Even more telling of the NFL’s golden status: Sports accounted for 94 of the 100 most-watched telecasts in 2022; the NFL accounted for 82 of those.

Shocker: The NFL’s audience is attractive to brands across industry lines.

In 2017, we started a series examining advertising across professional sports leagues, including the MLB, NBA, and NHL.

Our latest installment dives into the NFL and how its advertising has shifted.

More Opportunities

Some advertisers have historically been kept at arm’s length from the NFL.

For example, advertisers promoting whiskey, vodka, rum and other spirits got the red tape until 2018.

While some liquor brands partnered with individual NFL teams and have advertised in other major professional sports leagues before, this was still a major milestone—and a wakeup call to beer brands that have historically walked on the unencumbered ground.

The beer industry may oppose this change; however, networks and leagues, even popular ones like the NFL, need more revenue opportunities. The NFL can no longer turn away those like liquor brands that feed it ad dollars.

On a similar note, beer advertisers not named Anheuser-Busch (AB InBev) got their first taste of Super Bowl advertising in 2022 as AB InBev’s exclusive rights to beer advertising during the Big Game ended.

Finally, gambling advertisers have grown fond of the NFL, especially of late given the pandemic-induced boom in sportsbook apps; casinos and mobile gaming apps recorded a record $54.93b in revenue during the first 11 months of 2022.

The NFL is fully aware of the gambling boom, signing deals with DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars Entertainment that could be worth roughly $1b in revenue for the league in the next five years.

NFL Sponsorships Grow

The average NFL crowd increased by 3.25% per game in 2022, the second-largest figure in almost two decades.

Brands are taking notice, evident by the fact that NFL sponsorship revenue increased by 4% in 2022 to $1.88b. For comparison, that’s 15% more revenue than the NBA generates from sponsorships.

Jessica Gelman, CEO of KAGR, a key data analysis vendor to the league, said, “What has impressed me is how the NFL is reaching down [for younger fans] while maintaining the older fan base, and it’s been successful doing that.”

The NFL’s widespread appeal has attracted brands like Gatorade, Visa, and Verizon. The sponsorships didn’t come without some shakeups, though.

Most notably, Pizza Hut lost its status as the NFL’s official sponsor to Little Caesars.

Super Bowl LVII Advertising Recap

The 113mm people who tuned in for Super Bowl LVII were once again greeted by ads from household names like Mars, Rémy Martin, and RAM (despite a 30-second TV spot costing up to $7mm).

Here are some key takeaways:

• Advertisers from five categories were responsible for 75% of the ads: media & entertainment, technology, food, alcohol, and automotive. Media and entertainment advertisers dominated the night with 23 commercials from 13 companies.
• The number of automotive advertisers, including Toyota, BMW, and RAM, dropped to six. Inflation was the primary deterring factor for these advertisers.
• There were 3.5 minutes of beer ads, with whiskey and cognac each getting 60 seconds of screen time. Despite AB InBev relinquishing its exclusive rights to alcohol advertising, the company still accounted for 5% of the run time.

While Super Bowl ads came with a steep price tag, the return is there for advertisers willing to dig deep into their wallets. According to Kantar, Super Bowl ads in 2022 drove an average ROI of $4.60 per dollar spent.

Thursday Night Football Attracts Big Brands

Amazon’s Thursday Night Football package kicked off in 2022 after the company purchased the exclusive rights to stream the games outside local broadcast networks for $1 billion annually.

The investment seems to have initially paid off for Amazon, with the company seeing record signups for the first broadcast.

“By every measure, Thursday Night Football on Prime Video was a resounding success,” said Jay Marine, global head of Amazon’s sports division.

But is there a return for advertisers?

Maybe not. Thursday Night Football audiences missed estimates by up to 25%, forcing Amazon to compensate advertisers.

Despite the growing pains, it’s impossible to deny the unique opportunity afforded to advertisers.

For example, DraftKings ran TV-style commercials during the game and is the title sponsor of the pre-game show.

According to DraftKings CMO Stephanie Sherman, the real differentiator comes with the second-screen viewing experience.

The on-air talent can take out their phones and direct viewers to specific bets or combinations of bets in the DraftKings app.

Sherman continued, “We’re really excited about all the different ways in which activating this partnership provides ample opportunity for us to leverage different metrics and methodologies.”

