The future of telecom advertising: Why creative confidence matters more than ever

Telecom brands are about to turn up the volume on advertising. In 2025, ad spend in the sector is expected to grow 8.3%, fueled by consumer demand for 5G and digital services. 

While that’s good news for marketers, it also raises the stakes. 

Bigger budgets mean more competition and cutting through the noise will take more than just buying reach. 

To win in this space, CMOswill need creative that not only cuts through but also builds trust in a category where privacy and security are under the microscope.

TL;DR

• Telecom ad spend is set to grow 8.3% in 2025, driven by 5G and digital services.

• Trust, privacy, and security are top risks. Creative must reinforce these values.

• T-Mobile’s $600M Vistar Media acquisition shows how DOOH is becoming a major channel, with 42% of OOH revenue expected to be digital by 2025.

• Zappi helps telecom brands de-risk creative through predictive testing, cross-channel validation, AI-powered insights and telecom-specific benchmarks.

For telecom operators, the biggest risk in 2025 isn’t 5G rollouts or new competitors. It’s trust. 

Privacy and security top the list of concerns and consumers are watching closely. That puts a unique responsibility on marketing. Every campaign is now a chance to prove you’re trustworthy. Messaging that feels opaque or intrusive won’t just fall flat, it could damage the brand.

“Speed and price wars no longer win hearts. Increasingly, customers are making decisions based on whether their provider makes them feel protected.”

- Paul Hague, CEO, BlackDice

The opportunity is clear: CMOs need to incentive their teams to combine  innovation with reassurance.  The ads must celebrate new digital services, while also reinforcing the brand’s commitment to privacy and safe connectivity. 

“Telcos are leading the way in generating more trust to innovate and improve their offering. With GDPR requiring explicit consent for the use of consumer data, trust is essential to enable hyper-personalisation of offers and expand and consolidate new services.” 

- Oliver Wyman Maarten de Wit, Partner in Communications, Media & Technology

And since trust isn’t built overnight, ensuring you have consistency across every channel (think: TV, digital, DOOH, in-store) is key.

If you’re wondering where telecom advertising is going next, just look at T-Mobile.

They recently spent $600 million acquiring Vistar Media, a programmatic platform for digital out-of-home (DOOH).

It’s a big move, but a smart one. By 2025, 42% of out-of-home ad revenue will be digital, and DOOH offers new creative possibilities like contextual targeting, flexible messaging and real-time adjustments.

For insights teams though, it also means a new challenge: Ensuring DOOH assets are tested to the same standards as TV or digital campaigns. After all, consumers don’t lower their expectations just because they’re walking past a billboard, so you still need to make sure you’re getting real consumer feedback during this creative process.

This is exactly where Zappi helps telecom CMOs stay ahead of what the industry demands. Our advertising suite of consumer insights solutions gives you the tools you need to move with intention, agility, and an audience-first mindset:

• 60% more predictive testing: Make sure your campaigns are set up to succeed before they launch, even at their earliest stages.

• Cross-channel validation: Test creative across OOH, digital, TV and in-store.

• AI Quick Reports: Get instant diagnostics and pivot campaigns in real time with the help of our AI Agents.

• Telecom benchmarks: See how your ads stack up against current category norms.

For CMOs in telecom, it comes down to this: Budgets are growing, risks are high and the competition is fierce. The brands that win will be the ones that treat creative not as a gamble, but as a data-backed driver of trust and growth.