Highlights From ANA Media Practice Leadership

Media teams today are being asked to do more than ever all while often starting from media briefs that leave too much open to interpretation. This report outlines and provides practical guidance on the core elements that should be included in every media brief, highlighting areas such as KPIs, audience definition, timing, budget, and non-negotiables.

Through data-driven input from a broad range of companies from across the industry, along with survey results from the Media and Measurement Leadership Council, the ANA and 4As have created guidance to help marketers develop effective inclusive supplier strategies that achieve their campaign goals and produce results.

Principal media continues to grow, with increased marketer awareness, higher usage, and greater expected adoption. This updated report builds on the 2024 findings from the ANA with new research, expanded guidance, and a deeper focus on governance to help marketers navigate this increasingly complex landscape.

The Q4 2025 ANA Programmatic Transparency Benchmark confirms a decisive shift in programmatic advertising: advertisers that enforced quality discipline converted ~50 percent more spend into TrueAdSpend and achieved stronger outcomes as a result.

Influencer/creator marketing is exploding. Creator ad spending is projected to grow four times faster than the media industry overall (per the IAB). For the first time, the ANA has conducted a comprehensive study on influencer marketing agency compensation — based on both quantitative and qualitative research — also covering key KPIs and in-housing.

This follow-up to a 2023 landmark report goes deep on the issue of programmatic media transaction costs in order to reduce those costs, which could also help reduce loss of media productivity costs.

Marketers reclaimed $13.6 billion in media value in Q3 2025 as working-media share climbed to 47.1 percent. Connected TV quality surged, made-for-advertising exposure hit a record low, and 99.1 percent of spend occurred in low-risk environments — signaling a new era of efficiency, transparency, and accountability.

The rise of retail media networks has reshaped the brand-retailer relationship, bringing new complexities that many companies struggle to manage. This report highlights key learnings, best practices, and solutions to improve internal organization and alignment, elevate performance, and achieve better outcomes.

The programmatic media landscape is undergoing a significant transformation. The ANA's Q2 2025 Programmatic Transparency Benchmark reveals that despite measurable progress in cleaning up the digital supply chain, $26.8 billion in global media value is still lost each year to inefficiencies.

DUDE Wipes achieved seven-figure monthly sales on TikTok Shop by building a network of more than 14,000 unpaid affiliates, running more than 50 hours of weekly livestreams, and prioritizing authentic engagement over polished content.

The ANA and Evergreen Trading partnered on research to understand usage and attitudes on the media buying models of broker/agent versus principal.

In this video, dating app Tinder and its agency partner Movers+Shakers shared tips for brands looking to get the most out of their collaborations with creators.

The ANA's Media & Measurement Leadership Council, an activist group of brand advertiser's chief media and research officers, and Scope3 share practical studies and examples of how and where marketers can make sustainable advertising a reality through their influence in the ecosystem.

The ANA Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study delves deep into the dynamic world of open web programmatic advertising, with a keen focus on a pivotal issue: transparency.

Industry leaders created this guide to address transparency within the influencer marketing supply chain and the reported pay gap between white and BIPOC influencers. It offers a roadmap for marketers committed to equitable compensation and greater transparency in the $34 billion influencer industry.