How retail media and reliable ROI data are reshaping the video ad landscape

At the 2025 IAB NewFronts in New York, Nielsen’s Ameneh Atai challenges marketers to rethink their assumptions about media effectiveness and embrace nuanced, data-driven strategies.

Retail media isn’t just having a moment; it’s shaping the future. According to Nielsen’s latest research, 74% of North American marketers plan to make retail media networks (RMNs) a bigger part of their media strategies this year, up from 64% just 12 months ago.

But as budgets shift and advertisers pivot toward performance-driven tactics and newer digital platforms, Ameneh Atai, Nielsen’s general manager of audience measurement, has issued a timely warning during her presentation at the IAB NewFronts 2025: don’t confuse perception with truth when it comes to media effectiveness.

“Perceived is the key word here,” Atai told the audience. “Marketers believe that digital channels have higher effectiveness [compared with traditional channels] and they’re looking to increase budget there. But when we add actual data, we see that perception doesn’t …

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