Media Strategy in an Age of Fragmentation
How do you formulate a media strategy in 2025 that really works? Platforms, formats, and audiences are more splintered than ever before, and attention spans are beginning to feel like a thing of the past.
Therefore, marketers need to use media to their advantage, making the most of its multitude of channels to speak directly to relevant audiences, sharing standout creativity that impresses even the most discerning of consumers.
How then, can marketers and brands ensure that their products and services cut through the noise and leave a lasting impression on audiences and consumers?
To answer this question, and find out more from the people doing the job at hand, LBB asked media planners and strategists how to ensure reach and relevance across channels, and what newer platforms are offering that traditional ones can’t. What are the most pressing challenges in connecting brands to people today – and who’s doing it best
Angel Navedo, group director, communications strategy at adam&eveDDB New York
There’s a blue-sky answer here that presumes a State Farm budget. You’re everywhere. Full funnel. Always on with a partnership for every moment that matters. That kind of ubiquity feels safeguarded from splintering audiences, or at least appears prepared for it. Modular creative, talent-led, and evergreen everywhere. I don’t know the intricacies, but the scale is obvious.
But when you’re playing with different budgets and ambitions, great media strategy may need to shift into context more than space. I think the opportunities are more interesting when we build around appointment moments, anticipate social conversation, and scale a niche we can actually support. I don’t want to just see ‘music’ because it indexes high; I want to see if we can tap MUNDO and activate a secret rave in a bodega. That ability to optimise media plans to show up where there’s energy, contained conversation, and built-in economies allows us to make work with messages that land for real people where they’re not splintered, but locked in.
We all talk about moving at the speed of culture and showing up in real time, so pushing boundaries on time sensitivity feels appropriate. Midnight drops. Thursday night Twitch streams. Labubu restocks in malls at 10am. Whatever it is, pick a lane and show up meaningfully.
Nick Rogers, VP, media strategy at full-service agency, The Variable.
A great media strategy in 2025 is led by creative, built around a repeatable system for continuous testing and optimisation. The best brands and agencies understand that audience segmentation is no longer a media tactic; it’s a creative strategy.
Fewer than 5% of people click on ads, so why are we building creative for traffic and measuring based on cost per click and click-through rates? Great media strategy is grounded in channels that lean into motion, video, and engagement. This goes beyond attribution and builds testing frameworks for the modern marketing plan. Incrementality. Holdouts. Causality.
Lastly, a successful media strategy is created knowing that media buying is no longer a differentiated service. Everyone is fishing in the same pond. The advantage comes from your buying framework, your performance feedback loop, and your ability to place brands in premium environments without locking clients into conflicted, inflexible deals.
The best media strategies today aren’t just efficient. They’re designed to inform what’s next instead of reporting on what happened.
Elena Klau, global chief strategy & product officer at Momentum Worldwide
I recently attended a conference where someone said, "designing for humans is dead; we are now designing for AI agents." This dystopian viewpoint, while shocking, reflects that reaction that many are having as AI gains prominence. But where people see fragmentation of consumer behaviour as a result of algorithms and AI, we see people searching for authenticity and truth more than ever before, trying new platforms and formats in this pursuit.
This means that designing for humans is not dead, but an imperative, and media strategies need to focus on channels and mediums that create not just relevance but provide proof points for trust. For this reason, in 2025 and beyond, the media strategies that will truly win are less about building scale, but rather [about] building trust and authenticity so that earned media and the voices of people can amplify brand messages in ways that will resonate and be heard.
As an experiential agency, at Momentum, we approach media as an ecosystem where digital, physical, and social touchpoints amplify each other. Our media strategies are radically human in their design, rooted in real cultural truths and authentic brand voices that can't be intermediated by bots or noise. Rather than fragmentation, we should see people searching for authentic experiences and conversations. While paid media still matters, it's only by finding these pockets, and prioritising earned and co-created media that we can achieve true scale.
Elodie Kemble, media director at DEPT®
In a world where thumbs swipe up relentlessly, audiences tune out one-size-fits-all ads and dismiss anything that feels inauthentic or overexposed. Traditional broad-reach buys no longer work. To thrive in 2025, we need to build a living media engine that thinks, acts and learns in real time.
