Why Brands are Shifting Advertisement Budgets from Television Spots to Influencers

Since the average household had a television, the living room has been the holy grail of advertising. Families gathered around the television set, and brands competed for those precious 30-second spots that could make or break a product. But in the 21st century, those times are coming to an end. The under-35 demographic increasingly trades cable boxes for smartphones, and the new advertising battlefield is no longer the commercials during live television breaks, it is the algorithmic scroll feed.

In 2025, global influencer marketing spending surpassed $24 billion, growing almost 35 percent year-over-year. In contrast, traditional television advertisement spending continues to decline primarily because social media influencers' paid advertisements have an average ROI 11x higher than traditional forms of digital advertising. For brands targeting consumers aged 13–34, the math has become clear: if you want attention, go where it actually lives.

The Audience Has Left the Living Room

The core of this shift has been based on the implementation of short videos, since the inauguration of TikTok in 2016, and the subsequent emergence of companies that copied its platform, including YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and Snapchat Spotlight. The attention span of people ages 35 and under has slowly decreased to the point where, in 2024, a Pew Research Center study reported teens favour short videos over commitments to live television, as 90% of teens use YouTube daily, 63% use TikTok daily, and fewer than 16% regularly watch live television daily.

This change has led 54% of the under-35 cohort to find “social media ads are more relevant to them than those on streaming video services or cable TV.” Therefore, with decreasing attention spans for live television and increasing cost for television ad spots, brands that once measured success by Nielsen ratings now measure it by engagement rates, views, and conversion-metrics born from platforms like YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Instagram Reels, not ABC or NBC.

ROI Rewired: Influencers Outdo TV

It is not just about the number of people who view the commercial; it is about the return on investment (ROI). The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) looked at 220 campaigns across 144 brands and discovered that, against traditional channels, the short-term ROI of influencer marketing matched that of television: 99-97. However, social media’s long-term ROI significantly outperformed television: 151-71 Television. This is attributed to the continuous nature of engagement and the longevity of the content.

The economics are undeniable; the cost of a creator partnership is a fraction of a national advertisement, yet it often drives higher brand recall, more precise targeting, and longer shelf life as content is reshared, clipped, and recommended across feeds.

Unilever and Arizona Beverages are just two examples of many companies that have realized the increased ROI and have taken advantage of it.

Unilever: Turning a Legacy Giant Social-First

When a century-old multinational company like Unilever pivots half of its marketing budget to creators, it showcases that this change in advertising is more than a passing trend. CEO Fernando Fernandez recently announced that it would put 50% of its global advertising spend into influencer and social-first marketing.

The results speak for themselves; Creator campaigns drive a much higher ROI compared with traditional TV advertisements, says Unilever, especially with Magnum Mini. Their social media advertisements yielded a 15% volume increase, over 70% growth versus target, and over 60 million views on TikTok, something that would be impossible with one prime-time television advertisement.

Arizona Beverages: Viral Is the New Super Bowl

Even brands in the low-margin, high-volume beverage business have moved away from traditional media buys: In 2024, Arizona Beverages unveiled a new flavor not with a Super Bowl spot but via a 9-year-old TikToker whose parody post about a "dream flavor" went viral.

The brand seized the moment, producing the drink for real to generate tens of millions of organic impressions and a 400% ROI on a campaign that cost a fraction of the price of a prime-time TV ad.

This virality translated directly into retail demand: it sold out nationwide in weeks. Arizona's experience proves that authentic, grassroots creator content can beat the most expensive broadcast campaigns, while youth-focused products no longer need traditional ad channels to reach the mainstream.

What makes these two examples compelling is not just their success, but their diversity.

● Unilever operates in fast-moving consumer goods.

● Arizona Beverages sells affordable, mass-market drinks.

Despite these differences, both have uncovered the same finding: between the ages of 13–34, influencer marketing drives better ROI, lower costs, and deeper emotional connection than television advertisements.

This is a structural media shift. Creator-driven campaigns perform better because they reach an audience who has a high potential of being interested in the product and can be easily swayed by the influencers, as there is already a trusting relationship between them. In other words, influencers now scale like broadcast once did, but with data, trust, and community baked in.

The Remaining Role of Television

That does not mean TV is dead. It still excels for broad, multi-age awareness moments such as live sports, national events, or brand-safety-critical messaging. But the economics have changed dramatically.

Today, one 30-second national TV spot during the Super Bowl costs about $7 million, while even top-tier prime-time network slots usually go for more than $300,000 per airing. For that same $7 million, hundreds of best-in-class influencer campaigns on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok would produce thousands of targeted ad impressions across niche but loyal audiences.

To put it into perspective: where a Super Bowl ad might reach roughly 110 million viewers once, that same budget could activate 5,600 mid-tier creators-such (cost per creator at the highest for mid-tier, at $1,250 per video, each reaching 200,000-500,000 followers) collectively surpassing 1.1-2.8 billion cumulative impressions, many from the exact 18-35 demographic that rarely watches live TV.

From Unilever, which now allocates roughly half of its global ad budget to social-first and creator campaigns, to Arizona Beverages, which used a single TikTok post to spark a viral product that sold out in weeks, the message seems clear: the scroll feed has replaced the living room.

Brands are not buying airtime anymore; they are capturing attention at scale, one creator, one post, one screen at a time.