Amazon is most-preferred ad environment for consumers globally

Amazon has been identified as the global media brand on which consumers enjoy ads the most. According to Media Reactions 2022: Kantar’s annual global ad equity ranking of media channels and media brands, ads on the Amazon platform were cited by consumers as more "relevant and useful" than others, making it the most popular ad platform among consumers this year among nine digital media brands measured in 2022. 

TikTok, the #2 digital brand for ad equity, continues to be perceived as innovative and more fun and entertaining than other digital media brands. Although TikTok fell from #1 to #2 position in this year’s ad equity ranking among consumers, they have managed to gain higher trustworthiness among marketers—84% of whom are going to increase their digital media spend on the platform next year.

Instagram leads the marketer’s ad preference rankings

Meanwhile, marketers ranked Instagram, for the second year in a row, as their number one preferred media brand, followed by Google (#2) and YouTube (#3). This year, TikTok moved three spots in preferences among marketers to reach fourth position.

Last year, marketers were wary of placing trust in TikTok as it was a rising platform—but this year TikTok hit the sweet spot of maintaining its innovation status while having earned marketers’ trust. As a result, more marketers are planning to spend more on TikTok than any other global ad platform in 2023.

“Trust and innovation are the two biggest factors affecting marketers’ perception of media brands," says Pablo Gomez, head of creative & media at Kantar in Singapore and APAC media lead. "The rising trust in TikTok over the last few years from a novel platform to a social media mainstay has given marketers the confidence to invest. As a result, TikTok has become one of the two brands that appeal the most to both consumers and marketers in 2022, along with Google."

Top-ranking media channels

For the third consecutive year, the report found that ‘real-world’ offline advertising platforms dominate the ranking of formats that consumers favour the most.

Across all media channels, consumers are most positive about advertising in sponsored events (#1), in magazines (#2) and cinema (#3). Ad equity for almost all online channels increased this year, continuing the trend since 2021.

Within the digital environment, influencer content leads the way as the preferred ad format, with a six-point jump in ad equity, followed by ecommerce and podcast ads. Social media story ads and music streaming ads both improved one position in comparison to last year’s results.

Despite consumers’ preferences for offline platforms, marketers continue to favour online platforms. More advertisers say they will increase spend on online video in their advertising budget allocations in 2023.

Top ad-equity performers by market

Across 29 surveyed markets, global giants such as Amazon, Google, Twitch, Spotify, Pinterest and Disney were identified in 15 countries as the preferred platforms. In contrast to last year’s results, consumers’ preferences have divided equally between global and local media platforms. Fourteen of the top advertising performers, from a consumer perspective, around the world are local or localised media brands.

Ad spend outlook

Overall, digital media spend is expected to continue increasing in 2023. Online video, video streaming and social media stories are the top three channels with a net increase in budget allocation in 2022 and 2023, followed by marketing in the metaverse, which marketers say they will increase by 61% in 2023.