Top Holiday Ad Spenders: Walmart, Amazon

With less than two weeks until Christmas, it’s a critical time for retailers, who are hoping their big investment on holiday ad spending has paid off.

Indeed, during November, the first half of the holiday season, they spent $535 million on advertising, including TV, online, radio and print, according to MediaLife.

A new report from Kantar Media examines spending trends from Nov. 1 to 30.

The big ad spenders were Walmart, which accounted for the largest chunk of spending at $101 million, followed by Amazon at $73 million, and that included a larger-than-usual share dedicated to television advertising.

Both spent more than a third of that during the crucial Nov. 22 to 30 period, which includes Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

But the report notes that generally, advertisers pulled away from Black Friday advertising. Retailers have changed their approach.

“Although the retailers in our study are still spending plenty on advertising, events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday are receiving less attention. Instead, retailers are trying to consistently drive traffic across the entire holiday season,” says Kantar.