Unruly / Blog / ‘Tis The Season… To Target Your Gadget-Loving Christmas Shoppers

‘Tis The Season… To Target Your Gadget-Loving Christmas Shoppers

We may still be days away from popping the first box on our advent calendars, but the holiday season is already in full swing.

The John Lewis ad is the talk of the UK (it has already become the most shared John Lewis ad to date!), German brands are starting to battle it out to see if they can repeat Edeka’s incredible success last year and retailers in the US are busy gearing up for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

But with so many advertisers around the globe looking for ways to reach potential shoppers, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd during this crucial period for brands. In the US alone, consumers spend an average of $935.58 during the holiday shopping season (source: National Retail Federation).

Tech, in particular, is a key festive market, with 68% of Americans planning to purchase technology gifts for the nearest and dearest this holiday season, according to data supplied by the Consumer Technology Association,

But what can advertisers do to reach these consumers more effectively? Well, we took a closer look at how publishers engaged with this key audience online during the holiday season through our programmatic video platform Unruly Activate. 

We took a look at the number of global views from the last two weeks of November 2015 and the entirety of December 2015 to understand when people are engaging with tech and gaming content and how advertisers should target them.

Here’s what we found:

  1. Thanksgiving drove the most video views – In 2015, Thanksgiving fell on Thursday, 25th November, and there is a major uptick in views, peaking on Thanksgiving itself and Black Friday;
  2. Drop-off in first two weeks of December – December is often considered a prime time for shoppers and gift exploration, however, tech audiences weren’t engaging with ads at this time and it showed the lowest valleys for views; 
  3. Post-Christmas uptick – The second biggest uptick comes after Christmas, likely due to happy elves researching the latest tech and games to learn the ins and outs of their new toys. The uptick could also be caused by unhappy campers who are considering exchanging their gifts in the weeks after the holidays.

 

shoppingseasonviews

Source: Unruly Activate

 

To target Christmas shoppers throughout the season, it’s important to remember that this is the time of year that everyone is in the mood to spend! According to Nielsen, gamers spend 52% of their annual ad spend in Q4, as shoppers purchase tech gadgets and new video games for loved ones.

It may seem obvious to put some of your budget toward digital advertising around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, when looking at last year’s data, it’s important to keep your Christmas media spend going well into the New Year. Activity was as high at the end of the Christmas season as at the start, and it’s important to not miss out on these consumers after the day itself.

Advertisers looking to capture some of this increased spending budget around the holidays should consider customised private marketplaces – whether it’s for Tech and Gaming, Christmas shoppers, or a specific metric like high completion rates – to reach audiences in the most premium environments at scale.

Check out our seasonal PMPs at our PartnerPortal here.