TV or not TV? That is the question for brands and marketers on where to spend their ad dollars. This week, a new report says that in 2025 more advertising spend will go to commerce media than traditional TV, and TWIRM is asking why old-school TV is losing ground to retail media.
TWIRM, as every retail media maven knows, is the This Week in Retail Media podcast, hosted by Kate Dickson, Head of Marketing and Communications, Retail Media, STRATACACHE, and Jonathan Rosen, STRATACACHE’s Global EVP of Retail Media Strategy. Each week, Kate and Jonathan chat across the Atlantic about three retail media stories that excite them, intrigue them and even, sometimes, make them ask if advertisers have changed the proverbial “channel.”
The top story this week, courtesy of DigiDay, suggests just that. It reports that WPP Media is forecasting that commerce media ad spend will overtake traditional TV advertising globally for the first time in 2025, with commerce media expected to reach $178.2 billion compared to TV’s $166 billion. The reason for the big shift? Today, commerce media ad exposure can be directly linked to purchase, offering brands both reach and measurable outcomes.
Jonathan calls this validation that “retail media can do it all”—both performance marketing and brand building. Kate sees “the fragmentation of audiences” driving the shift, noting that “a well-plotted retail media campaign can hit every touch point that (a shopper) might be going through” better than linear TV ads.
Next, Kate and Jonathan tally NRF’s stellar holiday shopping figures, which show brick-and-mortar stores holding strong despite record digital sales. Lastly, they check out Albertsons’ new AI-powered shopping assistant.
Click here to hear Jonathan and Kate track the historic shift in advertising spend and what it may mean for the future of retail media.