It starts by anchoring every decision in clear business goals and customer-journey milestones, rather than fixed channel budgets or broad audience quotas. I’ve noticed that brands ahead of the curve are fully leveraging AI tools for scenario planning to optimise spend across TV, digital, gaming and retail media. They also run innovation tests on emerging formats on lean budgets, capture learnings in real time and scale only those pilots that prove successful.
Also, creative has become a true lab. By deploying different ad variants, personalising each message, blending authentic users’ stories with bold brand moments, we stay relevant and earn genuine attention, not just raw reach.
Hannah Walley, head of media at Kantar Insights UK & Ireland
As attention spans shrink and culture fragments, brands are having to do more to claw through the clutter. Marketers now need to focus on incremental growth through always-on, connected campaigns that engage emotionally with consumers on multiple fronts. Our data shows that in the past ten years, the proportion of campaigns' impact which comes from a consumer being exposed to several channels has doubled, so it's something the industry is definitely starting to get to grips with.
Regardless of the specific channel mix, connected campaigns need the tailored creative to match. Heineken’s Desperados nailed this with its ‘The Beer with Latin Vibe’ campaign. The starting point of the campaign wasn't a TV ad; it was a musician – who they entrusted as the creative director and whose Latin music, crucially, matched the spirit of the brand. This gave rise to a network of creators getting involved with their own music videos and dance routines across several channels, including Spotify and social media, alongside out-of-home ads.
Campaigns with five or more channels can deliver up to three times the impact on awareness and purchase intent versus those with only two, so this tactic pays off. Then, once the campaign was in motion, Heineken made a smart move in a media landscape centred on authenticity – it got out of the way.
Melis Ciner, associate vice president, digital media at DAC Toronto
A great media strategy for 2025 centres [on] a local approach. It's about strategically aligning data, creativity, and budget, targeting consumers based on their mindset and platform engagement.
At DAC, we've had significant success with hyper-localised campaigns, managing thousands of location-specific initiatives for optimal relevance. However, brands must balance granularity and scale; overly narrow targeting can hinder reach and effectiveness.
Emerging platforms like gaming, retail media, and niche streaming provide unique engagement opportunities traditional media can't match, particularly with immersive and personalised experiences.
A frequent pitfall I see brands making is applying uniform KPIs across all platforms. Each platform and campaign stage, from awareness to conversion, requires tailored metrics that genuinely reflect consumer journeys.
Ultimately, adopting a ‘learning journey’ mindset of continuously testing, iterating, and evolving is crucial for future-proofing strategies amid growing media fragmentation.
Denise Turner, research director at IPA
At the IPA we have been measuring people’s media behaviour via our bespoke TouchPoints survey for almost 20 years, so we have a unique perspective on the evolution of media and the rise of fragmentation.
From that treasure trove of insights and some recent topical data, we have three observations:
- People still love content: But it is increasingly consumed across different devices and platforms. Ten years ago, when Alan Rusbridger stepped down as Guardian editor, he said, “We still tell stories in text and pictures, but also on blogs, video, audio and much more. We’re on the iWatch, but we’re still in the corner shop”.
- Mass reach is not dead: With the triumph of the Lionesses in the Euros still fresh in our memories, it is worth reflecting that Chloe Kelly’s winning penalty kick was the most watched TV moment of the year, according to Barb ((the industry standard for what people watch). And that and the tournament figures were amplified by interactions and conversations across other channels.
- The age of incrementality: We have just come to the end of the 2025 Tour de France. Dave Brailsford, when he was at Sky, talked of marginal gains, the seemingly little improvements. Media planners today are constantly assessing marginal gains from adding/removing channels from a plan. It’s not just about reach though; it’s about relevance – will this channel add a different type of connection with the people we are trying to reach? The answer to that question determines the decision.
