As the media marketplace becomes more complex, so does the job of the media buyer, juggling fragmented audiences, rapidly innovating ad tech capabilities and maintaining relationships to score clients the best deals.

This year, Ad Age selected eight media buyers to watch, who have led innovation in their agencies and driven business growth through creative media activation. From developing AI tools to simulate behaviors of target audiences to autumnal out-of-home stunts to guaranteeing TV deals on social metrics, these buyers stood out for their work this year.

Ad Age asked each buyer about the greatest challenges they face, the tools every modern buyer needs, what’s most exciting in the media marketplace and what inventory will be the most in-demand next year.

Carl Byers

Director of social/data science, Known
 

For marketing agency Known, Carl Byers has built multiple AI tools for more efficient and precisely targeted paid social spend. One AI capability scours all of Reddit to match brand data with the correct placement and timing for messaging, delivering increased performance for brands such as Shake Shack. Another tool aggregates target audiences into a “segment simulator” that allows marketers to chat with hypothetical consumers based on thousands of real data points to reduce research time down from days to hours.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing media buyers?

Most of the data we get from the platforms themselves is insufficient. Marketers and agencies who exclusively rely on those numbers are at a major disadvantage. It’s up to us to do the experimentation and the modeling to identify what’s actually working, what’s not, and what to try next. Finding true incrementality enables our media teams to pull way back on underperforming assets and quickly scale what is working, with confidence.

What is one thing every media buyer should have in their tool kit?

In Charlie Munger’s words, “A latticework of models in your head.” I think a good grasp of microeconomics and other ideas that underlie media buying is only going to get more important as AI starts helping with day-to-day work.

What media inventory will be the most in-demand for advertisers in 2025?

Niche, on-target, underpriced placements

What is exciting you the most in the current media marketplace?

All the cool new ways to find information. Perplexity, TikTok and OpenAI are becoming real competition for Google, and it’ll be interesting to see how and if they use advertising to make their platforms better.

Crystal Chou

Group media director, The Many
 

Crystal Chou is a leader in marketing agency The Many’s media practice, who was key to revamping the group’s cross-discipline approach to creative, media and analytics, directly contributing to a recent new business win. Chou recently helped Panda Express pivot from performance media to brand-building for the first time, driving a 7.1% increase in sales, the highest brand health in its history. Chou also leads The Many’s employee resource group for Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing media buyers?

Balancing effectiveness with efficiency—clients and advertisers have shifted to an efficiency mindset given macroeconomic trends, and they’re looking to get more out of every dollar. However, efficiency doesn’t always equate to effectiveness. Effectiveness typically comes at a premium, and may drive long-term metrics over short-term. It’s imperative that media buyers are looking at plans and buys holistically, and mapping KPIs to tactics based on their specific purpose and strengths. Tactics meant to drive long-term effects should be planned, bought, and measured as such, as should tactics meant to drive short-term effectiveness.

What is one thing every media buyer should have in their tool kit?

An eye for synergy—any media buyer can negotiate and put together a partner buy in a silo; however, a deep understanding of how elements work together holistically and to drive larger impact is an art.

What media inventory will be the most in-demand for advertisers in 2025?

Retail media, CTV, social and YouTube will continue to grow in 2025. The shift of media consumption from linear to streaming will only get more prominent, particularly with streamers increasingly present within the live sports space, and ad-supported subscription tiers more commonplace among consumers. The influence of creators and platforms like TikTok, Instagram and YouTube will continue to balloon, making these platforms must-buys for every (if not, nearly) advertiser under the sun. The explosion of the retail media landscape is one to watch with the consolidation of platforms within giants like Amazon and Walmart, and data ripe for targeting in-market intenders. These trends will likely result in record volume across these channels.

What is exciting you the most in the current media marketplace?