The NFL Offers a Prime Opportunity for Advertisers 

Although the league has shown it can still draw large TV audiences, it’s aware of the cord-cutting trend.

The league is working to combat this via its own channels or through various partners, such as Amazon Prime.

The NFL also has more sponsorships and is opening the door for advertisers it’s historically kept out.

At the same time, the NFL offers brands increasingly appealing ways to get in front of an incredibly engaged and niche audience. Despite the price tag often tied to these ads, brands will continue investing in America’s most popular sport.

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

Or was it a surprise?

Growing up during the age of “necessary profitability,” advertising on Snapchat was an inevitability. The real surprise was that they took so long to show up.

Understandably, the announcement of the network — dubbed the Snap Audience Network — created plenty of buzz.

The network “will exist beyond Snapchat’s own platform and allow marketers to target users across a variety of apps,” wrote Marty Swant at AdWeek. “The move is part of a broader push by the company to better scale its advertising business, which over the past two years has shifted from a primarily direct-sale model to one that’s primarily programmatic.”

In other words, the announcement of the Audience Network was more than a new advertising channel.

The Audience Network signaled a shift in Snap’s ad business, bringing self-service (i.e., programmatic advertising) into the mix, using customer data in ways the company has shied away from in the past, and an expansion from its own user base.

The response to the announcement was largely favorable — Snap stock rose 9 percent in the days following the presentation.

But what else can the new ad network mean?

Snap Audience Network: New But Untested Opportunity for Brands, Apps and Snap

The new Audience Network is essentially a win/win/win scenario, provided it delivers.  

It’s a win for advertisers, with more targeted reach to a larger audience. It’s a win for app developers, with access to advertisers on a programmatic exchange. And it’s a win for Snap, with a brand-spanking new source of revenue.

According to Kurt Wagner at Vox, it’s a way for Snap to grow its business without adding new users to the flagship social platform — something Snapchat has struggled with in the past. “Snap is trying to take the next step to become a more established advertising business,” writes Wagner. “But announcing that plan is one thing; we’ll see if Snap can execute.”

At the time, the main concern was that Snap wouldn’t be sharing personal or identifiable information in user data, leaving some to question how targeted, personalized ads will be possible with the ad network.

Remember: Access to first-party data is a major draw for advertisers, especially as third-party cookies fade.

“If Snap is not sharing data with its ad partners, those ad partners will have to share data back to Snap so it knows who it is targeting,” concludes Wagner. Suffice it to say details are sparse.

Snap has since expanded its advertising capabilities, enabling brands to place ads outside of Snapchat’s walls. Facebook launched a similar network in 2014.

Fast-forward a few years, and the decision to introduce ads appears to be paying off.

In 2021, Snapchat drove over $3.1 billion in advertising revenue—a number that’s expected to approach $6b by 2026.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing, though.

Apple’s iOS 14 update caused the entire social ecosystem to shutter in fear.

Why?

Because millions of iPhone users could now ask apps not to track them, making measurement and attribution on the world’s most popular smartphone a nightmare.

Leading up to the update, Snap CFO Derek Andersen said, “It is not yet clear what the longer term impact of those changes may be for the topline momentum of our business and this may not be clear until several months or more after the changes are implemented.”

More recently, Spiegel spoke about the turbulence in 2022, saying, “It seems like advertising demand hasn’t really improved, but it hasn’t gotten significantly worse either. Our partners are just managing their spend very cautiously so they can react quickly to any changes in the environment.”

This isn’t an inherently Snapchat problem. Google parent Alphabet announced in its Q4 2022 earnings that it fell short of expectations on revenue and earnings per share due mainly to a decline in ad revenue.

Which Brands Bought Snapchat Ads in 2022?

We pulled data from 190 companies (396 brands) that bought ads on Snapchat in Q1 2022.

Of them, 46% and 27% (184 and 52) didn’t buy Snapchat ads in 2020 or 2021. 

That said, 47% of the companies we looked at had bought Snapchat ads, indicating the stickiness of the platform’s ad products. 

Of the companies buying ads in Q1, 5% (nine) increased spending by more than 1,000% YoY, including Samsung, UVNV (the company that owns Mint Mobile), and Johnson & Johnson Services. 

Q1 2022 Snapchat advertising top categories

Media & Entertainment: These advertisers increased spending by 20% in Q1, thanks largely to Amazon upping its ad investment in its Prime streaming service, Audible and Twitch TV. At the same time, Paramount decreased its budget by 19% QoQ.

