29% of marketers plan to decrease spend on X next year
The social platform is still feeling the sting of Elon Musk’s takeover, according to Kantar’s Media Reactions report.
X has continued to fall from relevance in the eyes of both consumers and marketers, according to Kantar’s 2025 Media Reactions report.
Over a quarter (29%) of marketers plan to decrease spend on the Elon Musk-owned social media platform, and nearly one in eight of those surveyed plan to pull their investment in the platform completely.
Musk’s ownership of the social media giant, formerly known as Twitter, has been rife with controversy: from a perceived fall in brand safety to suing the WFA for an alleged “illegal boycott” of the platform. All of which has led to a steep decline in ad revenue for the brand.
“One year after Elon Musk sued brands for pulling their investment in the platform, things haven’t improved,” says Gonca Bubani, global director of media at Kantar. “Having failed to make progress on content moderation, marketers have ranked X last among all global brands for trust for the third year in a row.”
Kantar’s Media Reactions report ranks media channels based on both consumer and marketer preferences, however, on this occasion, no brand is in the top five across both groups.
The study is informed by the opinions of around 18,000 consumers covering 384 brands in 27 markets and 1,000 senior marketers around the world.X reputation falls to lowest level since Musk takeover
Amazon-owned brands dominate the consumer ranking, with Amazon in first place, Twitch in fourth and Prime Video in fifth. Both Twitch and Prime Video are new entries into the ranking entirely, demonstrating a rapid rise.
“Amazon’s ad properties buck the trend by offering a variety of different experiences from its various channels,” says Bubani. “Twitch is a good example: consumers trust its ads more than anywhere else, but many marketers assume that passionate and substantial gaming and live-streaming audiences are niche, narrow groups.”
The other two brands in the consumer top five, Snapchat and TikTok, show there’s a sustained interest in short-form, attention-grabbing advertising.
By contrast, the top five amongst marketers — YouTube, Instagram, Google, Netflix, and Spotify — remain unchanged since last year.
The continued dominance of social advertising coincides with a increase in influencer and social commerce spend. Nearly two-thirds (61%) of marketers plan to increase their spend on influencer content next year, while a further half (53%) are planning to increase spend on social commerce ads.
Bubani explains: “Creator campaigns demand a departure from traditional ways of working. Creators aren’t actors doing a brand’s bidding, so the value exchange is very different.
“Every dollar spent on an influencer is a dollar over which marketers don’t have complete control. The most successful and authentic creator partnerships depend on flexibility with clear guardrails around a brand’s values, tone and assets.”
Among marketers, online video ads and social commerce ads rank second and fifth in preference respectively. Alongside this, digital out of home ads rank first, in-person sponsored events rank third, and out of home ads rank fourth.
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While some are sceptical about TV’s continuing impact on consumers, over half (54%) of marketers plan to increase their investment in TV streaming and almost one in five (19%) have indicated they will up spend on TV and online video product placement.
This is offsetting the net 26% of marketers planning to decrease their spend on linear TV.
“Consumers trust broadcast TV advertising, and it still delivers the most significant brand impact. But the cost of creating TV ads makes it tempting to spend big to get them seen, meaning marketers tend to overinvest in TV relative to its return,” explains Bubani.
On the whole, consumer receptivity to ads is improving. More than half (57%) of consumers say they are generally receptive to advertising, a large increase from 47% last year.
Among consumers, point of sale ads are ranked first, the same as last year. In-person sponsored events are ranked second, with cinema ads dropping down to third. Digital out of home ads and other out of home ads are ranked fourth and fifth respectively.
Bubani says: “Ad campaigns are seven times more impactful among more receptive audiences, and people are more receptive than ever. That’s good news for marketers in a tough economy, but not enough to overcome their anxiety over the fragmented media landscape”.
