With Trump returning to power, Amazon.ie opening in Ireland and inflation under control, Paul Moran, Managing Director of Zenith (part of Core), looks at what 2025 holds for ad spend in Ireland

To start with a review of the highlights of 2024 is very difficult. 

Without wishing to ignore the many disturbing international and domestic issues which arose (or which got worse), in terms of the Irish economy and specifically the Irish marketing communications sector, there is plenty of reason for cheer.

The macro Irish economic performance is the envy of most other countries. 

Inflation is back under control and employment is at an all time high. 

Irrespective of whether you may agree with our soon-to-be-established new government, we now look to have a level of political certainty until at least 2029 following the November general election. 

Irish consumer confidence has risen slightly over the past three years (but consumers remain cautious compared to confidence levels pre-2020). 

For the domestic economy, 2024 had more balance and certainty than previous years. 

We could plan with more certainty which encouraged investment … including investment in advertising. 

As of December, Core predicts Irish advertising media spend to reach €1.596bn in 2024, equating to an increase of +8% against ’23.  

The word “envy” pops up again from our global partners and competitors, most of whom would love to finish the year with such a level of growth.

In looking ahead to 2025, the Core Research review of 2024 highlighted the top-rated story (ranked by public awareness) as being Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election. 

This event is also very much to the forefront when making any economic, political, societal projections for ’25. 

Globally we could be in for a rocky period. 

If Irish consumer confidence takes a hit, this will have a negative effect on many areas, including ad spend investment. 

However, on balance, we should avoid the trap of focusing too much on potential negatives. 

Core is predicting Irish ad spend to increase by a further +7.2% in 2025, hitting an all time high of €1.711bn. 

The launch of Amazon.ie plus other retail media providers will bring growth and further opportunities to advertisers. 

AI-powered tools will continue to enable hyper-personalised campaigns, thereby delivering greater and more easily measurable returns on ad spend investments for advertisers.

One certainty in forecasting for 2025 – for better or worse, it won’t be a boring year!