Apparel: Apparel advertisers spent 25% more in Q1 than they did during the same quarter last year. Kering (Balenciaga and Gucci) and VF (Vans and Timberland) led this charge, boosting their investments by 116% and 308%, respectively.

Travel: Travel advertisers increased their investment by 119% YoY compared to Q1 2021, including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, the State of New Hampshire, and Southwest Airlines.

Tech: Tech advertisers increased spending by 3% QoQ in the first quarter of 2022. While spending from Samsung was down by 66%, Apple (beats Earbuds, iPhone and iPad) helped offset this with an increase of almost 1,000%.

Pharma: Pharma advertisers decreased spending by 29% QoQ, largely due to advertisers for Procter & Gamble decreasing their budget by 95%. Meanwhile, advertisers for Novartis increased spending by more than 100x QoQ to promote Kesimpta.

As long as people are opening Snapchat 40 times a day, ad dollars will follow.

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

The number of daily active users on the platform is up about 23% from last year and engagement is high.

Last year we tracked how the company responded to the coronavirus crisis. This serves as a check-in to see which advertisers are increasing their spend most on the platform, and which have dropped their spend.

We encourage you to subscribe to our blog for the latest data surrounding the advertising industry. We will provide daily updates as COVID-19 continues to make its mark on the US economy.

Snapchat amid the pandemic

Snapchat activity increased when social distancing became the norm. 

Primarily, individuals used texting and video calls to connect with close ones in new ways. Snap’s fun games and augmented reality (AR) filters set the platform apart from other social platforms. 

But it’s not just the direct lines of communication between people that boost engagement.

Snap detailed the changes in behavior they observed amid the pandemic. In addition to more direct communication between friends, people increasingly used the platform as a way to:

• Stay informed on COVID
• Use its “Here for you” mental health tools 
• Watch snapchat shows
• Shop online
• Connect with food delivery services

Snap users also engaged with advertisements more. An analysis comparing late March to late February revealed that there was a 36% increase in install volume for app ads and a 19% increase in swipe-up rate.

In response to COVID, Snapchat partnered with local health agencies to help get PSA’s out about the virus. The company created new AR filters to support the World Health Organization’s response efforts. Users use the filters to donate to patient care, medical supplies or research and development. 

Two months ago, Snap expanded its ad offerings by releasing more eCommerce and AR shopping tools. They purchased Fit Analytics, which enables users to find apparel and shoes that will fit comfortably. As advertisers see success using these tools, we’ll surely see Snap targeting more advertisers who could also benefit.

MediaRadar Insights (2021 Update)

Brands Increasing Their Spend

Between April and July 2021, top advertisers who are consistently increasing their spend month over month are: Apple, Theragun, Netflix and Invisalign.

Between June and July:

• Apple increased spend by 75% 
• Theragun increased spend by 200%
• Netflix increased spend by 100%
• Invisalign increased spend by 100%

Brands Cutting Their Spend

Though TikTok used to be one of Snapchat’s biggest advertisers, it’s spending very little on the platform now. Less than 1% of TikTok’s spend was spent on Snapchat throughout Q2 and the beginning of Q3. More of TikTok’s budget is now being spent on Facebook.

Last March Twitch increased their spend by 35% month-over-month. Since then, however, spending has cooled down. The company’s overall advertising spend has fallen 85% year-over-year (April – July, 2020 vs 2021)—none of which has been on Snapchat.

The U.S. Army, which moved to digital during the pandemic, has recently changed the direction of their spending. Lately, they’ve moved much of their spend from digital into TV. None of their advertising spend was invested with Snapchat from April – July 2021.

With Snapchat’s new AR tools and increased user activity, the social media platform is in a good position heading into Q4. Though some brands are shifting to other channels, the company has unique and dynamic ad capabilities ideal for consumer brands. 

For more updates like this, stay tuned. Subscribe to our blog for more updates on coronavirus and its mark on the economy.

Gen Z is getting older and about to be a huge buying power. How are advertisers using the two platforms? And which brands spending big on Snapchat represent opportunities for other publishers?

We encourage you to subscribe to our blog for the latest data surrounding the advertising industry. We will provide daily updates as COVID-19 continues to make its mark on the US economy.

Snapchat Appeals to Younger Consumers

Facebook performed exceptionally this past year and its revenue keeps climbing, but even the strongest of businesses can’t capture every consumer. 

