Ready to get on the map with consumers worldwide? Our latest report on today’s top media trends is the essential guide to understanding where to find your audience online so your ad spends go further. Explore exclusive insights on:
Where consumers spend the most time online
How people discover new brands/products
What your POC and LGBT+ audiences want to see in ads
Why AI might be your next big move
Report
Your game plan for shoppers, streamers, and scrollers
Shauna Moran
Trends Manager
Elise Hughes
Trends Analyst
Shauna Moran
Trends Manager
Elise Hughes
Trends Analyst
01
Today’s top media trends
Up until 2016, the headline was: consumers are spending more and more time online. We didn’t know where the ceiling was.
We soon found it. Lockdowns and their aftermath were responsible for new peaks, but they were a one-off. Now, business professionals are returning to the office, new technology like AI has joined the long list of platforms we use regularly, and tighter budgets have pushed people to rethink subscriptions.
There’s been slight drops in internet usage, but generally it’s pretty stable and likely to stay that way. So, it’s better to move away from the amount of time we spend online and start focusing on the what, how, and why.
Average daily time that global consumers say they spend online/on mobile/on PC or laptop in hh:mm
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Smartphones dominate today’s media landscape, which has had a domino effect. Their intelligent features made smart tech more mainstream, and devices like watches and thermostats continue to rely on their apps.
Ranked order of devices owned, based on the % of global consumers who said they owned them in Q3 2014 and Q3 2023
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As a result, we’ve seen some big shifts in product ownership. Smart TVs overtook tablets in 2018, with smartwatches speeding past game consoles in 2022.
Plus, we’re keeping a watchful eye on these markets as they evolve. Back in 2015, 36% of US/UK Apple Watch owners were female; today, it’s 57%, and their use cases are expanding. Health/fitness tracking is still the number one reason for having them but among owners of brands like Sony and G-Shock, entertainment, browsing, or communication rank top. In the future, consumers might start leaning more heavily on an even smaller screen for everyday scrolling, which could mean extra focus on strong visuals in ads, and less on text and click metrics.
Smart home products are also branching out. The number of people saying they own one has risen by 15% in the last two years, with growth being boosted by groups like parents with young children (+22%) or divorced/widowed consumers (+27%), which means the list of potential marketing possibilities is ballooning.
You might have read headlines that broadcast TV has less reach than it used to, and we can confirm they’re true. Late 2023 was the very first time that 1 in 10 internet users said they don’t watch any broadcast TV on a usual day.
Though, headlines tend to focus on what’s changing, rather than on what’s staying the same – which is also important. Broadcast TV still commands a greater share of total TV time than streaming, with broadcast shows like "The Traitors" and the 2024 Super Bowl smashing all kinds of live viewership records. Groups like baby product/pet food buyers, cruise fans, and spirit drinkers are heavy TV watchers, so it’s also a great channel to explore if you have a specific audience in mind.
% share of total TV time that's devoted to the following, based on the amount of time global consumers say they spend using each on a typical day
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At the top of the leaderboard, social platforms beat all other media types for the daily time people spend using them – for the average consumer, this is 2 hours and 23 minutes. And the fabric of this space is changing.
% change in the number of Instagram users who say they've done the following on the platform in the last month, relative to 2020
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What’s happening on Instagram is emblematic of a wider shift: people are using social media more for entertainment, and relatively less for personal sharing. While creating stories has stayed fairly stable on Instagram, Reels is where the momentum is.
Short-form video is ultimately a great playground for creativity, and an opportunity to drive powerful brand engagement. Half of those who view short clips on social media say they "like" or "comment" on them more than long-form content, and 62% say they share them with family/friends more.
Guide
The ultimate guide to social for agencies
Keep up with the changing social media scene with all the insights you need to reach your audience in 2024.
Get the guideDuring the initial, highly uncertain phase of the pandemic, news was in great demand, so much so that briefings from heads of state became some of the most-watched programs in history. But as we’ve entered an age of “permacrisis”, people have switched off. They’re spending less time reading both physical print and online press, with half of consumers saying they found themselves actively trying to avoid news on a weekly basis in December 2023.
