TV advertising's future in the pandemic era is fast, cheap and minimalist

The New York Times

Last year, Lowe's spent big bucks for an elaborate Memorial Day commercial featuring many actors and locations. This year, Lowe's Memorial Day commercial was a bare-bones production set in a utility room. Walmart, another big spender, opted to skip TV altogether for Memorial Day Weekend, opting instead to go with an ad featuring a store manager reciting an inspirational poem that was placed on social media. Before the pandemic, 30% of ad spending in the United States went toward TV commercials, while 56% went to purely digital platforms. By the end of the year, “this gap is really going to blow out,” with TV “falling more dramatically,” said Michael Nathanson of the MoffettNathanson research firm.