Ad Age: Media Buyers to Watch in 2025

Crystal Chou is a leader in marketing agency The Many’s media practice, who was key to revamping the group’s cross-discipline approach to creative, media and analytics, directly contributing to a recent new business win. Chou recently helped Panda Express pivot from performance media to brand-building for the first time, driving a 7.1% increase in sales, the highest brand health in its history. Chou also leads The Many’s employee resource group for Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing media buyers?

Balancing effectiveness with efficiency—clients and advertisers have shifted to an efficiency mindset given macroeconomic trends, and they’re looking to get more out of every dollar. However, efficiency doesn’t always equate to effectiveness. Effectiveness typically comes at a premium, and may drive long-term metrics over short-term. It’s imperative that media buyers are looking at plans and buys holistically, and mapping KPIs to tactics based on their specific purpose and strengths. Tactics meant to drive long-term effects should be planned, bought, and measured as such, as should tactics meant to drive short-term effectiveness.

What is one thing every media buyer should have in their tool kit?

An eye for synergy—any media buyer can negotiate and put together a partner buy in a silo; however, a deep understanding of how elements work together holistically and to drive larger impact is an art.

What media inventory will be the most in-demand for advertisers in 2025?

Retail media, CTV, social and YouTube will continue to grow in 2025. The shift of media consumption from linear to streaming will only get more prominent, particularly with streamers increasingly present within the live sports space, and ad-supported subscription tiers more commonplace among consumers. The influence of creators and platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube will continue to balloon, making these platforms must-buys for every (if not, nearly) advertiser under the sun. The explosion of the retail media landscape is one to watch with the consolidation of platforms within giants like Amazon and Walmart, and data ripe for targeting in-market intenders. These trends will likely result in record volume across these channels.

What is exciting you the most in the current media marketplace?

Looking for the next innovations is the most exciting for me. With consolidation happening across the landscape, and walled gardens becoming must-buys more prominently, the media marketplace has become quite transactional and innovation has become less exciting. What is the next big thing that consumers will flock to? Where are their eyeballs going to go as media consumption continues to change? How will platforms innovate to ensure their audiences stay? These, for me at least, are the most exciting trends to watch as this industry continues to evolve.

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