Average daily time that global/American consumers say they spend reading online press and physical press in hh:mm
Source: GWI Core Q4 2019-Q3 2023 • Base: 2,393,052 internet users aged 16-64; and 405,857 Americans • Question: On an average day, how long do you spend on print press | On an average day, how long do you spend on online press?
But it’s not just negative content that’s driving disengagement; distrust is rising. Trust is especially relevant to US brands right now, as concerns around misinformation tend to rise before an election. America saw an uptick in time spent reading news during the 2020 presidential race, which shows there’s a window of time at the beginning of an event where more people are highly engaged. This means US publishers have an opportunity to gain new and loyal fans in the months ahead using some of the methods we’ve outlined in our 2024 consumer trends report, Connecting the dots.
Every medium has its golden age, where growth is rapid, investments are high, or competition is more scarce. Then, the hype dies down and formats enter their next phase. That’s what’s happened with podcasts.
Still, progress has been impressive, especially when we compare podcasting to long-standing forms of online audio; and advertisers now want to know which audiences they can speak to using it, and how well.
% of global consumers who say they've listened to the the following online in the last week
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02
Understanding the battle for consumers' attention
Based on the % of global consumers (outside China) who say they use the following monthly
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If you read the full list of platforms above, you’ll have spotted ChatGPT. Having achieved in one year what took voice and image search a decade, it’s now one of the top three ways Gen Z search for information.
As the only generation to pick social platforms over search engines for shopping-related research, Gen Z clearly like customized results, which explains their enthusiasm for AI. Plus, with over a fifth of 12-15 year-olds saying they mainly use social media to find things to buy, it’s likely Gen Alpha will have similar search preferences as they age. Brands should future-proof their strategies to include AI, as even if people don’t trust everything they see on chatbots, they’re finding more reasons to spend time on them.
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See the trends% of Gen Z/all consumers who say they use the following platforms most to find information on the internet
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Most global consumers use TVs and mobile phones simultaneously, either when watching TV on their smartphones or as a second screen for information and entertainment. In Southeast Asia, it’s actually rare not to, and just as common to watch TV on a phone as on an actual TV set.
So, capturing people’s attention isn’t just difficult because we’re using more media channels; it’s also difficult because we're jumping between them.
% of consumers in Southeast Asia who...
The index (IDX) is how likely internet users in Southeast Asia are to do the following compared to other global consumers, where 1.00 is the average
Source: GWI Core Q3 2023 • Base: 25,267 internet users in 6 Southeast Asian markets aged 16-64 • Questions: Which of these devices do you use to watch live TV/TV Channels | on-demand TV/streaming services? | Which of these devices do you often use while watching television? | Which of these things do you do online when watching TV?
Interactive ad formats and cross-platform campaigns are a good workaround. 1 in 5 consumers in Southeast Asia who use their smartphone as a second screen have scanned a branded QR code or provided ideas for a new product/design in the last month, which should spark some ideas. During the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League, ecommerce platform Dunzo showed a QR code on screen for 20 seconds with the line: “Inconvenience is regretted. Convenience is not”; they saw 10x traffic on their app.
If you want to know more about TV trends in APAC, you can find our insights and so much more in Avia’s 2024 Asia Video Industry Report.
Online shopping is also eating up consumers’ attention. Ecommerce has grown in the US over the last few years, and retailers have a wealth of privacy-compliant data on their customers, which is one of the reasons why retail media networks have become popular among advertisers.
% of Americans who…
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The number of Americans who say they typically hear about products via ads on ecommerce sites has grown 17% year-on-year.
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Download the reportApple’s Vision Pro represents its first new hardware release since the Apple Watch. So, we looked at the impact Apple had on the smartwatch market, to consider what it might do for VR devices.
% of consumers in North America who say they own the following
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03
Driving ROI with the right channels
Because consumers’ attention is split in a myriad of ways, it can be easy for marketers to feel like they’re not coming at them from enough angles. While new shiny platforms always seem to offer something that others can't, many advertisers are working with fewer funds. 1 in 5 professionals responsible for marketing or digital media/content say that budget cuts are one of the biggest challenges their team or company is facing right now, and management consulting agency Gartner suggests that “the era of more” has finally come to an end.
