Figures from around the world show the extent to which online businesses are now investing in TV advertising, in some countries becoming the biggest investors in TV.

 

The figures compiled by The Global TV Group – the informal grouping of TV broadcasters’ and sales houses’ trade bodies in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and Latin America – show that, from Brazil to Germany, brands such as Amazon, Zalando, Netflix, Expedia and Airbnb are building their image, reputation and sales through the reach and influence of TV.

 

The investment trend demonstrates the strong relationship between TV and online, with viewers armed with internet-connected devices able to respond to TV advertising immediately.

 

Some of the world’s biggest tech giants spent significantly more on TV advertising in Australia in 2017. According to Nielsen Adex, Google spent 6 times as much on TV advertising, reaching A$11.3 million, and Apple increased its ad spend by 17.4% to A$20.2m. Amazon backed its Australian launch with a TV ad investment of A$3.2 million, and Uber increased its TV spend with a first investment of A$3.4 million.[i]

In 2016, TV represented a 62% share of the online business sector’s media investments. The Rocket Internet group, the second biggest spender, which owns companies like HelloFresh and Home24, spent a total of €6,072,463 in 2017 on TV advertising.[ii]

 

Online businesses’ TV adspend grew by 17% between 2015 and 2017. When including the e-commerce players owning physical stores, the increase is almost 20%.[iii]

 

Online businesses represent one of the fastest growing sectors in TV advertising. Online businesses have doubled their spend on TV over the past 5 years, with spend in 2017 topping $105 million.[iv]

 

The TV adspend of online businesses owning physical stores was US$10,610,000 in 2017, a 20% increase compared to 2015.[v]

From 2015 to 2017, the online business sector doubled its gross TV adspend to reach the equivalent of €47,4 million[vi]

 

Over a 3-year period (2015 to 2017), Airbnb’s TV ad spend increased by 44%. Expedia and Amazon show even more impressive figures with an increase of 65% each.[vii]

Online businesses invested a total of €95,653,000 in TV in 2017, representing a 10.7% increase compared to 2015.[viii]

 

E-commerce advertisers increased their TV invesment b 26y% between 2015 and 2017 to become the fourth biggest category of TV-advertisers. 200 e-commerce advertisers invested € 300 million gross in TV in 2017. The highest TV investor was the German booking site Trivago with a gross investment of € 25 million. [ix]

 

Amazon’s TV adspend went from €106,990 in 2015 to €11,006,360 in 2017, more than 100 times the investment in 2015. Google’s investment in TV went from €40,250 in 2015 to €603,620 in 2017, 15 times more. [x]

FurnitureBox’s TV adspend went from €1,263,633 in 2015 to €6,908,984 in 2017 representing approximately 5 times the 2015 investment. [xi]

The gross TV adspend of the top 10 e-commerce advertisers almost doubled between 2015 and 2017, resulting in a gross total of approximately €84,878,635.[xii]

Online businesses – including brands such as Amazon, Trivago, Google & Purple Bricks – invested a total of £682 million in TV advertising in 2017, up from £590 million in 2015. Despite cuts in other categories due to ongoing economic uncertainty, online businesses, which in 2016 became the biggest spenders on TV in the UK, remained steadfast in their TV investment. [xiii]

 

In 2017, digital-native companies – including brands like Amazon, Expedia, Wayfair & eBay – spent over $5.9 billion US dollars on TV, representing a 10% increase over 2016.  Within this spend is a group of 50 “direct-disruptor” newcomer brands – including Gwynnie Bee, Peloton & Leesa – who only recently began investing in TV but now collectively spend over $1.3 billion U.S. dollars in TV annually. [xiv]

 

The positive trend is set to continue in 2018 as more e-commerce brands around the globe put their trust in TV advertising to strengthen their image, drive traffic and generate return. Recent examples are the TV campaigns launched by Snapchat (“A new kind of camera”), Amazon (“Bedtime Blitz” or “Be Together More”),  Trivago (“In the Mountains”) and Airbnb (“Expletive-filled Interest”).

“TV works very well for us. It’s where we are spending a significant portion of our brand marketing ad dollars.”

“TV makes the virtual more real. TV advertising creates huge effects instantly. It also helps build and nourish profitable, trusted brands for the long-term. As online brands have little or no physical presence, TV’s ability to create emotional connections with huge audiences around the world is vital.”

 

“We’ve been analyzing digital-native companies since 2014 and found that those who turned to a heavy reliance on TV early in their company’s history saw substantial benefits. Digital brands using TV see immediate positive business outcomes, such as significant lift in website traffic, search volume and, most importantly, revenue growth. TV is where outcomes-obsessed disruptors go when they need to get big.”

