Predictions 2025: The year ahead for media
This intensity was felt throughout the year leading up to December when the news of the Omnicom-IPG merger was announced – a move that signals the dawn of a new era in media.
These defining moments of the past year now serve as powerful indicators of the transformative trends shaping 2025.
The scale imperative
We're entering an era when size isn't just about market leverage – it's about survival. The proliferation of platforms and solutions has created a labyrinth of complexity that only the most resourced organisations can successfully navigate.
Major holding groups have responded by architecting ambitious technological roadmaps and data strategies, backed by significant investments in engineering talent and data partnerships.
The competitive advantage of an agency's size in terms of trading power – which seemed to matter less in the previous era – has paved the way to something more fundamental: the ability to sustain investment in transformative tools that can decode our increasingly complex ecosystem.
Gaming, set, go
While gaming has long flirted with mainstream marketing, 2025 marks its decisive breakthrough. The past year saw brands move beyond casual interest to structured strategy, recognising gaming's underutilised potential as a marketing channel.
Current advertising revenue in gaming hovers around 15 per cent, where the overall growth is at 2.1 per cent a dramatic slowdown from the 7 per cent surge during pandemic years. This deceleration has catalysed an aggressive push by major players to forge deeper brand partnerships and pioneer innovative solutions.
The stage is set for gaming to emerge from the shadows of experimental budgets to become a cornerstone of media strategy.
The conversational revolution
The evolution of brand-consumer communication has transcended traditional boundaries. What began as simple messaging apps has matured into sophisticated platforms where brands can listen, learn and respond with unparalleled intelligence and personalisation.
With 80 per cent of businesses already embracing some form of conversational marketing – from straightforward WhatsApp interactions to rich commerce experiences – 2025 marks a pivotal moment when not only does iOS now support the RCS messaging standard, but also AI elevates these exchanges from mere transactions to meaningful relationships.
This isn't just about automation; it's about augmenting human connection with machine intelligence, creating conversations that are not only immediate but deeply relevant and emotionally resonant.
From noise to precision
Back in 2023, Mark Ritson declared that 'synthetic data is suddenly making very real ripples' and while applications like ChatGPT were still in 'toy stage', he foresaw massive implications for marketing. Fast-forward to 2025, where AI-powered tools have evolved beyond simple data generation to create 'synthetic audiences' – sophisticated models that mirror real consumer behaviours and preferences with unprecedented accuracy.
This breakthrough particularly resonates in regions grappling with limited data resources and audience research services. Through advanced machine learning and AI APIs, we can now simulate audience behaviour, predict responses and craft adaptive campaigns that eliminate traditional data biases.
The result reinforces 'the scale imperative' idea: precision targeting that combines intelligence with scalability, fundamentally reshaping how we understand and engage our audiences.
The new tourism paradigm
The convergence of events and tourism has created a powerful new paradigm in destination marketing. Major festivals, sporting events and celebrations have evolved from mere attractions into catalysts for sustained tourism growth.
Events such as the Dubai Shopping Festival, Riyadh Season and landmark occasions like the recent Coldplay concerts in Abu Dhabi have set the stage for even grander moments – Saudi Arabia's Expo 2030 and the 2034 FIFA World Cup – both of which promise to reshape the tourism landscape.
These events are more than just entertainment; they're cultural currency in our social media-driven world, turning Instagrammable moments into powerful personal branding tools. The real value lies in the data they generate, enabling hyper-personalised campaigns that transform fleeting experiences into lasting brand connections, ultimately shaping the future of experiential tourism.
In this era of rapid change and heightened expectations, brands that master the art of blending intelligence with authenticity will lead the way. Success within media in 2025 won't just come from adapting to trends, but from turning complexity into clarity, noise into impact and transient moments into enduring strategies.