Leslie Stocker, director, connections and performance strategy at Ogilvy
We live in an unprecedented world of media fragmentation, so the biggest challenge when connecting brands to audiences today is making sure the ideas that will gain attention in our noisy world are amplified in the right spaces and places to make a measurable impact. Starting with an understanding of the who and why allows the media team to focus on the where. One of my favourite examples is Glossier. They started on Instagram to reach their strategically defined audience of gen z and millennial minimalist beauty consumers. They understood how their audience was consuming beauty advice. They then expanded to IRL experiential pop-ups and influencer content to authentically connect with their audience and build reach. Not all channels need to be included for a media strategy to break through.
As a connections strategy director, I see four things that need to happen for a great media strategy:
- Audience alignment: Understanding where your audience is spending their time but also looking specifically into how they are using those platforms is key to aligning messaging that will authentically break through and resonate. Knowing that gen z uses TikTok as their beauty influencer, their medical doctor and their food critic is key to developing messaging that they will notice vs. a passive gen x’er who primarily scrolls for entertainment. And it goes beyond expected usage, like adding TikTok to a B2B campaign to tap into emerging the next-generation of business decision-makers using tech creators, as we did for our client CDW. The results outperformed all other social media platforms aside from YouTube for driving traffic to [the] site, the primary KPI.
- Strategic reach is essential: Fragmentation requires precision channel planning, but the best idea won’t make an impact if it doesn’t get the amplification to the right audience – so those high-impact channels like linear television and live sports still provide that cultural connection and broad adoption. And when these high-reach channels are combined with digital video, studies show ad memorability increases by 3%-33% compared to stand-alone linear TV. 33% is reached by adapting creative to make it resonate with platform audiences and don’t be afraid to lean into that latest trend on TikTok, if it authentically connects to your audience.
- The Role of AI in media: I see AI being helpful for media strategists as twofold: 1. During the planning stage to develop a high-level media mix and dig into audience personas and 2. Deploying AI for functional assets in the lower funnels (e.g., personalised ad copy, bid optimisation) to increase efficiency. It can’t replace a strategist’s deep understanding of emerging placements, which is key to developing unique media strategies that will make the brand stand out.
- Media strategy as a form of creative expression: Approach every brief as a new opportunity to analyse placements from the audience’s lens. Considering the context of delivery for each piece of content. Gaming may be included for two different briefs, but how the media team approaches that gaming placement should be based on how each audience will authentically receive the brand on each platform.
Ideally, the media team (including paid, social, influencer, [and] PR) is brought in early and gets a seat at the table when creative ideation begins, because understanding the creative territory can help them bring new and different ideas to the table that can amplify the idea in unique ways. We have IAT kick-offs that allow everyone to see the early creative ideas so they can then ideate on how to bring that to life across paid, owned, [and] earned channels.
Ultimately, connecting content to the media channels and platforms through an integrated strategy is key to avoiding a ‘one-size-fits-all’ media plan that is solely focused on budget-related reach and frequency, but ultimately fails to genuinely connect with the right audience and just ends up adding to the “noise”.
Jenna Watson, senior vice-president of Media at DAC Chicago
What used to be distinct ‘channels’ in a funnel are now a complex web of influence. Consumers expect relevance without friction and immersive experiences over clicks. Attribution models are collapsing under AI, automation, and zero-click behaviour. Brands built on the predictability of SEM and SEO must move fast to keep up with the rapid transformation in search. In this environment, agility, integration, and measurement built for ambiguity are the new imperatives.
Brands will need to:
- Rethink Channel Roles: Search, social, video, and influencers now coexist in the same moment. Teams must work in cross-functional pods (media, CX, data, creative) using shared data and aligned goals. Flexibility and integrated planning are today’s competitive advantages.
- Build with AI, Not Against It: Don’t resist automation; optimise within it. Keywords still matter, but only as part of a broader system. Structured data, multi-format content that satisfies intent, and AI fluency are now critical.
- Shift from Campaigns to Systems: High-performing brands will move and measure fast. That means evolving from legacy planning (episodic flights, static KPIs, fixed budgets) to resilience planning (learning systems, modular content, continuous optimisation, and flexible budgets tied to performance and business needs).
Jessica Treasure, head of strategy at Bountiful Cow
Fragmentation has defined the media landscape for most of my career, and it’s showing no signs of slowing. More platforms, channels and data keep us all on our toes, and, let’s face it – make it interesting.
