The ad marketplace continued to show recovery in the final months of 2023 according to the latest analysis from MediaRadar. It says total ad spending reached an estimated $18.2 billion, which was a 23% increase from a year earlier. Spending also rose 16% from October as holiday advertising typically makes November one of the year’s strongest months.
MediaRadar says 81% of the 27 major product verticals increased ad spending between November 2022 and November 2023. A combined $5.4 billion was invested in advertising from Media & Entertainment, Retail, and Travel, which the analysis shows contributed 30% of the November’s overall ad investment.
A rise in retail spending during the holiday season may not be out of the norm, but MediaRadar says its analysis shows spending was up 16% from a year earlier, pushing the total over $2.3 billion. Both Walmart and Target more than doubled what they spent in October during November. Overall, Apparel and Accessories spending totaled $112 million, home improvement ad spending topped $181 million, and pet retailers spent more than $134 million according to the analysis.
But it was the Media & Entertainment ad segment with the most spending in November as the category had nearly $2.5 million in advertising. That was a 10% jump from a year earlier, and a 30% increase between October and November. MediaRadar says movies, video games, and TV shows were the top drivers, accounting for a combined $1.0 billion in advertising. Encouraged by a returning number of Americans to the theater, studios spent $432 million during November to promote films like “Above Suspicion” and “The Marvels.”
On the television front, Amazon promoting its “Thursday Night Football” also helped increase TV tune-in ads to $195 million in ad spending, an increase of 25% from October.
Travel also remained one of the biggest spending segments as ad investments rose 61% from a year earlier to more than $635 million during November. MediaRadar says Parks & Recreation advertisers like Walt Disney World and Epcot spent over $200 million.
Meantime, in the key automotive ad category, MediaRadar says spending was $515 million, which was up three percent in November versus the prior year even as it was down 13% versus October. That was largely due to month-to-month dips in ad spending for imports (-5%) and SUVs (-41%).
Medical & Pharmaceutical advertising also dipped 7% from a year earlier to $1.2 billion during November.
Even as total dollars grew in November, MediaRadar says the number of companies advertising decreased by 8% to 80,000 while the number of brands being marketed decreased to 123,000. It says that signals existing advertisers increased their investment. Advertisers also continue to invest in new ad types and formats.
MediaRadar tracked 22,000 companies representing 25,600 brands that adopted at least one new format in November. The advertisers expanding into new formats primarily came from the Professional Services sector, followed by Technology, and Industrial Products & Services.