The MINT Issue 22- March 20th 2025

• US consumers now spend around 12 hours and 42 minutes (12:42) daily with media across traditional and digital channels — a figure that has plateaued for the first time, eMarketer reports. Time spent is now reallocated, with 10 minutes shifting from traditional to digital media, a change from 2023’s net digital increase.

• TV marketing firm EDO found that TV advertisers spent $244 million on women’s sports in 2024, a year-over-year increase of 139%, with basketball “receiving the most investment of any sport,” CNBC reports. Moreover, EDO found that ads during women’s sports programs were 40% “more impactful than the average primetime advertisement,” as measured by “searches for brands after an ad aired.”

• Spotify says it paid more than $10 billion in royalties to the music industry last year, Financial Times reports, which Spotify said was “the largest in music industry history.” It took up more than 60% of the streaming service’s €15.7 billion in total revenue for 2024.

• YouTube continues to dominate podcast consumption, especially in its video form. The Google-owned company says it now has 1 billion monthly viewers for podcast content worldwide, Variety reports. YouTube users watched over 400 million hours of podcasts monthly on living room devices in 2024.

• Amazon has surpassed Walmart in quarterly revenue for the first time in Q4, CNBC reports. Walmart reported $180.5 billion in sales during the most recent quarter while Amazon reeled in $187.8 billion. Walmart still leads the way in annual sales, though Amazon is gaining ground.

Sources: IPG Media Lab, eMarketer, CNBC, Financial Times, Variety

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E.l.f. - E.l.f. Cosmetics becomes first beauty sponsor of the NWSL

E.l.f. has been investing in sports for the last 5 years, most recently announcing their new NWSL sponsorship which will include a content series around the partnership and sponsorship of a contest dubbed “Glow for Glory Contest.”

Dove - Dove Men+Care Announces new Partnership with Professional Snowboarder Mark McMorris

Dove Men+Care and Mark McMorris, Canadian Olympic snowboarder and 24x X-Games Medalist, prove skin hydration has no off-season through a first-of-its-kind Skin+Dorsement.

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Event Recap: Amazon Unveils Alexa+

(IPG Media Lab)

What an AI-enhanced Alexa means for brands

The Shifting Norms of the Vice Economy

(IPG Media Lab)

On the growing backlash against sports betting, the “alcohol recession” among younger generations, and the impact of AI on the vice economy

Microsoft Advertising Accelerate 2025: Event Recap

(IPG Media Lab)

A quick recap of Microsoft’s latest AI ad products and what they mean for brands

Asia Pacific Media Landscape

(MAGNA)

The Asia Pacific Media Landscape, by Luke Stillman and Rebecca Hwang, analyzes many aspects of the media industry and advertising markets in the APAC region: economic environment, market shares, ad spend growth, media costs and inflation, top advertisers, top verticals, and market profiles for 16 countries accounting for 95% of the APAC economy: Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam. Among key findings: APAC is the second largest advertising region, after North America, accounting for 31% of the global advertising marketplace (for 71% of global population). The ad market maturity/intensity ratio averages $70 per capita (vs global: $161) with huge contrast across markets: India $10, China $110, , Australia $700.

The TikTok Blueprint for Tentpole Success: Tacking Today’s Challenges in Tentpole Marketing

(MAGNA)

MAGNA Media Trials, in partnership with TikTok, examined how brands can leverage major cultural moments, like the 2024 Paris Olympics, to capture attention and expand their reach. This research uncovers the best ad formats, creative strategies, and timing to maximize impact on TikTok.

US Video Landscape - Winter 2025

(MAGNA)

TV/Video Inflation Report - March 2025

(MAGNA)

This "Inflation Report" series, authored by Michael Huberman and Vincent Letang, focuses on the ongoing trends in media costs (i.e., inflation or deflation) worldwide. The March report specifically examines Linear TV and Streaming costs. Key findings from this update include: Linear free TV net CPMs increased by an average of 5% in 2024 across the 50 markets analyzed by MAGNA. These CPMs are expected to rise by nearly 7% (+6.8%) in 2025. Streaming TV costs grew by an average of 4% in 2024 and are projected to increase by just 2% in 2025, with slight declines observed in the US. Linear national TV inflation in the US is close to zero for 2024-2025, but remains in the high-single digits in most other markets. This disparity is largely due to the significant development of streaming inventory in the US, while alternatives to linear TV have not yet reached the same level of growth elsewhere. Click below to download a PDF of the key findings or the full dataset in Excel.

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