Scopen has concluded the eighth edition of its Agency Scope study in Mexico, and according to Mexican marketers, the top five agency disciplines that are most critical and have the greatest business impact are: strategic planning, creativity, media planning, research, and media buying.
Source: © 123rf
123rf 76% of advertisers in Mexico work with specialised agencies and still wish to continue working with them in the future, with one agency as the lead agency
Among these, the two disciplines most closely linked to media agencies — Media Planning and Buying — have seen a significant increase in perceived importance over the last two years.
Investment ratio
The investment ratio (marketing/communication/advertising budget vs. company revenue) of Mexican advertiser companies currently stands at 0.4% (compared to 0.2% in 2023), returning to 2019 levels.
The average budget for marketing, communication, and advertising has increased by more than 18%.
Among the 11 markets analysed in Agency Scope, Mexico ranks last, tied with the UK, due to the high reported revenue levels.
The average ratio across the 11 markets is 3.2%, with Argentina (7.2%) and India (4.5%) being the only countries exceeding the four percent mark.
Budget distribution
Regarding budget distribution across different areas (ATL, BTL, and Digital), Digital continues to account for a similar share as in the previous two editions (2021 = 48%, 2023 = 49%, 2025 = 47%).
ATL actions represent 36% of the budget and BTL actions account for 18%.
Mexico ranks as the fifth market with the highest percentage of marketing-communication-advertising budget allocated to Digital, following China (50%), Brazil (49%), Chile (48%), and Argentina (48%).
Within Digital disciplines, Mexico allocates the largest portion of its digital budget to Social Media (35%), followed by Digital Paid Media (30%)—a distribution that closely mirrors the average across the studied markets.
Portugal leads in investment in Social Media (38%), while Brazil tops investment in Digital Paid Media (43%).
Average number of partners
In Mexico, advertiser companies currently work with an average of 11.4 different partners to address their communication, marketing, and advertising needs — up from 10.5 in 2023.
The most frequent collaborators are digital platforms (4.3), followed by advertising agencies (2.1) and BTL agencies (1.6).
Among the analysed markets, China continues to be the country where advertisers work with the largest number of partners (25.6 on average), well above the global average of 13.4.
Chile is the market with the fewest collaborators (8.2).
Specialised agencies: A counter trend
76% of advertisers in Mexico currently work with specialised agencies in various disciplines (Advertising, BTL, and Digital).
Looking to the future, while this remains the majority preference, the percentage of those who wish to continue working with specialised agencies stands at 57%, an increase from 49% in 2023.
At the international level, two clear trends emerge: in Portugal, Chile, and South Africa, there's a greater desire to work with integrated agencies that can meet all communication needs under one roof.
In contrast, in China, Spain, Colombia, the UK, and India, there’s a stronger preference for specialised agencies.
Héctor Abanades, research manager at Scopen explains that advertisers in Mexico continue to operate under a specialisation model (agencies by vertical expertise) and wish to continue doing so in the future.
“This runs counter to the trend in other markets, where integration is gaining momentum—something that will likely reach Mexico in the near future.
“Agencies that demonstrate more holistic capabilities or can show strong synergies and collaboration (either within their own groups or with external independent agencies) will hold a significant competitive advantage.”
More than 41% of marketing professionals interviewed state that one of their agencies "leads" or coordinates all the other partners they work with.
Globally, this average has declined from 46% in 2023 to 42% currently.
About Agency Scope Mexico
The fieldwork for this edition took place between January and April 2025, and the results have been presented to subscribing agencies in recent weeks.
This time, a total of 766 professionals were interviewed: 343 senior decision-makers in marketing, communication, and advertising from 263 different companies — some of the most important in the country; 305 professionals working at creative agencies; 103 from media agencies; and 15 commercial media executives.
Among the advertiser company professionals interviewed in 2025, 52% are women.
The majority are based in Mexico City (78.1%), with an average age of 40.7 years.
The most commonly held position is marketing director (28.3%).
On average, they have been with their company for more than 7.5 years and in their current position for 3.5 years.
Most of them are executives at foreign multinationals (70%), and the predominant industry is Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), representing 50%.
Among professionals from creative agencies, the majority (54%) are men, and the most represented position is creative director/supervisor (15%).
Among those from media agencies, women are the majority (58%), and the most frequently interviewed role is account director/manager (30%).
About Agency Scope
Agency Scope, a biennial study is conducted in 11 markets around the world (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Spain, India, Mexico, Portugal, the UK, and South Africa), analysing trends in the advertising market with the objective of understanding the processes, perceptions, and performance of the various agencies that advertisers work with.
The results include an analysis of the evolution, compared to previous editions of the study and are also benchmarked against findings from other markets.
In countries like Brazil, 10 editions have already been conducted; Argentina is currently undergoing its eighth edition, while in Spain, the study has reached its 24th edition.
This is the only study of its kind carried out in the industry, and its main value lies in providing subscribing agencies with first-hand information about their clients’ needs.
As such, it becomes a unique tool to identify growth opportunities, improve performance, and offer new services.