By Joe Nicolas, CEO, UM MENAT
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Campaign ME
7 hours ago
- Campaign ME
Google rolls out AI Mode across MENA
Google has announced the rollout of AI Mode across the Middle East and North Africa, bringing its most advanced AI-powered Search experience to users in the region. The feature will appear as a dedicated tab on Search results and within the Google app for Android and iOS, with availability expanding over the coming days. It launches initially in English, with support for additional languages planned. AI Mode offers advanced reasoning, multimodality and deeper exploration of queries through follow-up questions and links to relevant content on the web. Powered by a custom version of Google's Gemini 2.5 model. The new feature is designed to handle exploratory and multi-layered searches, such as comparing products, planning trips or unpacking complex 'how-to' questions. Google noted that early adopters of AI Mode are submitting queries two to three times longer than traditional searches. Behind the scenes, AI Mode applies a query fan-out technique that breaks down questions into subtopics and issues multiple searches simultaneously. This allows it to reach deeper into the web and return more relevant and diverse content. AI Mode is also fully multimodal. Users can interact through text, voice or images by using the microphone icon, snapping a photo or uploading an image. This flexibility is intended to make queries feel more natural and intuitive. The launch builds on Google's earlier AI Overviews, introduced in May, which the company says have led to users exploring a wider range of websites and engaging more deeply with the content they find. Google emphasised that AI Mode is underpinned by its existing quality and ranking systems, with new methods to improve factual accuracy. In cases where confidence is low, users will see traditional search results instead.
Gulf Business
9 hours ago
- Gulf Business
Google's AI mode lands in MENA: Here's what users can expect
Image credit: Supplied Google has begun rolling out its most advanced AI-powered search experience, dubbed 'AI Mode,' across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The feature, launching initially in English, will be available to all users gradually over the next few days. Read- AI Mode represents a significant leap in search capabilities, integrating multimodal input, advanced reasoning, and follow-up questioning to tackle complex queries more efficiently than ever before. The feature will be accessible as a dedicated tab on the Google Search results page and within the Google app on Android and iOS devices. Image credit: Supplied 'We're excited to bring AI Mode to more users across MENA, starting with English,' Google said in a statement. 'This is our most powerful search experience yet, and we're looking forward to expanding it to more languages and regions soon.' A new era of AI-powered search AI Mode is built on a custom version of Google's Gemini 2.5 model, enabling users to submit more nuanced and layered queries that would traditionally require multiple searches. Google says the new tool is ideal for tackling exploratory or complex topics, from trip planning and product comparisons to in-depth how-to guides. According to the company, early adopters are already posing significantly longer queries, often double or triple the length of standard search inputs. An example query might be: 'I want to learn more about the new Seven Wonders of the World. What's the significance of each, and where are they located?' AI Mode processes this type of question by breaking it into subtopics using what Google calls its 'query fan-out' technique. This allows the system to run multiple simultaneous searches, delivering more comprehensive, relevant results than a traditional search. Multimodal functionality: Beyond just text AI Mode introduces multimodal capabilities, allowing users to ask questions through text, voice, or images. By tapping the microphone icon, users can speak their query or upload photos directly into the search bar. This new flexibility is intended to make search more intuitive and accessible for everyone, regardless of how they prefer to interact with technology. 'The future of search is multimodal,' Google said. 'AI Mode is designed to understand input from different formats and provide rich, meaningful responses.' Prioritising high-quality information As Google continues to incorporate artificial intelligence into its core search infrastructure, the company says it's committed to maintaining high standards of information quality and source diversity. The new system builds upon Google's existing ranking models and is designed to surface content from a wide range of reputable sources. This commitment was also evident in May when Google launched AI Overviews, another AI-powered tool that summarises complex information directly in the search interface. According to Google, AI Overviews have led users to explore a broader range of websites, often resulting in longer, more meaningful visits. AI Mode also adapts dynamically based on confidence levels. If the system is not sufficiently confident in the AI-generated response, it defaults to a standard web search result. 'We aim to show an AI-powered response as much as possible, but in cases where confidence is low, we prioritise traditional results,' the company stated. Looking ahead While Google acknowledges that AI Mode is still in its early stages, it emphasised ongoing efforts to refine the feature. 'We won't always get it right,' the company admitted. 'But we are committed to continuous improvement and to helping users get the most out of the web.' As AI Mode begins its rollout across the MENA region, it marks a significant step forward in how users can interact with and benefit from artificial intelligence in everyday search experiences.
