Tesco has retained its position as the biggest spender in traditional advertising in the UK grocery retail sector, according to new data released by Nielsen AdIntel.
The retailer increased its advertising expenditure in the channel to more than £80.8 million (€92.6 million) in 2019, from £74.8 million (€85.74 million) the previous year.
Asda and Lidl held on to the second and third positions in 2019, recording a 4.9% and 11.0% decline in spend respectively.
The 'Most Significant Mover'
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s emerged as the 'most significant mover' among retailers by increasing expenditure in traditional advertising channels by 82.6% to £51.9 million (€59.5 million) in 2019, up from £28.4 million (€32.6 million) in 2018.
UK commercial director at Nielsen, Barney Farmer, commented, "Last year, Tesco celebrated its 100th anniversary, while Sainsbury’s also marked its 150th birthday in 2019. These two milestone events have likely been the main contributors to the increased spend from these two retailers across trusted media channels."
Aldi upped spending in traditional advertising by 15.3% to £52.7 million (€60.4 million) during this period, while Marks & Spencer increased spend by 1.0% to £37 million (€42.4 million) and Iceland by 9.0% to £25.6 million (€29.3 million).
Morrisons dropped to seventh position in terms of advertising spend, after decreasing its spend by more than 21.2% to £36.1 million (€41.4 million) from £45.9 million (€52.6 million) the previous year.
The Co-operative and Waitrose also cut expenses on traditional advertising in 2019.
'Less Consistency'
Farmer added, "There was less consistency across the supermarket chains in terms of traditional advertising spend overall. Aldi, Marks & Spencer and Iceland invested more, while Asda, Lidl, Morrisons, The Co-operative and Waitrose all shifted budgets away.
"Many grocery retailers are choosing to experiment in other channels, while some have reinvested into traditional media as a trusted way to reach their consumers."
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
