TV Ad Spend Weekly: Uber CEO is 'forward' looking in new spot
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.
Uber looks to course-correct with new spot featuring its CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, leading this week's Ad Spend Weekly / Kantar Media
Advertisers spent a total of $908m on national TV during the week of May 14, an increase of 8% compared to the previous week. Spend on new advertising also saw an uptick, reaching $136m, an increase of 14% over the prior week. The performance finals on American Idol brought home a big win for ABC this week. The show on earned $22.7m in advertising revenue, including $5.4m for new ads.
The Home Depot and Verizon made sure to get an early start on Memorial Day deals with their promotions, and Walt Disney Studios continued to lay out blockbuster after potential blockbuster—this time with the Star Wars story Solo. Apple was this weeks biggest spender: amidst flagging sales of its new flagship, the iPhone X, the brand continues to tout the features of its smartphones, including a portrait mode that's forced rivals on Android to adopt a two-camera setup to achieve the same features.
A company that we don’t typically see spending big on TV landed itself in the top five this week. Ride hailing app Uber debuted new ads on May 14 featuring the company’s new chief executive, Dara Khosrowshahi, who discusses how he has been listening to customers, cities, communities and Uber employees and states “moving forward, it’s time to move in a new direction.”
After a string of bad press, it seems the company is trying to revamp its image. Uber has spent $3.8m running these spots nationally, one third of its overall national TV spend so far in 2018.
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This data is part of ongoing reporting released on a weekly basis with Kantar Media using its AdScope tool.