Learnings from Sydney: Reflections on IAB Australia’s MeasureUp 2025 conference

By the end of 2024, video gaming penetration worldwide reached 83.6%. More specifically, research by the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association (IGEA) highlights the significant role that gaming plays in modern-day Australia, with 90% of households now including video gamers. 

With this level of mainstream integration, the opportunity for advertisers is huge. Yet gaming still captures less than 5% of global ad spend. 

So for advertisers looking to tap into this growing channel, how can they run, but also measure, campaigns effectively to drive sustainable business growth? 

Key themes from the keynotes

IAB Australia’s MeasureUp 2025 event on 10th September came at a pivotal time for those exploring innovative solutions within the advertising and measurement ecosystem. From a day packed full of insight and hot-topic debates, here are our key takeaways:

1. Effectiveness: Make your budget go further 

A dominant theme of the morning, reinforced by Liam Loan-Lack (Keystart) and Cameron Webb (TPG), was that effectiveness in today’s market means achieving more reach and results with less budget. CMOs and CEOs look for clarity, not complexity: they want to know the tangible business impact via meaningful metrics. ‍

2. Driving to outcomes: Take a holistic approach to measurement‍

As Angelina Eng (IAB) shared,  the IAB US 2026 roadmap includes improving data quality, updating marketing mixed modelling (MMM) strategies, evolving attribution, and proving incrementality. This shows that measurement cannot be addressed in silos - collaboration across brands, agencies, tech, and vendors is essential to get this part of the puzzle right.

3. Partner for precision: Look beyond walled gardens                                                

‍An illustrious panel of speakers - Suzie Cardwell (Nine), Nicole Bence (NOVA), Alex Smith (Samsung Ads), and Abhishek Loumish (Snap) - stressed the importance of proving results beyond your own ecosystem. NOVA was cited as a compelling example, where the company’s growth came from demonstrating incrementality of reach outside its network. 

4. The omnichannel edge‍

Speakers from two industry giants (Maria Gudino - Unilever and Jonathan Munschi - The Trade Desk) demonstrated how omnichannel campaigns deliver stronger results when execution is simple and outcomes are immediate. Neuroscience-backed findings also reinforced that audio, alongside other channels, is a powerful driver of immersion, attention, and recall. 

Next steps for advertisers 

Throughout the conference, some themes arose consistently: simplicity, collaboration, and outcomes. 

In a world where senior stakeholders demand clarity over complexity, partnering with an experienced tech provider can make all the difference when it comes to outcomes-driven advertising. Therefore, it’s important to choose a partner who:

• Has the ability to prove guaranteed, partner-validated outcomes via simple metrics (reach, attention, incrementality) differentiates our offering from others in this space.
• Has a strong position supporting gaming in the cross-channel mix to deliver unique impact across the attention economy
• Provides an end-to-end solution - combining creative services and trusted measurement partners - that mirrors the rigorous approach which has driven success in other channels such as retail media
• Provides access to a complementary and incremental audience pool when layered into the wider media mix 

If there was one message that came through loud and clear: measurement is no longer about complexity, but about proving clear, outcome-driven value through collaboration across the ecosystem. For iion, this validates the work we are doing to help brands unlock the power of gaming audiences, at scale, across channels, and with measurable business impact.

As the industry pushes toward a future defined by simplicity and results, we remain focused on ensuring that gaming is not just part of the conversation, but a proven driver of growth within it.

If you’re keen to learn more about how we can help you run, measure and optimise your next gaming campaign, reach out to us today.