Facebook has had issues appealing to teenagers for years—but now Instagram is also struggling with their aging user base.

A recent study from financial firm Piper Sandler found that Snapchat and TikTok are now the two top platforms for teens and those in their early 20’s. 

Snapchat’s number of daily active users keeps growing, which is attributed to their fun features like Lens Studio 2.0, Camera Kit, Snap Minis and Bitmoji for Games. CFO Derek Andersen has previously noted how Snap’s investment in original content is also a driver of growing ARPU. 

While Snap builds out innovative features for consumers, they’re also creating new spaces for advertisers. Snap ads are full-screen, interactive and offer a wide variety of CTAs. It’s a much more visual experience for consumers, and brands are limited to one line of text.

Q1 2021 was an exceptionally strong quarter for Snap. The company outdid forecasts and generated positive free cash flow for the first time as a public company. Which type of advertisers are they attracting?

MediaRadar Insights

Before jumping into the Snapchat data, we’d like to add some context. We’ve recently started covering Facebook advertising and how their advertisers compare to other ad spaces, like broadcast TV. This leads us to comparing the two social platforms. 

Facebook is a powerful tool for brands large and small, but a significant portion of their revenue comes from really niche brands using their platform for its hyper-targeting features. 

When looking at April Snap data, we found that ad spend on Snapchat increased 24% year-over-year. And many of those advertisers weren’t on Facebook.

Typically, the overlap between the two platforms is fairly low—only 22%. 

Facebook attracts a very wide selection of advertisers (21% of their advertisers were categorized as ‘Other’ because they didn’t make up more than 1% of a single category). 

But Snap’s advertisers tend to fall into more distinguishable categories (only 6% are ‘Other’).

Entertainment makes up the biggest category of Snap’s advertising revenue. We’ll break down the biggest spenders in this category, but first we want to highlight streaming companies. 

Streaming companies buy ads on both social platforms. Streaming services made up all 7% of all spend on Facebook last year.

In April, streaming spend accounted for 6% of all ad spend on Snap. Advertising from HBOMax, Paramount+, BET+, Hulu and Amazon Prime totaled over $2.8mm.

Even though streaming accounted for significant advertising spend, Action/Thriller films spent even more on Snapchat.

The top spending Action/Thriller films include:

• Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse
• Mortal Kombat
• Fast & Furious 9 

Together, they spent over $5 million.

Note: Fast & Furious 9 is one of the newest films to not feature both a theatrical and streaming release. Instead, Universal pushed out its release date to coincide with lifted pandemic restrictions.

Other top spending categories on Snapchat are:

• Fashion
• Pharmaceutical
• Retail

Each of these categories make up roughly 10% of spend on Snapchat in the month of April.

For publishers looking for opportunities, top spending brands on Snapchat worth paying attention to are: 

• Zyrtec Allergy
• Nike
• Levi’s
• Columbia
• Lids
• ShopDisney

These brands are contributing to Snap’s increasing revenue. Interested in more details on Facebook advertisers? We recently released our Facebook Advertising Trend Report. To learn about what’s driving their success, check it out. 

For more updates like this, stay tuned. Subscribe to our blog for more updates on coronavirus and its mark on the economy. 

Snapchat is one of the social media platforms seeing this growth in action. 

It’s been a while since we checked in with Snap. How did it perform during Q3 and have there been any significant changes among its advertisers due to the pandemic?

We encourage you to subscribe to our blog for the latest data surrounding the advertising industry. We will provide daily updates as COVID-19 continues to make its mark on the US economy.

Snapchat users are more engaged in 2020

Snapchat has been going strong this year, rolling out new augmented reality features and content sharing experiments. 

“We’re always exploring ways to make it even easier to view Snapchat’s engaging and topical content and share it with your friends,” a Snap spokesperson told Axios. These new features keep the platform engaging and competitive with other social media sites like TikTok and Instagram. 

With the release of their latest quarterly earnings, Snapchat’s CEO, Evan Spiegel commented that “the adoption of augmented reality is happening faster than we had previously anticipated, and [Snapchat is] working as a team to execute on the many opportunities in front of us.”

As a result of that hard work, Spiegel and the Snap team have a lot to be excited about. The platform had 249 million daily active users last quarter (Q3 2020), up 18% from the same time last year. These users were more engaged and the number of daily ‘snaps’ published increased by 25%.