Fundamentally, we are human, and what we engage with hasn’t changed; it’s just where we consume it that has. Storytelling techniques have remained the same for centuries. Therefore, for today’s media planner and strategist, it’s critical to understand where the most engaging stories are being told.
Some are ‘new’. ‘Adolescence’ on Netflix was the first streaming show to top UK BARB TV ratings, with 96 million views in its first three weeks. TikTok can now reach 1.84 billion adults globally each month. But some are ‘old’. UK cinema admissions in H1 2025 were up 12% year on year.
With everyone looking in different directions, brands that navigate this well ensure they show up in these places with relevant, distinctive stories of their own. EE’s ‘Switch off. Drift off.’ works because it offers a vivid sense of reality while feeling entirely otherworldly.
As an industry, fragmentation continues alongside consolidation and this means we risk creating advertising wallpaper and conformity by design — spending in the same places and saying the same thing.
At Bountiful Cow, we have one simple principle called ‘relative advantage’. It means identifying the opportunities and spaces that a brand’s competitors have overlooked — not for 0.5 seconds, but the places where audiences go for stories and are happy to hear yours.
Attention is in short supply. Media and creative must unite to cut through.
Ben Edwards, strategy director at the7stars
Radically fundamental
With platforms multiplying and audiences fragmenting, it’s tempting to think media strategy needs a radical reinvention in 2025. But the truth is, the fundamentals haven’t changed - they’ve just become more important.
Yes, we need to tailor activations more precisely across platforms, but it’s an exciting time to harness data, tech, AI and community-led innovation to deliver more relevant, creative and – most importantly – interesting campaigns, all underpinned by a strong media strategy.
That said, we can’t lose sight of the power of big media. It still plays a critical role in driving long-term brand growth. What’s changed is the definition of “big.” Sometimes it’s still a Saturday night game-show spot. Sometimes it’s a viral moment - intentional or not - like American Eagle's Sydney Sweeney collab or Astronomer’s unexpected partnership with Coldplay.
Scale now comes in many forms. But that should excite strategists and planners.
The brands doing it best aren’t the magpies blindly chasing the next shiny thing. They’re the ones building and sticking to a clear strategy, creatively activated across the right places, with messaging that earns the right kind of attention. If that means new platforms or use of data, then brilliant. If not, then also brilliant.
And let’s not forget the most important factor of an age of abundance: being set up to properly measure the metrics that matter. In this complex landscape, the sharpest tool a strategist or planner can wield is a robust framework for evaluating and proving effectiveness.
Vitaly Boitelet, chief product officer and co-founder, SmartAssets
The intuitive response to media fragmentation is media accumulation: if audiences are on more platforms, brands should meet them there. At the same time, platforms are pushing an asset deficit narrative and calling for more creatives per campaign to combat ad exposure fatigue. Even though the average UK internet user already sees more than 700 ads daily.
In response, some brands simply repurpose ads and adapt their aspect ratios, while others invest into crafting channel-specific assets. Many are exploring templated versioning solutions and GenAI as easy fixes that only add to the digital noise. These methods are great for creating more options but lack the feedback loop of in-market performance data. Beyond generating a beautiful image, brands need to know which image will drive results before spending to promote it. This reactive approach fails to grasp the opportunity media fragmentation offers.
Moreover, this fragmentation is accompanied by a dramatic increase in media consumption. The average UK internet user now spends over five and a half hours online each day vs. three and a half just five years ago. Each platform represents a different pocket of a consumer’s mindset. A successful strategy understands these different headspaces and designs assets to work along with them.
A person scrolling Instagram in a passive, discovery-oriented mindset, open to inspiration, and the next hour on Amazon in a high-intent transactional mindset looking for a specific product. Modern media strategies consider this, using creativity as an intelligent budget multiplier.
Instead of a gamble, creative becomes a precision tool. When a brand identifies the triggers that prime a specific behaviour, they arm themselves with a more effective and holistic solution than the reactive 'spray and pray' model. Forecasting creative effectiveness works better because it is about optimising spend from the start, not funding failure to find success.