 

“It’s wonderful to see some of the world’s fast-growing, most innovative companies investing more into TV advertising to grow their brands. These are some of the most iconic brands of our age embracing the power of today’s TV, an experience that is viewable on any screen at any time, to touch consumers with some of the finest creative executions around. The smartest brands know that TV reaches more people faster than any other media, is brand safe, generates the greatest return on investment and commands the most attention, which translates directly into sales. TV also partners beautifully with online-only media.”

 

Aisling Finch - Director of marketing, Google Australia and New Zealand:
”Like most marketers, we use a range of channels to achieve campaign objectives. We know that audiences engage with content across different platforms at different times, and marketers do the same. For campaigns such as the launch of Google Home we used a combination of radio, TV, cinema, print, outdoor and online channels including search, YouTube and social. In this campaign we found the combination of contextual media and creative drove stronger uplift.”

 

Richard Basil-Jones - Managing director of Ebiquity Asia-Pacific:
“There’s no one medium that fits the bill and all media recognise the strengths of other media. The biggest e-commerce and online players in the world recognize what TV offers and TV is open and smart enough to understand that they need to embrace online too. The big digital players certainly recognise TV’s ability to reach mass audiences fast, to generate a superior return on investment and to generate sales through 100% viewability.”

 

Studies from around the world have proven the impact that TV advertising has on online activity.  For example:

 

• A study in France by SNPTV found that organic traffic[xv] to a pure players’s website increases by 66% during a TV advertising campaign.
• Using comScore data in the US, the Video Advertising Bureau found that online businesses see an immediate and significant lift in web traffic once they launch TV campaigns – data from 14 online businesses showed the lift ranged from 11% to 1,075%.
• In a more recent study, featuring various case studies, the VAB looked into how TV drives business outcomes for disruptor brands. For example, expanding brands saw an average increase of 188% in their search volume as they increased their TV investment. Interviews about the success stories from Wayfair and Gwynnie bee can be found on the VAB’s website here.

 

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Sources:

 

[i] Source: Nielsen Adex. Total market: Metropolitan TV 2017 A$3.577Billion

[ii] Source: MDB gross investments

[iii] Source: IBOPE Monitor Evolution

[iv] Source: Ad Dynamics, Internet related sites & services category + Expedia, inc. (Hotels.com) + Priceline Group + Wayfair LLC + Sunwing Travel Group + E-Harmony.com + Elite Singles + Indeed + Justfabulous LLC + Web.com

[v] Source: IBOPE Monitor Evolution

[vi] Source: Nielsen Admosphere. Conversion from CZK 1,209,181,843. Source XE as of May 14th

[vii] Source: Nielsen 2018

[viii] Source: Nielsen

[ix] Source: Nielsen, 2018

[x] Source: Arce Media

[xi] Source: TNS-Sifo Reklammätningar. Conversion from SEK12,906,000 and SEK70,563,000. Source XE as of May 22^nd

[xii] Source: Media Focus WizzAd.Conversion from CHF 101,391,000. Source: XE as of May 14th

[xiii] Source: Nielsen, 2017

[xiv] Source: Nielsen, 2017

[xv] Organic traffic represents the traffic from search engine results that is earned, not paid

 

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Press contacts – About:

 

The Global TV Group is an informal grouping of broadcasters’ and sales houses’ trade bodies in Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and Latin America, whose joint objective is to promote television. http://www.theglobaltvgroup.com/

 

egta is the association representing television and radio sales houses, either independent from the channel or in-house, that market the advertising space of both private and public television and radio stations throughout Europe and beyond. egta fulfils different functions for its members including regulatory issues, audience measurement, sales methods, interactivity, cross-media, new media etc. Over the years, egta has become the reference centre for television & radio advertising in Europe. egta counts 144 members in 40 countries. www.egta.com.

Alain Beerens – Marketing & Communication Manager, egta

Phone: +32 2 290 31 38 - E-mail: [email protected]

 

The Association of Commercial Television (AKTV) was formed in 2017 as an association of terrestrial television broadcasting operators with the goal of defending, supporting and promoting the common interests of commercial broadcasters in the Czech Republic. The founding members of the Association are the Nova, Prima and Óčko television networks. www.aktv.cz.

Fianová Marie - Secretary General, AKTV

Phone : +420 724 442 935 - E-mail: [email protected]

 

ABMA is the Belgian Association for Audiovisual Media. www.abma-bvam.be.

 

Centro Internacional Television Abierta - The Broadcast TV International Center is a think tank about broadcast commercial TV industry development and promotes its relevance as a commercial and social medium. The project is supported by: RedUNo and Unitel (Bolivia); TV Globo (Brazil); Caracol and RCN (Colombia); Mega (Chile); Ecuavisa and TC Television (Ecuador); Televisa (Mexico); Medcom (Panamá) America TV and Latina (Peru). www.centrotv.org.