As the number of daily active users and other engagement metrics increased, advertisers began to shift more of their budgets to the platform. 

“They really have managed to diversify and stay competitive,” Erica Patrick, VP and Director of paid social media at MediaHub Global, told Digiday. Advertisers who have low funnel needs and who target young audiences especially rely on Snapchat as a choice publisher. 

Who are the top advertisers on the platform this year—and how do they compare to last year, considering the massive changes our world has gone through?

MediaRadar Insights

Methodology

This analysis looks at the advertising trends in January – October 2020 and compares that activity to the same period in 2019.

Findings

There wasn’t a significant change in the number of advertisers on Snap this year. Between January and November 2019, there were 1,300 advertisers on Snapchat. This year, there were 1,200 advertisers in the same time period.

Despite the slight dip in number of advertisers, ad spend rose. Ad spend increased 19% YoY, and in Q3, their revenue increased 52% to $679M YoY.

The decrease in advertisers and increase in spend suggests that though fewer brands are advertising with Snapchat, marketing budgets are funneled to targeted social media strategies.

In 2019, the top five brands advertising on Snapchat were: 

• TikTok
• AFK
• Arena (a video game)
• Las Vegas Tourism
• Dunkin’ Donuts
• The New York Knicks 

These brands come from the Media & Entertainment, Travel, and Retail categories.

While the Media & Entertainment category has remained the top advertising category this year, it has made up only 34% of total ad spend so far, compared to 50% in 2019. 

Other categories that increased their spend this year are:

• Apparel: 16% in 2020 vs 6% in 2019 
• Professional Services: 10% in 2020 vs 1% in 2019

In 2020, the top spending brands on Snapchat are:

• Levi’s
• U.S. Army
• Vans
• OVO Sound
• Discord  

The new mixture of Technology and Professional Services are a reflection of how brands adjusted to the pandemic. 

The U.S. Army, limited in their ability to do in-person recruiting, turned towards social media. Discord, originally a popular communication tool for gamers went through a rebranding amid the pandemic. Now it’s a place for gardening enthusiasts, study groups, and other niche communities looking for something different than a social media platform or forum. 

For brands going through major pivots this year, Snap provided a great place to target new (and younger) users. Snap reaped the benefits, and feels optimistic about future updates and partnerships with brands. 

For more updates like this, stay tuned. Subscribe to our blog for more updates on coronavirus and its mark on the economy.

Its new augmented reality (AR) use cases won’t only benefit users, but businesses too. From an improved camera kit and filters to listings on maps, there are new ways for brands to use the platform.

There are a lot of fun things happening, so let’s jump in.

New Camera Kit

The foundation of many of the new updates is the camera kit. The camera software can now be integrated with external apps, opening up many new possibilities. 

“You’ll notice that in a lot of our announcements: AR and the camera is actually threading its way into many of the other things we’re doing,” explained Bobby Murphy, the company’s co-founder and chief technology officer to the Guardian. “We’re at the early stages of seeing AR and the vision of the camera being the centre of computing coming together.”

Here’s a taste of what the camera can do:

• In the app Scan, the camera can identify plants, trees and animal breeds
• In the app Yuka, the camera can tell a user the nutritional info of packaged foods
• It can scan consumer products to access more information and shop

Snapchat has offered filters for creativity for many years, but now the camera will also have utility. Snapchat plans to see its use cases continue to grow.

Lense Studio

With the new lens studio, third parties can use their own machine learning to develop lenses. 

In March, Snapchat released a nearly free filter building tool for brands. Now, the platform is pushing AR adoption even further with Lense Studio by allowing external parties to contribute their own ideas and models. 

“That’s something creators have been really wanting for a long time,” explained chief technology officer at Houndstooth Media Group Rhonda Greene to AdAge. “Creators have all these cool models and all these ideas that come out of being in that machine-learning space, so it’s nice that the tool is catching up to their ideas.”

Another cool feature coming out of this is that users can use a voice-activated tool to tell Snapchat which feature they want to apply to their environment.

Snap Map

Snapchat is advancing its 3D maps this year by allowing users to see where their friends are located and create geography-specific lenses.

 “[W]e’re taking it a step further, by enabling shared and persistent augmented reality in much larger areas, so you can experience AR with your friends, at the same time, across entire city blocks” explained Murphy.

It is also encouraging business listings and videos from specific locations. 

