Retail media boom to fuel new surge in owned networks

The meteoric rise of owned media networks – driven predominantly by the retail industry – is set to continue in 2025 as other sectors seek new ways to connect with customers and find ‘hidden fortunes’ to add to their bottom line.

So says a new report from global owned media experts Sonder, which projects the commercialisation of business assets will also have a significant impact on the way brands spend their advertising budgets in the year ahead, and could put pressure on the likes of Google, Meta and Amazon.

Sonder’s 2025 Owned Media Global Market Report includes new research conducted by 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. The findings illustrated a widespread recognition of owned media as a powerful, untapped asset to create profitable new revenue streams and offer more opportunities to partners and customers.

The study finds that more than two-thirds of companies intend to increase their owned media leverage in the next 12 months, even though more than a third (36%) are currently providing owned media value to partners at no cost or not leveraging it all and three-fifths (60%) do not have an owned media rate card.

In addition, while over half of respondents leverage their first party data with partner brands through customer targeting, less than a third use audience targeting, ad-serving, campaign optimisation and monetisation software platforms.

Retail media continues to dominate the headlines with a global media spend projected to reach more than $150bn by the end of 2024, with the sector growing faster than most traditional advertising channels.

The US continues to lead the way in the market, with Europe seeing rapid expansion and the Asia-Pacific region in the early stages of growth, with a number of high-profile brands beginning to realise the potential through the launch of media networks.

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 spend.

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.

“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.”