Kantar’s annual Media Reactions study shows marketers are betting on AI, but many remain uncertain they have the right media mix or right data to deliver growth.

Marc Dhalluin, co-founder of TruthsetsOnline.com, estimates South Africa’s digital advertising market at between $2.1 billion and $2.4 billion, or about R35 billion to R40 billion, with programmatic advertising accounting for an estimated 40% to 50%. Applied to the estimated programmatic market, that would put potential losses at between R2.8 billion and R12 billion a year.

The issue is that different retailer networks use different attribution windows. Different reporting methodologies. Different definitions of success. Everyone shares some form of performance data, but not everyone is speaking the same language. This matters now because retail media is entering a new phase.

Ask a marketer whether brand or performance matters more, and you’ll usually get a diplomatic answer. Ask what their budget actually says, and you’ll get an argument. That gap between what marketers believe and what they actually spend sits at the heart of new research from the IAS & Selection Company.

Merissa Himraj will take over from Bonita Bachmann as managing director of The MediaShop Cape Town from 1 January 2027.