Fortunately, brands don’t need to be on every channel imaginable to get ahead, as most audiences can be found across the media spectrum. In fact, they all have fairly big reach and overlap.
Instead, marketers should aim to select a mix of platforms based on the specific things they want to achieve.
Overlap of media channel usage on a typical day
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Let’s start with brand exposure. More than 1 in 4 workers responsible for marketing say that raising brand awareness is an important initiative to help drive growth in the next year. And it’s a goal that – unless you’re Coca-Cola – businesses are continuously working toward.
% in each category who say they typically find out about brands/products via that media type
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Our data can be used to suggest the best channels for conversion post-discovery too. If companies are focused on reaching groups that make the most online purchases, retail, brand, and product sites are the spaces to be. Consumers in retail spaces are eager for inspiration, creating an opportunity for brands to boost sales.
% of global consumers who discover brands/products in the following ways and say they've purchased a product online in the last week
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Consumers who discover brands in commerce environments have the most buying intent, and various platforms are building these spaces within their walls. TikTok has made some of the biggest jumps in this area recently.
% of TikTok Shop users who say they last purchased from the following via the app
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04
Cutting through the noise with creative messaging
% of UK/US consumers who most want ads to do the following
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Purpose-driven messaging can also be deemed more or less appropriate depending on the media channel.
For instance, heavier podcast listeners are more receptive to ads promoting diversity and raising social awareness than their radio-listening counterparts. This can partly be explained by their attitudes and characteristics; they’re more likely to consider themselves opinion leaders, think immigration is good for their country, and say that contributing to their community is important to them.
% of consumers who use the following media for 4+ hours a day and say they want ads to promote diversity or raise social awareness
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Another way brands can cut through the noise and tailor their messaging effectively is by understanding consumer priorities in their sector. It goes without saying that price is important during an economic downturn, and for some industries and brands, affordability needs to be in the limelight.
But quality also suggests value and drives loyalty. In 2019, North American and European consumers said rewards like discounts would most motivate them to promote a brand online. Fast forward to today, and high quality products are the top incentive.
The most/least important factor when buying the following products, based on the % of consumers who cite them
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Entertaining marketing has also become more important. UberEats' Super Bowl ad, which features the Beckhams parodying their own Netflix documentary, is a great example of brands being light-hearted and culturally relevant.
% of each platform's users who say they log onto it for the following reasons
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Infographic
Social media use by generation
Take the guesswork out of your social strategy with this handy infographic on each generation's social media behaviors.
See it now05
Building brand trust and affinity online
% of consumers in each generation who say the following
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Blog
10 characteristics of baby boomers in 2024
Still not sure how to connect with baby boomers? We’ve got the data to help you see just how diverse this audience really is.
Read moreWhile the metaverse hype has died down, it's worth remembering that “proto-metaverses'' like Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox are still going strong; among these titles, regular engagement has grown by 28% since 2020. They’re great spaces for engaging with certain demographics too, namely LGBT+ consumers.
% of all Gen Z/Gen Z LGBT+ consumers who say they've played/watched the following in the last 12 months
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While there’s definitely been progress, minority groups are still underrepresented in many spaces and accustomed to seeking answers elsewhere.
% of POC and other consumers in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada who say the following
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This is crucial: it’s not just about representation, it’s about the quality of any representation. Above all else, POC emphasize the need for better portrayals of diverse groups in marketing.
% of US POC who say the following would improve diverse representation in ads
Source: GWI USA Plus Q3 2023 • Base: 691 US people of color aged 16+ • Question: Which of the following would improve diverse representation in ads?
Minority groups want to hear less about pledges or hardships. Instead, they’re eager to see themselves reflected authentically and celebrated. They’re interested in ads that capture the nuances of their experience, rather than those that highlight their community’s struggles; and to see meaningful social impact, rather than good intentions.
Who brands feature also makes a statement. POC most want ads that focus on diverse representation to include individuals or consumers (56%) and employees of the brand (39%) rather than TV stars and artists (29%).
