Media buyers look to next year's budgets as this year's volatility leaves a lingering sting

""A single person - not to name names - can post something on their own social network and the stock market plummets," Ringel said. "And a day later, that changes again. How do you operate in an environment like this as a brand? You have to be really careful. "We see a direct correlation between how many deals come in in a week"

"Both in April, when Trump announced a suspension to certain tariffs, and August when they went into effect, were a "disaster," Ringel said, who previously in the discussion onstage named a client list of over 250 that included Nespresso, Google, IBM and Moet Hennessy. That client roster cuts across categories including CPG, healthcare and financial services."

Marketers are closing this year's books while navigating emotionally charged times and unstable tariff policies that have impacted media buying. Real-time social posts and shifting government actions create rapid market movements that force brands to operate cautiously. Agency observations show an immediate correlation between government events and weekly deal volume. April and August tariff actions produced disruptive impacts. A client roster spanning CPG, healthcare and financial services reveals sectoral exposure differences. CPG and retail face greater exposure, and marketers remain cagey about Q4 holiday spending, though some CPG brands have increased spend to offset tariff uncertainty.

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