Looking for the next innovations is the most exciting for me. With consolidation happening across the landscape, and walled gardens becoming must-buys more prominently, the media marketplace has become quite transactional and innovation has become less exciting. What is the next big thing that consumers will flock to? Where are their eyeballs going to go as media consumption continues to change? How will platforms innovate to ensure their audiences stay? These, for me at least, are the most exciting trends to watch as this industry continues to evolve.

Anthony Dario

Managing director, enterprise partnerships, Omnicom Media Group
 

Anthony Dario joined OMG in 2021, and his work spans media strategy, content partnerships and cross-channel integration. During this year’s upfront, Dario led a team that created a data capability using clean room technology to integrate clients’ first-party data with Omnicom’s audience segments, reducing third-party data fees and allowing clients to reallocate budgets to additional media spend.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing media buyers?

Navigating the streaming ecosystem across multiple platforms and publishers are making it extremely difficult to reach a brand target audience—especially with the focus on managing frequency. That creates complexity when it comes to channel planning and measurement.

What is one thing every media buyer should have in their tool kit?

Never be content and look to learn every day. Technology continues to fuel changes in consumer habits and advertising technologies; staying complacent is moving backwards.

What media inventory will be the most in-demand for advertisers in 2025?

Live viewing environments (sports and tentpole events) are the last of a dying breed when it comes to demand-driven properties. When it comes to on-demand inventory, there is an essentially endless supply of opportunities for marketers due to distribution carriage agreements with platforms and content providers. 

What is exciting you the most in the current media marketplace?

I am excited to see how connected commerce partners evolve within the retail media space. Connecting consumers to products instantly is becoming more of a focus for instant outcomes. Seeing how Amazon, Walmart, Roundel and Instacart play with content partners in connecting products will be a focus for the next few years within the buying space. It can be connected to brands through social, video and audio.

Zane Gonzalez

Senior associate, convergent video & audio, PMG
 

For CKE Restaurants, the parent company of Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, Zane Gonzalez took a hands-on approach to media investment for the chains’ complex geographic targets. Gonzalez curated media in the SEC, ACC and Big Ten college football conferences game-by-game to identify which ones would maximize reach with target audiences, and secured exclusive opportunities with Revolution Sports Network, the ad seller for multiple college football conferences.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing media buyers?

Navigating the spreading of viewership between traditional TV and CTV. This is especially notable in sports, where we see distribution rights becoming more fragmented across media partners whose offerings can vary tremendously. Buyers have to keep their finger on the pulse of where to find and prioritize efficiency (which can be difficult as attribution is not always clearly defined) while also maintaining the value and impact of investment that drives business results.

What is one thing every media buyer should have in their tool kit?

Every media buyer needs to have relational intelligence—the ability to foster, maintain and understand working relationships. Harkening back to the creation of this industry, advertisers have hired agencies for their wide and deep relationships with vendors that can bring brilliant marketing ideas to life. This is a relationship-driven business, and buyers who can support both those they work for and those they work with are typically successful. 

What media inventory will be the most in-demand for advertisers in 2025?

I think we’ll see retail media take yet another leap forward in both capability and demand, especially Amazon’s live sports inventory. If  “Thursday Night Football’s” success this year wasn’t already a notable indicator, the addition of NBA rights solidifies Amazon as a viewer destination for live sports, paired with highly-desirable retail data and best-in-class interactivity. Amazon is still early in its maturation, but the secret of its offering is out. Expect more advertisers to invest in 2025.

What is exciting you the most in the current media marketplace?

The paradigm shift and focus on ad tech on the media partner side is exciting because it marks the entrance to a new era of advertising, one that is forcing buyers to be more involved and educated on data and analytics of reporting like never before. It creates new opportunities for advertisers to work smarter and more efficiently, while challenging buyers to be astute and discerning of new tech-driven capabilities. As the old adage goes, “You pay for what you don’t know.”

