Marketer confidence in X – formerly known as Twitter – has declined significantly in the past year, driven by brand safety concerns and poor perceptions around innovation and trust, according to the latest Media Reactions 2024 report released by marketing insights and analytics company Kantar.
The Kantar report reveals that a net 26 per cent of marketers have reported plans to reduce ad spend on X in 2025, the biggest recorded pullback from any major global ad platform.
The annual study, which explores the evolving media landscape, is based on interviews with approximately 18,000 consumers in 27 markets and 1,000 senior marketers globally.
The study also reports that YouTube remains marketers most preferred ad platform , while for consumers, Amazon and TikTok share the top spot.
Gonca Bubani, Global Thought Leadership Director – Media at Kantar, said, “Advertisers have been moving their marketing spend away from X for several years. The stark acceleration of this trend in the past 12 months means a turnaround currently seems unlikely.”
“Marketers are brand custodians and need to trust the platforms they use. X has changed so much in recent years and can be unpredictable from one day to the next – it’s difficult to feel confident about your brand safety in that environment. Ironically, decreasing spend by marketers on X will make consumers happier with the platform as they come face to face with fewer ads,” Bubani added.
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The fall of X – a shift in confidence
Marketers’ trust in adverts on X, historically low, has decreased further under Elon Musk’s leadership, from 22 per cent in 2022 to 12 per cent in 2024.
Only 4 per cent of marketers think adverts on X provide brand safety, in contrast to Google, which comes top for brand safety at 39 per cent. X scores outside of the global top ten for trust and for the perception of how innovative advertising on the platform is.
This contrasts with TikTok, the most innovative advertising publisher for the fifth consecutive year, and YouTube, the most trusted.
In 2024, Amazon and TikTok are a first-place tie for consumer preference. Kantar’s research has found that Amazon ads are perceived as being more relevant and useful, whereas TikTok ads are perceived as more fun.
However, neither brand features in the top five ranking among marketers. Netflix, measured by Kantar as an ad platform for the first time this year, achieves a top five position among both consumers and marketers, helped by its top-three position for brand safety among marketers. YouTube has solidified its position as the top choice for marketers.
Kantar’s 2024 analysis also showed that point-of-sale (PoS) ads hold the top spot, replacing sponsored events in terms of consumer preference. PoS ads are seen as particularly trustworthy and useful and don’t hold negative connotations such as being intrusive. Other favoured channels include cinema ads, sponsored events, newspaper ads and out-of-home advertising.
Other key findings from the Kantar Media Reactions 2024 report
Kantar’s Media Reactions 2024 survey also offered an overview of the evolving attitudes of marketers and consumers in response to the changing media landscape.
- Mixed attitudes towards GenAI: 62 per cent of consumers and 68 per cent of marketers are positive about GenAI more broadly, but the same feeling doesn’t yet extend to AI-generated advertising. While most marketers (71 per cent) are not bothered by AI-generated ads consumers are not so sure yet: two in five (41 per cent) say AI-generated ads bother them.
- Good news for advertisers as consumer receptivity grows: Ad receptivity among consumers has been growing for the past decade as marketers find the sweet spot for nascent formats through trial and error and consumers are normalised to seeing ads on more channels. Almost half of consumers (47 per cent) are now receptive to adverts, up from only 24 per cent in 2020. The increase of 9 percentage points on last year (38 per cent) is the highest change since 2020.
- Generational stereotypes are a myth: The brands most preferred by consumers vary significantly and there are some surprises: Gen Z prefers ads on Amazon, Facebook and Google, and among millennials and Gen X, Snapchat comes out on top. Older generations also welcome ads on TikTok, which appears in the top three among both Gen X and boomers.
“Campaigns which reach more receptive audiences are seven times more impactful. That’s why it’s so important for marketers to find the sweet spot between the right channel, the right media brand and the right format. To thrive in today’s fragmented environment, brands have to do more than understand shifting cultural and media dynamics – they need to care about their creative quality and make sure they’re customising it for the right environment. That means finding opportunities to stand out meaningfully, meet consumers in their diversity, and connect with audiences in more authentic and impactful ways،” Gonca Bubani concluded.