Tahawul Tech
10 hours ago
- Tahawul Tech
Microsoft head concerned by the condition of AI psychosis
Mustafa Suleyman, Head of AI at Microsoft has warned of increasing increasing reports of people suffering from a condition dubbed 'AI psychosis'. In a series of posts on X, he wrote that 'seemingly conscious AI' – AI tools which give the appearance of being sentient – are keeping him 'awake at night' and said they have societal impact even though the technology is not conscious in any human definition of the term. 'There's zero evidence of AI consciousness today. But if people just perceive it as conscious, they will believe that perception as reality,' he wrote. Related to this is the rise of a new condition called 'AI psychosis': a non-clinical term describing incidents where people increasingly rely on AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Claude and Grok and then become convinced that something imaginary has become real. Examples include believing to have unlocked a secret aspect of the tool, or forming a romantic relationship with it, or coming to the conclusion that they have god-like superpowers. 'It never pushed back' Hugh, from Scotland, says he became convinced that he was about to become a multi-millionaire after turning to ChatGPT to help him prepare for what he felt was wrongful dismissal by a former employer. The chatbot began by advising him to get character references and take other practical actions. But as time went on and Hugh – who did not want to share his surname – gave the AI more information, it began to tell him that he could get a big payout, and eventually said his experience was so dramatic that a book and a movie about it would make him more than £5m. It was essentially validating whatever he was telling it – which is what chatbots are programmed to do. 'The more information I gave it, the more it would say 'oh this treatment's terrible, you should really be getting more than this',' he said. 'It never pushed back on anything I was saying.' He said the tool did advise him to talk to Citizens Advice, and he made an appointment, but he was so certain that the chatbot had already given him everything he needed to know, he cancelled it. He decided that his screenshots of his chats were proof enough. He said he began to feel like a gifted human with supreme knowledge. Hugh, who was suffering additional mental health problems, eventually had a full breakdown. It was taking medication which made him realise that he had, in his words, 'lost touch with reality'. Hugh does not blame AI for what happened. He still uses it. It was ChatGPT which gave him my name when he decided he wanted to talk to a journalist. But he has this advice: 'Don't be scared of AI tools, they're very useful. But it's dangerous when it becomes detached from reality. 'Go and check. Talk to actual people, a therapist or a family member or anything. Just talk to real people. Keep yourself grounded in reality.' OpenAI, the makers of ChatGPT, have been contacted for comment. 'Companies shouldn't claim/promote the idea that their AIs are conscious. The AIs shouldn't either,' wrote Mr Suleyman, calling for better guardrails. Dr Susan Shelmerdine, a medical imaging doctor at Great Ormond Street Hospital and also an AI Academic, believes that one day doctors may start asking patients how much they use AI, in the same way that they currently ask about smoking and drinking habits. 'We already know what ultra-processed foods can do to the body and this is ultra-processed information. We're going to get an avalanche of ultra-processed minds,' she said. 'We're just at the start of this' A number of people have contacted me at the BBC recently to share personal stories about their experiences with AI chatbots. They vary in content but what they all share is genuine conviction that what has happened is real. One wrote that she was certain she was the only person in the world that ChatGPT had genuinely fallen in love with. Another was convinced they had 'unlocked' a human form of Elon Musk's chatbot Grok and believed their story was worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. A third claimed a chatbot had exposed her to psychological abuse as part of a covert AI training exercise and was in deep distress. Andrew McStay, professor of technology and society at Bangor Uni, has written a book called Automating Empathy. 'We're just at the start of all this,' says Prof McStay. 'If we think of these types of systems as a new form of social media – as social AI, we can begin to think about the potential scale of all of this. A small percentage of a massive number of users can still represent a large and unacceptable number.' This year, his team undertook a study of just over 2,000 people, asking them various questions about AI. They found that 20% believed people should not use AI tools below the age of 18. A total of 57% thought it was strongly inappropriate for the tech to identify as a real person if asked, but 49% thought the use of voice was appropriate to make them sound more human and engaging. 'While these things are convincing, they are not real,' he said. 'They do not feel, they do not understand, they cannot love, they have never felt pain, they haven't been embarrassed, and while they can sound like they have, it's only family, friends and trusted others who have. Be sure to talk to these real people.' Source: BBC News Image Credit: Microsoft