The platform is giving new partners $500 in ad credits to list their stores as a way to grow momentum. It expects this to be a powerful tool for businesses because over 200 million people use maps every month.

Minis

Minis are small apps that can be opened in Chat. They offer a great user experience because users can reserve movie tickets, compare class schedules, review flashcards together and more all in the same app. 

These programs are built on html5 and don’t require additional downloads. This concept is similar to the Chinese messaging app, WeChat.

Bitmoji for Games

Mattel and Nickelodeon integrated their mobile games with Snapchat’s new Bitmoji for Games. This provides a more personalized gaming experience for their players — Snapchat users can put their own avatars into the games.  

Happening now

Snapchat takes on Twitter, whose slogan is “What’s happening?,” with its new “Happening Now” section. This section partners with major news publications to inform users of the latest updates. During COVID and racial justice movement, Snapchat became another source people turn to for information. The Twitter user base has an interest in news and politics, but Snap may gain more of this traffic.

Snap Focus: An Ads Certification Course

Snapchat’s AR capabilities make advertising on the platform unique. To help advertisers make the most of its tools, Snapchat released a new ads certification program: Snap Focus. 

There are 6 courses that offer “everything you need to know about Snapchat ads.”

Ad managers can complete all 6 courses or choose the ones they want to advance their skills in most. It’s free and flexible. 

Snapchat is unique because of its use of AR and machine learning. It’s constantly innovating — and we’ll have to keep watching to see how advertisers take advantage of its new developments. 

Snapchat is reporting growth in daily active users and subscriptions to its Discover content. What does that mean as publishers continue to find better ways to utilize digital media?

Yes, Snapchat is still a thing — in fact, it’s growing. From Q1 to Q2 2019, the social media platform added 13 million daily active users. With its Discover feature, Snapchat is giving publishing partners the chance to reach an audience of over 200 million users. 

And that format is proving itself for both Snapchat and publishers. 

Snapchat’s Format Proves Itself

“What was once a money pit for some publishers is now becoming more of a gold mine,” writes Deanna Ting at Digiday. Ting is referring to growth reported by a number of Snapchat publishing partners, including Hearst, Whistle, Group Nine, ESPN and NBCUniversal. More specifically, both Snapchat and Hearst both reported 40 percent YoY growth in subscriptions on the Discover feature. 

The growth in audience and ROI is there. 

“We have seen a notable increase in the previous few months and the trajectory of revenue growth we have seen has been particularly encouraging. It is definitely becoming a larger share of our media and social distribution business,” Joe Caporoso, senior vp of content and brand platforms at Whistle, told Digiday. “We have been encouraged by the revenue trajectory across all our franchises, including NewForm and Vertical Network properties, within the last quarter.”

So what does this mean for publishers? 

Emulating the Content and Advertising of Snapchat

Partnering with Snapchat or other social media platforms may not be an option for most publishers, but they can still glean something from the success. 

“It’s an exercise in figuring out what works without wasting too much time, money or effort in the process,” writes Ting. What works, it seems, is content created specifically with social, short form platforms in mind.

Snapchat’s main draw for both consumers and publishers is the personalization. Users get personalized feeds of their favorite content, and publishers use the platform to serve personalized, automatically placed ads based not only on user interests but also their behavior on the platform. Snapchat will show different numbers and types of ads to users who watch longform content versus those who swipe quickly, for example. 

Publishers should be asking both how they can replicate similar content on their own properties and emulate the advertising model for brands. 

“Social is the new cable pipeline,” Ashish Patel, chief insights officer at Group Nine, told Digiday. “Where we want to operate are on platforms where audiences are migrating to and spending time. Snapchat, at that time, was doing well with younger users with Stories product and we saw a lot of success there.”

The format, in other words, is not necessarily limited to Snapchat. TikTok is a more recent iteration of personalized, social content with a much larger (if more narrow) audience than its older counterpart. 

There’s no question that creating social-first content (let alone Snapchat-specific content) requires an investment from publishers. But now, at least, the ROI is clear. 

Krizelman expressed optimism in anticipation for the release of the official report from Snap Inc. He stated, “We are encouraged, but not surprised, to see SNAP have another positive quarter. The company has a healthy mix of both new and returning clients, has the loyalty of major advertisers like Comcast, Adidas, and Disney, and saw their roster of advertisers swell by 15% in Q1 2019.”

