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.
Advertisers spent big to close out the year, in the week of December 25-31, 2017. In an effort to make last minute sales and close the year out strong, spending totals for new creative on national TV reached $130 million – the highest overall week for the month of December this year.
The ads taking up the majority of top spots this week are the all familiar to anyone looking to make a healthy resolution: Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, and Bowflex all spent heavily. Weight Watchers, using Oprah's star power for their spot, started 2018 with the addition of hip-hop artist and record producer (and social media motivational speaker) DJ Khaled as their social media ambassador. The bubble for celebrity hires doesn't seem to be ready to burst any time soon.
JC Penney looks to shed some extra weight of its own—inventory—from its stores, with an "After-Christmas Sale." Hyundai took advantage of the College Football Playoff games at the weekend with sales on some of its vehicles. Very clear that the push for last-minute sales are top of mind for those who think they missed out on deals pre-Christmas.
Weight Watchers promoted the benefits of its new Freestyle Program in a campaign that debuted on December 26, just after many consumers may have overindulged during the holidays. The ad features long-time spokesperson Oprah Winfrey, along with other Weight Watchers customers, enjoying tacos and discussing how happy they are with the program, which makes it easier for them to go out to eat and enjoy real food during their everyday lives.
Nutrisystem was more focused on the rapid results the programs offers. The brand used its veteran spokesperson Marie Osmond in ads for the new Turbo13 program, with Osmond and others stating how many pounds they have lost. Nurtisystem debuted its campaign just before Christmas, on December 21.
Bowflex began airing commercials on December 26 promoting New Year’s savings on the popular workout machine, the Bowflex Max Trainer. The ads touted helping consumer’s burn a high number of calories in just 14 minutes, for those who don’t have the time to devote to long work outs.
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.