Finally, retail media networks have a lot of potential when it comes to connecting with diverse or underserved audiences.
How much more likely each group is to discover brands on ecommerce/retail sites, compared to the average American
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06
Uncovering new partners and opportunities
Identifying new opportunities is at the heart of most, if not all, key growth initiatives for marketing teams, be that offering better services to their customers, or boosting differentiation against competitors.
Let’s start with cross-sector collaborations in the world of sports. So much has happened in this space. Netflix partnered with WWE, Estée Lauder teamed up with Manchester United, and Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery are planning to launch a sports service to capture younger audiences who don’t watch as much traditional TV.% change in the number of Americans in each category who say they've watched sports highlights in the last month since Q4 2021
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All these partnerships make sense. Consumers are increasingly watching sports on social platforms, especially combat sports. And these organizations are diversifying their fanbases as a result; MMA and boxing represent two of the three sports that have grown most in the US since 2020, and some of the audiences they’ve attracted are surprising too: groups like mascara wearers and Forever 21 shoppers.
There's definitely room for more of the leagues emerging on social media to collaborate with TV streamers. Over 1 in 5 consumers say that live sports events are important when streaming TV, and our data can be used to help sports companies find their audiences on OTT platforms. Amazon Prime users stand out most for following cricket and American football, for example, and Disney+’s audience for following skateboarding and ice hockey.
While streaming sites are less established as a marketing channel, FAST models are likely to move the needle. Since Q4 2021, there’s been huge growth in Americans saying they watch FreeVee (+108%), Tubi (+68%), and Pluto TV (+32%) monthly.
More eyeballs means fresh opportunities for marketers, with 23% of FreeVee users saying they usually discover products through pre-show ads. Not only that, FAST platforms tend to have cheaper ad rates than traditional TV, more transparency on performance, and the potential for interactive ads – so we’re excited to watch this space develop.
Here’s a final reason we think it’s worth keeping an eye on FAST sites: brands can reach unique audiences through them.
US Pluto TV and Amazon FreeVee users are much more likely to use the internet to research healthcare, use financial investment tools, and engage with publishers like NBC News than the rest of the region. They’re just three examples of sectors that could benefit from exploring this space as a marketing channel.
Other opportunities worth looking into are gaming partnerships and in-game ads. There's a strong appetite for luxury gaming collaborations, especially within certain categories.
% of all gamers/those in each category who are interested in a luxury gaming collaboration
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% of all gamers/buyers of the following brands who say they watch ads in exchange for in-game rewards
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Head of Insights, Activision Blizzard Media
Gaming is a highly immersive and interactive media channel. Brands are increasingly recognizing the power of gaming to capture attention and engagement through advertising experiences that are authentic to the gameplay experience. Adopting a player-first mindset for these in-game activations is critical, from rewarded video which offers players an in-game reward for watching the ad, to playable mini games, brands can offer fun and interactive ways for their audiences to engage.
We’ve recently started experimenting more with our data, taking popular brands and seeing which segments of their audience lie outside usual stereotypes. We then feed it into ChatGPT and get a description of a hypothetical marketing campaign aimed at that group. Here’s one for you.
FIFA is the most played game globally, and its fans share certain characteristics. Your average adult FIFA player is a 33 year-old man who enjoys watching esports tournaments and follows a sports or gaming account on social media. He’s likely to play soccer; in fact, over half of UK FIFA gamers play it, compared to 18% of the general population. All this you might expect.
But one of his habits gets less attention: he devotes a lot of time and energy to his personal style. Compared to other Gen Z and millennials, FIFA players are 49% more likely to use hair coloring kits and 37% more likely to use Revlon products each week, inspired by the footballers who invest in standing out on the pitch. Brazil’s Neymar is reported to have flown his personal barber over 6,000km to Qatar for a pre-match trim.
Off the back of this, ChatGPT suggested that Revlon and FIFA develop a tutorial series together, which could be hosted on YouTube and promoted on FIFA players’ favorite social platform: Instagram. This would showcase soccer icons demonstrating their preferred looks and ways to achieve them, and encourage followers to share their own takes – basically, setting up another competition, and saying “game on”.
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