Otavio Bocchino - Executive Director, Centro Internacional de Television Abierta
E-mail:   [email protected]  

 

Federazione Concessionarie Pubblicità is the joint initiative representing TV sales houses in Italy. http://www.fcponline.it/

Luca Franzoni - Responsabile Generale, FCP

e-mail: [email protected]

 

ReklamKraft is the Swedish initiative representing TV sales houses in Sweden, represented by https://lennoxpr.se.

Robert Svensson - Spokesperson, Reklamkraft

E-mail:  [email protected]

 

Screen Force (DACH) is the joint initiative of thirteen sales houses for television and online video in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In Germany, the partners of Screenforce are representing more than 97% of the TV ad spend. www.screenforce.de.

Andreas Kühner  - Screenforce DACH

Phone: +49 89 12 71 06 96 -  E-mail: [email protected]

 

Screen Force Netherlands represents the strength of premium video content on all screens. Content which is measured in an accurate and transparent way. Outside the Netherlands countries like Germany, Finland, Austria and Switzerland also have a TV marketing body under the name of Screen Force. With them and also with other strong international TV markets, we always look for more cooperation and joining forces. Always with the purpose enable advertisers to achieve their marketing objectives with premium video content on all available platforms. www.screenforce.nl.

Michel Van Der Voort - Managing Director, Screenforce Netherlands

Phone: +31 (0)20 40 44 271 - E-mail: [email protected]

 

Screen Force Finland represents the four commercial television companies in Finland: MTV, Nelonen Media, Fox International Channels and Discovery Networks Finland. www.screenforce.fi.

Sanna Wester - Screenforce Finland

Phone : +358 40 754 4584 - E-mail : [email protected]

 

SNPTV (The Syndicat National de la Publicité Télévisée) is a professional organisation of the French TV sales houses (TF1 Publicité, M6 Publicité, France Télévisions Publicité, Canal + Régie, Next Régie, Lagardère Publicité, Amaury Media, Be Viacom, beIN Régie). SNPTV has for the main mission to collect the proofs, through collective studies, that the television is the undeniable media for the advertisers and their TV ads in terms of return on investment, construction of brand, fame, image, etc.  www.snptv.org.

Virginie Mary - Deputy Director, SNPTV

Phone: + 33 (0)1 41 41 43 21 -  E-mail: [email protected]

 

Thinkbox is the marketing body for commercial TV in the UK, in all its forms. It works with the marketing community with a single ambition: to help advertisers get the best out of today’s TV. Its shareholders are Channel 4, ITV, Sky Media, Turner Media Innovations and UKTV, who together represent over 99% of commercial TV advertising revenue through their owned and partner TV channels. Associate Members are Discovery Networks Norway, Disney, London Live, TAM Ireland, Think TV (Australia), thinktv (Canada), TVN Media (Poland),TV Globo (Brazil), TV2 (Norway) and Virgin Media. Discovery Networks UK & Ireland, and STV also give direct financial support.www.thinkbox.tv.

Simon Tunstill - Communications Director, Thinkbox

Phone: +44 (0)20 7630 2326 - E-mail: [email protected]

 

ThinkTV Pty Ltd is a dedicated research-driven, marketing and technology development company focused on helping the advertising and marketing community get the very best from commercial TV. From understanding how audiences engage with TV to celebrating advertising creativity, ThinkTV leads a collective effort to demonstrate how advertising in broadcast-quality content environments provides the greatest return on investment. Think TV was formed in May 2016 with founding members Nine Network, Seven Network, Network Ten and Multi Channel Network/Foxtel. Thinktv.com.au @ThinkTV

Dominic White -Director of Communications, ThinkTV

Phone: + 61 2 8968 7100  - E-mail: [email protected]

 

Thinktv is a marketing and research association dedicated to the advancement of commercial television. Thinktv works with the marketing community to help advertisers get the best out of television in all its forms. Thinktv is supported by its member companies who together represent more than 95% of commercial television advertising revenue in Canada. www.thinktv.ca.

Laura Baehr - VP Marketing, thinktv

Phone: +1 416 413 3885- Email : [email protected]  

 

The Video Advertising Bureau is the leading authority on the quality and value of ad-supported TV and professionally produced video as it is distributed and viewed on every screen and device. The VAB puts the marketers first as it continually invests in industry-leading research and analysis to produce insights into consumer behavior and the power of TV programming to drive awareness, consideration, sales traffic, activation and loyalty.  www.thevab.com.

Danielle Delauro - SVP Strategic Sales Insights, The VAB

Phone : +1 201 978 3496 - E-mail: [email protected]