 2025 with a forecast of 7.2% year-on-year growth in ad spend in Slovakia, with digital space dominating growth (11.2%). The impact of new platforms such as TikTok and investment in premium video content, such as via connected devices, will be significant. Auction media is facing inflationary pressures and technological changes are also impacting search. Retail media will experience significant growth (+44.8%), while linear TV is struggling with declining space availability and rising prices.

The biggest growth is expected in video advertising, digital retail media and traditional display formats. Search advertising growth will slow due to innovation, changes in attribution and user behaviour. Print media will continue to decline. Janosovsky also highlights the blurring lines between online and offline media and urges advertisers to focus on reach and effectiveness across the entire ecosystem. Declining media types must offer combined solutions, integrating traditional reach with digital technologies and transparently demonstrating their added value. Success will depend on results, not format. This is something we are continuously working on at GroupM. We're focusing on data-driven decision making for clients using new metrics and integrated campaigns that analyze the entire marketing funnel, not just the buying unit. We can help the media with that, and we certainly want to be even more ambitious with that.