Shortly after Krizelman shared his predictions, Snap Inc. released strong Q1 Earnings. Snap Inc. reported, revenue increased 39% to $320 million in Q1 2019, compared to the prior year.

“In the first quarter we delivered strong results across our business with growth in daily active users and revenue,” said Evan Spiegel, CEO of Snap Inc. “Our new Android application is available to everyone, with promising early results. This month we announced several new products that we believe will drive further engagement and monetization. As we look towards the future, we see many opportunities to increase our investments, and will continue to manage our business for long-term growth.”

Snapchat Key Advertising Insights for Q1

MediaRadar reviewed advertising across Snapchat’s platform. Overall, Snap’s advertisers see success on the platform.

• The number of brands placed on premium Snapchat Discover channels is up 15% Q1 year-over-year.

• 58% of Snapchat’s Q1 2019 advertisers renewed from a prior period, which is a great sign of long-term adoption.

• Snap is also breaking new business. During Q1 2019, 42% of advertisers were new to the platform.

According to their earnings report, as of March, Snapchat reaches 90% of all 13-24 year-olds and 75% of all 13-34 year-olds in the U.S. Snapchat continues to defend the title of one of the most powerful platforms to reach them. MediaRadar shared, during Q1, Snapchat saw strength in the following key categories: Media & Entertainment, Tech, Retail, Apparel.

MediaRadar’s breakdown of Snapchat’s 2018 ad revenue by category

Top Snapchat Advertisers in Q1 2019

According to MediaRadar’s data, the top 10 advertisers on the platform increased their investment in Snap in Q1 2019. Snapchat’s top ad buyers are Comcast, AT&T, Mars, The Walt Disney Company, Adidas, Pepsi, Exxon Mobil, Procter & Gamble, Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, and Verizon.

We anticipate the release of Facebook Inc’s earnings report later today. Snap Inc’s Earnings report was released at 4:10 pm, and stock prices jumped approximately 5% in the first 20 minutes after their earnings were released. Will Facebook have the same success in Q1 2019?

The NFL advertising game is changing. In 2018, liquor brands were finally permitted to advertise during games and National Football League (NFL) sponsorship increased, along with the league’s TV ratings and use of Snapchat as a promotional tool.

Advertising during NFL’s opening weekend also grew, a trend very similar to what’s been happening during the NFL playoffs since 2014.

NFL’s Large Share of Playoff Advertising Revenue

As CEO and Co-Founder of MediaRadar, Todd Krizelman, pointed out that, “When comparing advertising revenue between the 2017 and 2018 playoffs for these four major leagues, the NFL dominates.” In fact, the NFL’s playoff advertising share has increased by 19% since 2014, according to Forbes. The league’s “share of playoff advertising revenue relative to its three main competitors — the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Hockey League (NHL) —increased to 62%, from 52%.” Of that total ad spend, the NBA barely brought in 24%. In its 33 games, the MLB drew 10% and, across its 84 playoff games, the NHL drew the least amount: only 4%.

NFL Playoff’s High Renewal Rate

Despite the political controversy surrounding former NFL quarterback, Colin Kaepernick, and the sport, the National Football League still received a 90% renewal rate for its 2017 to 2018 season, meaning that many companies were still advertising with the NFL during this time (An example of a brand advertising involves Nike and its native ad campaign with Colin Kaepernick). The other sports, the NHL, MLB and NBA, only saw renewal rates between 55% and 65%. The NHL, for instance, only received a 54% renewal rate from the 2017 playoffs to the 2018 playoffs.

NFL’s Increased Number of Advertisers 

As shown by the bar graph below, the only two US sports playoffs that increased their number of advertisers last year were the National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Football League (NFL). The NHL’s inflation percentage during the 2018 playoffs was slight at only plus 1%.

Top 5 Companies Advertising in the NFL Playoffs

1. Verizon Communications, Inc.

Coming in first place out of more than 725 companies is Verizon Communication, Inc because it spent the most advertising during the NFL playoffs. The American telecommunications company spent over $100 million and advertised in at least one of the league’s playoff games. It was the highest spender in the NFL as well as the Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs. Find Verizon’s brand profile page here.

2. Ford Motor Company

Ford came in second place, spending just under $100 million. Learn more about the automaker on Ford’s brand profile page.

3. Toyota Group

The Toyota Group threw over $75 million ad dollars in the ring to participate in the NFL advertising game. Toyota Motor’s brand profile page will give you even more insight into this multinational automotive manufacturer.

