Digital Ad Prospects: Rising Display Spenders

As you approach the end of the year eager to crush your goals, the last thing you want is to waste time on leads that aren’t ready to buy or don’t have the budget to advertise with you. That’s why we’ve put together a list of four digital ad spenders with significant spend increases, signaling opportunity for you and your team. 

Ad spending continues to rise across the globe, with digital driving most of the growth. In 2019, worldwide digital ad spending will rise by 17.6% to $333.25 billion, with digital accounting for roughly half of the global ad market.

We dug into Winmo’s Adbeat integration to find out which brands are escalating digital spend – the movers and shakers, if you will – so you can set your sights on brands rising in the digital space. In order to assist you in capturing this revenue, we’re highlighting a few of them below, and incorporating insights on the opportunity and how you should approach. 

If you’re ready to get a view of the entire digital landscape, and the decision-makers who own the budgets, request a Winmo demo today. 

1. Rakuten 

+3.3 M spend versus August 2019 

Winmo Opportunity Analysis: Loyalty rewards company, Rakuten, formerly known as Ebates, has launched a new brand campaign “Let’s Talk Rakuten,” developed by it’s newly-named AOR Standard Black. This agency shift replaces Rakuten’s previous relationships with Duncan Channon and Pereira & O’Dell. 

The first TV spot, starring the NBA’s Stephen Curry, launched in time for the 2019-20 NBA season. The campaign has rolled out across broadcast, cable and streaming networks, as well as social, OOH, and earned media. 

Adbeat Intel: During the past 12 months, Adbeat reports that Rakuten has spent $183.5 million on digital display ads placed primarily site direct on sites such as buzzfeed.com ($11.7 million), shareably.net, americanow.com, answers.com, and glassdoor.com. The company had only spent $400,000 on this channel during the prior 12 months, so we should see spend stay high here. 

Despite the male skew this particular NBA-partnered ad has, Rakuten also tends to target women in general. 

For agency and martech readers, keep an eye on Rakuten since reviews tend to follow one another. Its possible Rakuten may decide to switch media from Ocean Media. 

Request a Demo for Access to Rakuten Decision-Maker Contact Info 

2. Nordstrom 

+1.3 M spend versus August 2019 

Winmo Opportunity Analysis: Executive members of clothing retailer Nordstrom mentioned in a Q2 earnings call that the company has continued to prioritize loyalty and digital marketing. Co-president Erik Nordstrom mentioned that Nordstrom is boosting marketing efforts to drive traffic for initiatives such as a new Nordstrom Rack TV campaign. 

This focus on Nordstrom Rack marks an effort to increase popularity among millennials, who tend to flock toward off-price retailers. Nordstrom Rack also recently released a sustainable style line that will reinforce this audience. 

Nordstrom also expanded its experiential NYC flagship hubs. Nordstrom’s target demographic primarily consists of female consumers, with an increased focus on digital and e-Commerce signaling that this demographic is skewed towards millennials. 

Adbeat Intel: According to Adbeat, Nordstrom Rack specifically spent $1.1 overall on ad spend in the past 12 months. The ads were majority video placed on sites including youtube.com ($517K), bustle.com (126.3K), and yahoo.com (116.8k). 

Request a Demo for Access to Nordstrom Decision-Maker Contact Info 

3. CBS 

+2.9 M spend versus August 2019 

Winmo Opportunity Analysis: In preparation for its merger with Viacom, CBS shook up its marketing leadership. The network named Mike Benson it’s president and CMO, effective October, to succeed longtime marketing head George Schweitzer. 

After the merger, CBS may try to modernize for a younger audience, so sellers should offer digital display space. Spend tends to rise during the summer over Q2 and Q3. Agency and martech readers, CBS’s chances of conducting agency reviews rise significantly under new leadership. Competition will include Viacom’s roster, digital AOR Beyond and media AOR Carat, and CBS’s media AOR, OMD West. Keep an eye out for an agency review likely within the next 9-12 months. 

Adbeat Intel: Adbeat reports CBS has spent $17.2 million on digital display ads in the past 12 months placed primarily site direct on sites such as dailymotion.com ($2.6M), comicbook.com ($1.6M), and youtube.com ($2M). 

Request a Demo for Access to CBS Decision-Maker Contact Info 

4. Jenny Craig 

+$675.8 K spend versus Aug 2019 

Winmo Opportunity Analysis: Gadi BenkMark started as CMO at Jenny Craig in August. According to reports, automation and machine learning are the backbone of the business and marketing strategies. Therefore, digital strategies will likely continue to be most important with Jenny, even under new leadership. J

Jenny places less ads in Q4 due to the holiday, so make plans for Q1. Spend has seen consistent increases, and we will likely continue to see shifts from TV to digital display as a result. Sellers are encouraged to keep an eye out for more spending dollars to come your way at the start of 2020, and keep in mind the top demographic is millennial and Gen X women looking to diet. With new leadership in place, agency reviews are likely within the next 9-12 months. Competiton will include Generator Media + Analytics on media buying/planning and digital AOR, and LRXD on creative, media buying/planning, digital and social AOR. 

Adbeat Intel: According to Adbeat, digital display spend has been increasing this year since January. Over the past 12 months, Jenny has spent $11.1 million on this channel, which is a 94% increase from the 12 months prior ($700k). $8.7 million has been spent in the last six months, so this increased spending trend should continue for a while longer, especially in Q1 2020. Most ads have been placed site direct (66%) in the past year onto sites such as spanishdict.com ($2.9 million), washingtonexaminer.com, nickiswift.com, dailymail.co.uk and worldlifestyle.com. 

Request a Demo for Access to Jenny Craig Decision-Maker Contact Info 

This is just a small glimpse into the insight available within the Winmo platform, and our integration with Adbeat specifically. Within Adbeat, it’s simple to see which brands are rising in digital spend, which publishers a brand is working with, or which brands a publisher is selling to, as well as the spend amounts for each buy, keeping you one step ahead of the competition. Add to that the in-depth opportunity analysis from WinmoEdge, and you’ve got a full picture of who to talk to, and what to say to get their attention.