More than two-thirds of companies intend to increase their owned media leverage in the next 12 months, according to Sonder's 2025 Owned Media Global Market Report.
The report by Sonder, which values owned media assets, includes new research conducted by international research and analytics firm, Infuse, capturing insights from 50 marketing leaders across 40 businesses in 22 different countries to gain insights into the current state of owned media.
Businesses which participated in the survey included Emirates, Mastercard, Tesco, Accor, Hilton, BT Group, Nokia, PayPal, BP and Western Union.
More than a third of companies (36%) are currently providing owned media value to partners at no cost or not leveraging it all, while more than half (60%) of respondents do not have an owned media rate card.
Less than a third of respondents use audience targeting, ad-serving, campaign optimisation and monetisation software platforms, but over half of the respondents leverage their first party data with partner brands through customer targeting.
Retail media's global media spend is projected to reach more than $150 billion by the end of 2024, with the sector growing faster than most traditional advertising channels. The United States continues to lead the way in the market, with Europe seeing rapid expansion and the Asia-Pacific region in the early stages of growth.
New sector entrants that are expected to make an impact in the market in 2025 include finance, travel, telco and convenience.
As owned media networks continue to proliferate, the report forecasts pressure is expected to build on the major digital media companies including Google, Meta and Amazon, with brands seeking cost-effective alternatives for their marketing dollar.
Sonder founding partner Jonathan Hopkins said owned media has long been overlooked in favour of traditional paid advertising channels.
"In the past few years that has fundamentally changed as we enter a new era where any type of business can leverage their owned media networks both strategically and commercially," he said.
“Retail has embraced the commercial potential of the opportunity and now other sectors are catching on. We expect to see more and more organisations launch owned media networks in 2025.”
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