4. Anheuser-Busch, InBev SA/NV

The American brewing company spent more than $50 million to advertise during the NFL playoffs. For more information about it, check out the Anheuser-Busch InBev brand profile page.

5. EXOR S.p.A

In last place is the holding company, EXOR S.p.A. Like Anheuser-Busch, InBev, it also spent over $50 million.

Top 3 Product Categories Spending During the NFL Playoffs

1. Technology

Coming in first in the list of top product categories is technology. It spent over $350 million during the NFL playoffs.

2. Automotive

Automotive also threw its hat in the NFL advertising ring and spent more than $350 million.

3. Financial and Real Estate

Financial and Real Estate is third place. It cost this combination category over $300 million to advertise in the NFL playoffs.

4. Retailer and Wholesale

The product category, Retailer and Wholesale, spent over $225 million to make it to fourth place.

5. Media and Entertainment

In last place is Media and Entertainment. Compared to the other product categories, it spent just over $125 million.

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In recent years, the media mix has shifted. Publishers, even previously successful ones, could end up with a negative ROI (return on investment) or become overwhelmed by their competitors – that is, unless they found even more novel and engaging ways to reach their audiences or figured out the latest ad buying fluctuations and trends.

One of those upward trends became mobile, an effective way for publishers and brands to advertise to their consumers.

Top 5 Mobile Advertisers

Below are the advertisers, who invested the most money in mobile advertising.

o   Carnival

o   Comcast

o   Amazon

o   SoftBank Group

o   HP

Top 3 Mobile Product Categories

Here are different product categories, and the top three brands within each division, that spent the most on mobile ads.

o   Tech (In order: Samsung Group, Intel, and then Nintendo)

o   Retail (In order: Amazon, Bed Bath & Beyond, and then Walmart)

o   Finance (In order: State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, Wells Fargo, and then Capital One Financial)

The product category that increased the most year over year (YoY) was cigarettes and tobacco (See: JUUL and eCigs) while the product category that decreased spend the most YoY was toiletries and cosmetics (See: Estee Lauder and Edgewell Personal Care).

From the first half (1H) of 2017 to the first half of 2018, mobile advertising increased 42%, noted an IAB Internet Ad Revenue report conducted by PwC. By 2021, mobile video is expected to reach approximately $16.2 billion.

Snapchat capitalized on this expanding market.

The mobile messaging and social media app began deploying mobile ads in 2014. Its growth slowed in March 2017 after going public. Fortunately, however, Snapchat regained steam, as proven by its Q4 report, published towards the beginning of fall 2017.

Recognizing the key benefits of Snapchat, major brands started jumping on the many different customized and high-CPM ads formats, videos, and sponsored lenses offered by the app.

What are Snapchat‘s Sponsored Lenses?

For starters, a sponsored lens is a filter. Users of the app can apply one to any of their previously-taken photos and videos.

There are many different types of lenses. Some act as a frame for still-shots, some are incorporated into interactive clips, and some, including the “World Lenses,” are just added to users’ current environment.

Advertisers have a lot of say when it comes to creating their long Snapchat campaigns. They can get additional lenses within their filter for photos with multiple people, lenses for the rear and/or front cameras, and even switch out one lens for another during their campaign.

Sponsored lenses not only allow advertisers a great deal of creative freedom and say, but they also help them engage more with their consumers. The Cinco de Mayo snapchat lens from Taco Bell, for example, received approximately 224 million views, according to an article by Adweek. At the time, it quickly became the top campaign in the app’s history.

5% of all companies advertising on Snapchat in 2018 ran a sponsored lens. Food is the product category that’s most likely to run this type of filter. Only categories with at least 10 advertisers were even considered, however.

Snapchat‘s Ad Revenue Comes From … 

Top Five Snapchat Advertisers

Here are the advertisers, who invested the most money in advertising on Snapchat.

o   Comcast

o   Mars 

o   AT&T

o   Adidas

o   P&G

Top 3 Snapchat Product Categories

Below are different product categories, and the top three brands within those divisions, that spent the most on Snapchat ads.

o   Media and Entertainment (In order: The Walt Disney Company, Hearst, and then Spotify)

o   Retail (In order: Exxon Mobil, Apple, and then McDonald’s)

o   Apparel and Accessories (In order: Nike, American Eagle Outfitters, and then Macy’s)