This week MediaRadar reviewed ad buys from the week of December 5, 2022, and compared them to ads that ran the week of November 28, 2022.

While we highlighted four categories in this article, you can see the shifts in ad spend among all categories here. We look at Quarter-Over-Quarter (QoQ), Month-Over-Month (MoM), and Week-Over-Week (WoW).

Here is a full list of advertising changes by category. (Don’t worry, it’s ungated)

Below you will find four key takeaways surrounding key categories that have increased their advertising investment from week to week.

MediaRadar saw Beauty advertisers increase their advertising investment. With the holiday season, comes numerous parties and get-togethers. Everyone wants to look their best! Drivers of the increase in Beauty advertising were skincare and cosmetics brands. MediaRadar saw both categories increase ad investment by over 20% WoW. These increases helped to offset a WoW decrease in fragrance advertising. Below is a breakdown of ad spending in the Beauty category.

There was an increase in advertising among Non-alcoholic Beverage companies. Water brands saw a huge increase (over 50%) in ad spending WoW. Other beverage brands like milk and tea advertisers also increased their ad buys during the week of December 5th. Interestingly, soft drinks advertising saw a dip of 10% WoW. Below is an overview of the Non-alcoholic Beverage market.

As consumers prepare for a new year, they are thinking about their resolutions. Advertisers in the Education category are increasing their ad spend in hopes people make continuing their education a priority for 2023. Within the Education category, online education and certifications had the highest increase in ad spending WoW. These advertisers increased their weekly ad investment by over 100%. Here is a breakdown of advertising within the Education category.

Some brands decreased advertising during the final weeks of the year. We saw Technology advertisers reduce their investment in early December. This is interesting because we observed Tech brands increasing their advertising investment at the end of November. Mobile phone and telecommunications companies usually make a strong push toward the end of the year since cell phones are great holiday gifts and often plans need to be updated. However, this week both of these categories are down nearly 50%. This could be a sign of current economic conditions or just a momentary drop in ad spend. A bright spot within the tech category is Security software, which saw an increase of over 50% this week. Here is a chart showing the drivers of Tech advertising.

To review a full breakdown of which product categories are buying ads now, click here. MediaRadar updates this list each week – Subscribe to receive it in your inbox.