If the first half of 2025 taught us anything, it’s that marketing transformation isn’t coming: it’s already here!
From AI integration to retail media acceleration, from the creative renaissance to data intelligence, our most-read Marketing TNT articles this year reveal a clear shift in marketer priorities: from exploration to execution.
So what’s actually changing? And how should marketers prepare for the second half of the year? Here’s a curated lens through our top 10 stories: connected by trendlines, sharpened by context, and made actionable for Q3 & Q4.
1. Retail Media Isn’t an Add-On, It’s the New Ad Stack
The breakout story of 2025 has been the rise of retail media as a full-fledged ecosystem. In “The Future of Digital Advertising: Exploring the Transformative Power of Retail Media Networks,” we examine how brands are developing tailored strategies for commerce platforms. It covers not just shifting media dollars but rethinking creative formats, conversion metrics, and attribution windows.
Why it matters now:
In Q3, expect retail media measurement to become a hot topic, with calls for unified reporting and standards. Marketers will need to map offline and online outcomes with more granularity and precision.
2. Creative Effectiveness Is the New Growth Lever
Performance marketers are finally circling back to something brand teams have known all along: creative drives results. The Secret Behind Advertising Effectiveness? It’s the Creative. outlines how format, storytelling, and execution influence not only engagement but also conversion and long-term brand equity.
In Q3–Q4:
We’ll see more brands adopt AI-enabled creative testing, real-time adaptation, and attention-optimised formats. Creative intelligence will evolve from instinct to system.
3. AI Is Now a Responsibility, Not Just a Tool
AI adoption is no longer optional, but it’s also no longer unregulated. In “The Responsible AI Imperative: How CMOs Can Drive Ethical AI Adoption,” we examined how marketers must lead the charge on fairness, transparency, and governance, particularly as AI becomes increasingly embedded in personalisation, targeting, and customer experience.
Heading into Q3:
Expect a sharp uptick in AI audits, provenance tracking, and internal governance frameworks. Marketers who champion responsible use will gain both consumer trust and boardroom credibility.
4. 2025 Was Always Going to Be the AI Tipping Point
We called it early: Why 2025 Will Be the Year AI Changes Marketing Forever explored the fundamental shift from siloed AI tools to end-to-end AI-powered systems, spanning campaign planning, content creation, media optimisation, and even pricing.
What to expect next:
AI will continue to expand into scenario planning, demand forecasting, and sales enablement, particularly for B2B and DTC brands. Integration, not experimentation, is the new north star.
5. Retail Is Resetting And Marketing Must Adapt
In Retail’s New Reality: How to Win in a Tough Market, we explored how margin pressure, cautious consumer sentiment, and digital fragmentation are prompting retail marketers to think more critically about value.
In Q3 and Q4:
Marketers must focus on bundled value, first-party data activation, and performance-informed creativity to stand out, especially in mobile-first APAC markets where behaviour is volatile and responsive.
6. Data Strategy Is Now Innovation Strategy
Data has always been powerful, but in 2025, it became directional. Marketing in 2025: Preparing for the Future with Data and Innovation examined how leading marketers are leveraging data to create a creative, strategic, and operational differentiator.
What’s next:
Brands will invest more in intelligent data pipelines, privacy-safe enrichment, and AI-native data modelling. Signal strength, not just scale, will determine campaign success
7. AI Twins Are Redefining Research and Strategy
One of the most talked-about pieces this year, Goodbye Empty Chair. Hello AI Twins: The Future of Market Research introduced how digital simulations of consumer behaviour are replacing traditional, lag-heavy methods.
This matters in Q3–Q4 because:
Brands need faster, behavioural truth to make decisions around product, messaging, and media. AI Twins offer just that: observational, always-on, and outcomes-first.
8. Marketing Strategies Are About to Self-Evolve
We’re entering the age of self-learning algorithms, where marketing systems adjust autonomously based on performance signals. Self-Learning Algorithms Will Reshape Marketing Strategy in 2025 explored how this shift reduces latency, cuts inefficiencies, and boosts outcomes.
In Q4:
Expect more CMOs to invest in closed-loop optimisation engines that merge creative testing, media buying, and conversion learning into one continuous feedback system.
9. Not All Data Is Intelligent Matters More
In Beyond Big Data: Why Intelligent Data Is the Future of Growth & Innovation, we explored the evolution from raw data accumulation to contextual, decision-ready insight.
In Q3–Q4:
Look for more emphasis on data context, portability, and use-case alignment. Intelligent data isn’t just better, it’s faster to activate.
10. The Industry Has a Mandate, Now Let’s Execute
We close with the essentials. MMA India Board Shares 10 Commandments for Marketers to Thrive in 2025 distilled the year’s key shifts into a sharp set of imperatives: from measurement maturity to agility, from full-funnel orchestration to AI fluency.
Your Q3–Q4 mandate:
Act on the commandments. Build cross-functional playbooks. Audit your data pipelines. Scale AI ethically. Most importantly, measure what matters, not just what’s easily visible.
Final Thought: From Signals to Systems
What unites these stories isn’t just technology; it’s the growing interconnectedness of marketing systems. AI doesn’t operate in isolation. Neither does creative, commerce, or data.
The marketers leading the next wave are the ones building connective tissue between tools, teams, and outcomes. As we move into Q3 and Q4, that’s the challenge. And that’s the opportunity.
Stay tuned for more stories, insights, and action-ready tools on Marketing TNT
