With video consumption and ad investment showing no signs of slowing, the 2025 Video Summit on Wednesday 11th June 2025 offered a full-spectrum look at the evolving video advertising landscape, from measurement innovation and creative effectiveness to operational standardisation and future-ready strategies.
A huge thanks to our sponsors Kargo, News Corp Australia and Nexxen who treated the audience to a morning filled with networking and video advertising insights. Throughout the morning, we asked our audience to weigh in on some of the hot topics in video advertising through a series of polls sponsored by Kargo. These results are intertwined in our overview of the jam-packed morning.
Digital Video: Still Surging, Still Evolving
Natalie Stanbury, Research Director at IAB Australia opened the Video Summit with our first poll question on the best way to drive performance in video campaigns. 59% of our audience voted that cross-screen planning and storytelling was the best way to drive improved performance in video campaigns, while a further 21% voted that attention-grabbing video creatives was also important in driving performance.
Natalie then went on to highlight the insights from the latest IAB Australia Video State of the Nation survey. Consumer appetite for video continues to grow, with 85% of Australians watching some form of video each week. Investment is keeping pace, with the IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report highlighting video ad spend growing 23% year-on-year in 2024.
But challenges persist. Agencies named cross-platform measurement, macro-economic uncertainty, and the complexity of AI adoption as top concerns for 2025. Frequency management, fragmented platforms, and the absence of a unified video and TV currency in Australia were also highlighted as barriers to effective planning.
Still, the outlook remains optimistic. Agencies are embracing full-funnel video strategies, prioritising incrementality measurement, and experimenting with innovative formats and AI-driven tools to optimise performance.
Marketer Panel: Full-Funnel Focus, Creative Intentionality
A standout panel of marketers from Optus, Nivea, Domain, and Camilla revealed how video is being harnessed across diverse categories. Several key themes emerged:
- Fit-for-format is essential. Optus’ campaign featuring Nana Jude performed strongly thanks to platform-specific creative.
- Full-funnel alignment. Nivea’s precision marketing model ensures video content aligns with campaign objectives across brand, digital, and eCommerce. Their integrated team structure enables agile decision-making and real-time optimisation.
- Strategic storytelling to the right audience. For Domain and Camilla, video is not just about reach—it's a vehicle for brand storytelling, differentiation, and emotional connection. Camilla’s use of a White Lotus-themed fashion line and campaign delivered cinematic quality content and aligned media placement to premium customer segments.
- Creative + Performance: Across the board, marketers emphasised that branding must perform and performance must brand. A unified strategy is critical but so is being disciplined with single-minded KPI’s that ladder up to commercial impact.
- Measurement: From Challenge to Catalyst: Whether through MMM (market mix modelling), CMM (commercial mix modelling), or leaner internal methods, measurement remains central. For larger brands such as Nivea, CMM is used not only for analysis but predictive scenario planning. Meanwhile, niche players like Camilla leverage first-party data to track uplift by market and customer segment showcasing that effective measurement on smaller budgets requires smart strategy.
To end the session, the panellists voiced a shared “magic wand” wish: cross-platform deduplication of reach and frequency, seamless data flow from publishers, and a universally accepted video measurement framework. The desire is clear: simplicity, consistency, and credibility in measurement.
Tech Lab Update: Standardising for Scale
The IAB Tech Lab’s session delivered two significant updates. First, a new portfolio of eight video ad formats across Connected TV’s, ranging from pause ads and menu overlays to immersive and companion formats, which will be standardised globally by the end of 2025. These formats aim to balance creative innovation with consumer experience, offering new tools for brands looking to stand out.
Second, the Ad Creative ID Framework (ACIF) is tackling one of the industry's most frustrating pain points: inconsistent creative asset tracking. This initiative, now being implemented locally, will provide a registry and validation API to ensure creative IDs are standardised across platforms—simplifying reconciliation, enabling frequency management, and unlocking more accurate measurement. With support from broadcasters and creative agencies, this foundational change has the potential to significantly improve cross-platform campaign execution.
Tubi: Streaming Scale, Nostalgia Power
David Salmon, Managing Director of Tubi International, delivered a compelling session on the platform’s rapid global rise and its distinct positioning in the streaming landscape.
Tubi has carved a niche through its free, ad-supported, premium content model. Salmon underscored two key trends:
1. Fragmentation and Fandoms. As audiences migrate to a vast array of streaming platforms, deep vertical fandoms are emerging. Viewers are coming to expect total choice, personalisation, and the freedom to immerse themselves in niche content—from cult classics to true crime rabbit holes. For marketers, this means shifting focus from broad reach to contextual relevance and recognising that niche doesn’t necessarily mean small—it means loyal and emotionally invested.
2. Nostalgia is reshaping viewing habits. Viewers of all ages are embracing older content. From Gen Z binging Friends to millennials revisiting 2000’s box sets, evergreen titles are now dominating streaming hours. Tubi’s data shows that six of the top ten most-watched series across major platforms are over 20 years old. Like music, video is shifting to a comfort-led, emotionally resonant medium. Brands have a unique opportunity to connect with consumers through familiar, culturally iconic content.
Salmon challenged brands to rethink their assumptions: “The consumer is not obsessed with what’s newest—they’re focused on what feels relevant, familiar, or comforting. Brands that align with that mindset can form deeper bonds.”
Gai Le Roy, CEO at IAB Australia then introduced our second poll, focused on identifying which of the following changes to the ad experience has the best chance of improving audience attention.
43% of our audience voted that selecting contextually relevant placements was the best way of improving audience attention, while a further 23% voted that prioritising high impact and immersive ad formats was also important in giving the best chance of improving audience attention.
Agency Panel: Strategic Unity, Smart Risk, and Attention Metrics
Our final session of the day was the agency panel, featuring leaders from Zenith, PHD and Monks, offered candid views on market sentiment, screen strategy, and operational shifts.
- On measurement: Agencies are increasingly aligning their strategy and planning across screens, though measurement is still working to keep pace. MMM is seen as valuable but must be calibrated with multiple data sources to avoid any biases.
- On attention and effectiveness: Agencies are increasingly layering attention signals such as viewability and engagement into planning tools. However, panellists warned: cheaper CPMs don’t always equal better outcomes.
- On screen strategy: Agencies are taking a holistic view of "screen" inventory, including cinema, retail media and programmatic out-of-home environments. The focus is on ensuring relevant, repeat exposure throughout a consumer’s day.
- On economic sentiment: While the macro-outlook is still cautious, there’s growing confidence for 2026. Agencies are optimistic that brands will return to investment mode once interest rates stabilise and global uncertainties ease.
The morning finished on closing comments from the IAB Australia Video Council chair Vikki Pearce from Zenith highlighting the great work out of the council over the last 12 months including the video ad format matrix that provides guidance on maximising the use of existing assets by highlighting the diversity of environments suitable to each format. Given the strong focus on measurement and effectiveness this morning, it is safe to say the council will be tackling a project on this in the near future so stay tuned!