Dijana Jovicic

Senior VP, PMX Lift, Publicis Media
 

Prior to the launch of Publicis Media’s advanced audience capability PMX Lift, Dijana Jovicic was working with the agency network’s teams and clients to cobble together datasets and vendors to grow investment in addressable video. In the years since, Jovicic has been a key leader for PMX Lift, growing its team and capabilities. While Jovicic has worked across every agency and vertical within Publicis Media, she has recently focused on health and pharma, specializing in mediating regulatory nuances with advancements in advanced audiences.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing media buyers?

Figuring out how to evaluate new channels that are impressions-based (across video), together with more traditional channels and traditional currency methods, to really get an apples-to-apples comparison of performance, value and ROAS. It really requires an added level of knowledge across all video channels, together with the willingness to think outside of the box and bring their clients along for the ride, to really evolve and maximize every single dollar being spent across the video ecosystem.

What is one thing every media buyer should have in their tool kit?

A solutions-oriented mindset. No method or single channel across the media marketplace is perfect. Thinking outside of the box and having an open mind that is solutions oriented to tackle the challenges their clients face in an ever-evolving marketplace, is key.

What media inventory will be the most in-demand for advertisers in 2025?

Media that is addressable. We have so much data at our disposal and so many ways to identify, reach and speak to a brand’s core audience across today’s media marketplace, and I truly believe the channels and inventory sources that can help brand eliminate the waste and drive efficiencies in how they talk to their core target market will be in the highest demand in 2025.

What is exciting you the most in the current media marketplace?

The growth around ad-supported streaming services. As consumers seek more affordable access to content, streaming services that have historically only been subscription-based models, are looking for new ways to supplement fluctuating subscribers by offering ad-supported options, as well as FAST channels to monetize ad revenue and offset some of the cost. This is great news for our industry, not only because consumers understand the value exchange high-quality advertising brings, but it also gives us new addressably enabled places to advertise. Additionally, the evolution of FAST channels and big streaming-exclusive events, gives consumers an array of genre and special interest-specific content that aligns with their interests, while giving advertisers better insight into the streaming habits of their target audience, more granular types of content that resonates, and really shows the full power of streaming and how much reach it can actually deliver.

Nichole Maggio

Director of media, Luquire
 

Nichole Maggio has more than doubled the media team at marketing agency Luquire. For client Visit North Carolina, Maggio’s data-driven approach to TV buying saved the $1.8 million. And a unique OOH stunt that put cutouts of leaves on fall-colored NYC buildings and subway seats outperformed every other market for Visit North Carolina, increasing engagement with the client’s website 73% compared to the year prior.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing media buyers?

The biggest challenge currently facing media buyers is navigating the increasing fragmentation of the paid media landscape and evaluating the true differentiation among offerings. It can be difficult to discern which partners genuinely offer distinct value and innovation. It’s pivotal to ask the tougher questions and get under the hood of the data, the tech and the methodologies to better understand what you’re really getting.

What is one thing every media buyer should have in their tool kit?

Picture this: an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other—hear me out! It’s all about duality. I think it’s key to know how to strike that balance—how to play hardball when needed but still nurture relationships. It’s about asking tough questions with respect, standing firm for your client while still keeping things collaborative and friendly. At the end of the day, it’s all about fairness and a little bit of tact.

What media inventory will be the most in-demand for advertisers in 2025?

I’m not anticipating any one inventory subset to necessarily take the industry by storm. I actually think that we are moving towards a more inventory-agnostic approach to our campaigns, where we can apply the same sound data-driven strategies across inventory types to ensure our campaigns are fluid and nimble. I think this mirrors the way we as consumers are engaging with media across the board – fluid, short bursts of attention from one screen to another but my preferences, interests and content varieties remain consistent and true to me as an individual.

What is exciting you the most in the current media marketplace?

