TV Ad Spend Weekly: Apple, retailers find a 'Voice' once March Madness ends
Brands continue to invest heavily in above-the-line content, and television is still seen as the place brands want to be. Each week, in partnership with Kantar Media, The Drum looks at which brands have been investing the most on newly-launched creative on US national broadcast and cable TV.
Apple, not spending as much as it had last week, but on a spot focusing on its benefits in the education space. / Kantar Media
For the third week in a row, March Madness games garnered the highest revenue during the week of March 26 for both new ad spend ($12.4m) and overall ad spend ($83.4m). However, with only two games played during the week, the revenue brought in from the tournament isn’t has strong as when the competition began earlier in the month. As a result, new ad expenditures on national TV saw a decline of 27% compared to the previous week, reaching a total of $97m.
Apple, off the heels of spending nearly $20m for its lively iPhone X campaigns, showed off its latest, education-focused ads. We’re starting to see a shift in dollars shifting from March Madness to April’s shower of singing competitions — look for both The Voice and American Idol to pull as many dollars as eyeballs in the coming weeks.
Just in time to update spring wardrobes, retailers Kohl’s and JC Penney went head-to-head releasing new sales promotions this week.
Kohl’s got in the Easter spirit with a commercial featuring an adorable baby chick and pastel colored clothing. The retailer spent $3.6m advertising Easter deals for the entire family.
While JC Penney’s commercials didn’t have any cute animals, the retailer still offered some sweet savings. JC Penney spent $3m on national TV ads featuring a mystery coupon hidden in a chocolate bar.
See all of the new creative submitted from around the world in The Drum's Creative Works section.
If you have creative work to submit, please upload it here.
This data is part of ongoing reporting released on a weekly basis with Kantar Media using its AdScope tool.