Three Trends to Drive 2025: Tom-Jones Barlow — Vice President of SeenThis APAC

As the New Year begins, it’s a chance to reflect on the lessons learned and embrace fresh opportunities. Challenges from the past year can become stepping stones for growth in the year ahead.

As part of our annual series, we invite industry leaders to share three trends they believe will shape 2025.

Next up is Tom Jones-Barlow, Vice President of SeenThis APAC, with a look at the year ahead.

Looking Ahead

What are three trends to look for in the coming year?

Programmatic vertical video comes of age

The media industry finds itself with an issue where vertical video consumption on mobile devices has now long since overtaken horizontal consumption with the only way to deliver these ads at scale limited to social platforms.

This is challenging news for all but Meta, and includes agencies who struggle with ROI from running a social campaign.

And yet the format absolutely works – vertical video has a higher impact, drives higher engagement, and is sympathetic to how a majority of media is consumed today – vertically, with video.

“Vertical video has a higher impact, drives higher engagement, and is sympathetic to how a majority of media is consumed today – vertically, with video.”

Expect an upwelling of companies trying to capture as much share as possible, but why haven’t we done this already? Instagram stories launched over eight years ago, and this idea isn’t new by any means.

The challenge has been mostly technical — publishers are already running all the video inventory and content that they can.

So – there’s 20% year-on-year growth in social video media on the table; the winners will be those who adopt new solutions to modernize how an ad is delivered, rather than trying to launch another standard VAST unit.

Muscular Sustainability

Has anyone encountered a climate change skeptic in the advertising and marketing industry? It’s clear that we, as professionals and consumers, value sustainability and see it as a crucial goal. We have the data to show this. However, reports indicate that some brands are scaling back their sustainability commitments, goals, and spending.

To create lasting change at scale, sustainability efforts need to deliver real value — improved results, cost efficiencies, and simpler implementation. Encouragingly, there’s plenty of common ground between the everyday demands of the media industry and sustainability goals: both require finding innovative ways to achieve more with fewer resources. Let’s focus on leveraging this synergy to drive meaningful, impactful progress.

“The future is bright for sustainable solutions that deliver both performance and cost-efficiency.”

The future is bright for sustainable solutions that deliver both performance and cost-efficiency. As the industry evolves, sustainable options that truly add value are taking center stage. Imagine partnering with a publisher that offers both higher quality and a more sustainable approach—it’s a win-win. Or sending ads faster, at higher quality, while using less data—achieving exceptional results and reducing impact.

Each year brings us closer to stronger CO2 reporting and reduction standards, opening the door to exciting opportunities for innovation and leadership in sustainable advertising. This is our chance to shape the future by aligning quality, performance, and sustainability. Together, we can create impactful solutions that drive success while making a positive difference for the planet.

Media Solutions & Reaching out to SMBs

The long tail of digital advertising continues to expand, presenting an exciting, untapped opportunity for the established media industry.

Across the globe, local businesses like plumbers and driving instructors are already leveraging paid search and social campaigns to grow their businesses effectively.

Beyond these platforms, the open web offers immense potential, with users spending 60% of their online time there—yet it currently captures only 20% of ad spend due to its fragmentation and complexity.

“The open web offers immense potential, with users spending 60% of their online time there.”

Agencies are stepping up to address this by creating innovative solutions that simplify campaign activation across the open web, allowing more mid-market brands across Asia to run digital campaigns. These solutions not only deliver better results for clients but also allow agencies to develop unique, value-driven products.

As these solutions mature, they are poised to extend beyond large-scale clients to tap into the SMB market.

This segment, characterized by high volumes of campaigns with smaller average spends, represents a rapidly growing and dynamic opportunity for advertisers. By unlocking the full potential of the open web, agencies can empower businesses of all sizes to thrive in the digital landscape.

Also published in: Branding in Asia