What excites me the most in the current marketplace is, well, I hate to say AI … but I’m going to say it, just through a different lens. AI has been a pivotal piece of the media landscape for years—way before it was a buzzword. It’s pushed us towards more predictive and modeled approaches to targeting and data, which skyrocketed performance for many brands in the last decade. I’m actually most excited for the rest of the industry to catch up and start getting their hands dirty. With what AI can bring to the creative and content spaces to personalize messaging, heighten speed to market opportunities and provide the ability to optimize messaging on a dime (literally and figuratively), our paid media campaigns will only continue to benefit.

Denzel Peters

Associate, integrated investment, Horizon Media
 

While Denzel Peters is noted as a key contributor to team morale by Horizon Media leadership, he is also a quick troubleshooter. For a demanding pharma client, Peters was quick to accomplish multiple rounds of replanning media due to regulatory changes, activating the client’s fourth-quarter campaigns on increasingly short deadlines. Peters also spreads his passion for media through frequent social media posts on innovations that inspire him.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing media buyers?

The biggest challenge we currently face is adapting to the rapid and unpredictable changes in the current landscape. Whether it’s advancing technologies or consumer behavior, media is evolving faster than ever and it’s our responsibility to become more informed and sophisticated to these changes.

What is one thing every media buyer should have in their tool kit?

Attitude. Media buying can be a high-pressure job. It can get a little overwhelming juggling multiple campaigns, dealing with complex projects, or working with tight deadlines. The right mindset is crucial to stay focused and motivated so we can perform at our best. It also gives us the resiliency that will help us thrive in the face of challenges.

What media inventory will be the most in-demand for advertisers in 2025?

I believe that streaming will be at the heart of most in-demand media inventory. There’s an ongoing shift from traditional linear TV to streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, etc., and advertisers should highly covet the inventory on CTV and OTT Platforms. Especially since it’s proven to be more cost efficient, and they have a unique ability to target specific audiences.

What is exciting you the most in the current media marketplace?

From the emergence of AI, the development of new measurement tools, and new e-commerce hubs, we’re at a pivotal moment where creativity, technology and data are converging in powerful ways thus unlocking new opportunities for media buyers and advertisers.

Allie Young

Media director, investments, Mediahub
 

This year, Allie Young has led data innovations for her clients. For an entertainment client, Young negotiated a deal for inventory in Fox Sports guaranteed on social engagement and social conversation across the client and Fox’s social channels. For a travel client, Young used advanced data analytics to attribute increased bookings to the brand’s video marketing.

What is the biggest challenge currently facing media buyers?

The biggest challenge currently and always facing media buyers is navigating fragmentation across channels and platforms. There is so much video content out there and so many places to watch that content that it has become harder to reach audiences as they spread across an increasingly diverse range of touchpoints. It’s more important than ever to make sure we are keeping up with these changes and doing right by our advertisers, evolving their buys to move with the landscape.

What is one thing every media buyer should have in their tool kit?

Curiosity. That means having an eagerness to explore new and emerging trends and platforms, keep up with the ever-changing marketplace and ask questions of their peers along the way. A successful media buyer should always be looking for innovative ways to optimize campaigns and discover new opportunities. This mindset will foster continuous learning and adaptability, which are both keys to navigating our fast-paced industry.

What media inventory will be the most in-demand for advertisers in 2025?

The media inventory that will be the most in-demand for advertisers in 2025 will continue to be live sporting events. These events have consistently drawn large, engaged audiences year-over-year, and offer advertisers the opportunity to connect with viewers in real-time and at scale. With the continued explosion of streaming platforms purchasing the rights to popular sports leagues, fragmentation has creeped into this space making it imperative for advertisers to adopt a multi-platform strategy.

What is exciting you the most in the current media marketplace?

What excites me the most about the current media marketplace is the heightened emphasis on storytelling and compelling content for consumers beyond standard reach and frequency media. Audiences are demanding more authentic and meaningful experiences with brands and our clients are pushing us to think of well-rounded ideas that create excitement and conversation beyond the execution itself.