Report Reveals Market Shift from Experimentation to Execution
Mediaocean, the foundational partner for omnichannel advertising, released findings from its 2025 H2 Market Report, offering insights into the most pressing trends shaping advertising in the second half of the year. Drawing from a global survey of hundreds of marketing professionals, the report reveals a clear shift from experimentation to execution, with CTV, AI, and identity as core pillars of growth. Marketers are leaning into personalization, performance, and connected systems to fuel cross-channel, full-funnel strategies.
Drawing from a global survey of hundreds of marketing professionals, Mediaocean’s H2 Market Report reveals a clear shift from experimentation to execution, with CTV, AI, and identity as core pillars of growth.
CTV remains the top channel for planned budget increases, with 58% of marketers intending to spend more in H2. As CTV matures, marketers’ focus is no longer just on reach, but also on precision and performance. Personalization was the top driver of CTV effectiveness, while cross-platform frequency management and measurement were noted as persistent challenges. Creative versioning, cross-platform optimization, and identity-informed targeting are now considered essential to unlocking CTV’s full-funnel value.
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Generative AI tops the list of consumer trends for the second straight wave, with 72% of marketers citing it as a priority—up 15% from H1. This growth was consistent across all vertical industries. Marketers are moving past experimentation, applying AI throughout the ad lifecycle, from creative production and copywriting to media planning, data analysis, and campaign optimization.
Identity and demand generation grew as strategic priorities, rising 41% and 33%, respectively. Marketers can’t drive demand without knowing who they’re talking to. With cookies on the decline and media channels multiplying, marketers are leaning into multi-ID strategies that blend first-party data, partner IDs, and other signals to keep continuity across screens and platforms.
Cultural and political sensitivity also saw a rise in importance, with an 82% increase in marketers flagging it as a priority since H1. As political and advocacy issues increasingly intersect with brand communications, marketers are rethinking messaging and positioning with more nuance, using AI-powered creative tools to adapt in real-time and speak authentically across diverse audiences and contexts.
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“Marketers are meeting change with a blend of resilience and reinvention,” said Karsten Weide, Principal & Chief Analyst, W Media Research. “As legacy IDs fade and AI transforms every corner of the ad tech stack, brands are building smarter, more flexible systems—rooted in identity, demand generation, and the measurable performance of channels like CTV. This report shows that the future isn’t something marketers are waiting for, it’s something they’re actively engineering.”
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