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Gen-Z, Millennial e-Commerce Opps: Shipt increases ad spend to reach younger audience (Score 52)

 has started notably increasing its advertising spend, particularly via national TV and digital display, in order to reach more Gen-Z and millennial consumers.

According to iSpot, all of Shipt's 2020 national TV commercials aired from February-April. This does not seem to be a result of the global pandemic since the company aired commercials during the same timeframe in 2019. This year's commercials targeted Gen-Z and millennials with a slight female skew, top shows including Ridiculousness, South Park, Home Town, Botched and The Office. A YTD spend of approximately $7.9m marks a 58% increase from the approximately $5m spent by this point last year. This was the only time in 2019 that the company invested in this channel, so it is probably done for 2020, but sellers should reach out by the end of the year to secure ad dollars for early 2021.

Out of the $623k Adbeat estimates Shipt allocated toward digital display from September 2018-2020, 84% ($523.9k) was allocated from September 2019-2020. Most of the past year's spend went toward programmatic ads placed via Google DV360 ($303.7k) onto sites such as reddit.com ($15.6k), accuweather.com, postfun.com, washingtonpost.com and dailymail.co.uk.

Additionally, Magellan reports the company has aired six podcast ads within the past year, and Pathmatics reports it invests in Facebook and Instagram ads.

Shipt's ad targeting, severely increased spend and usage of digital channels such as digital display, paid social and podcast reinforce that its target demographic consists primarily of Gen-Z and millennials with a slight female skew. Its same-day delivery service appeals to consumers stuck at home due to the global pandemic. The company likely also utilizes OTT; per Kantar data, it additionally invests in OOH, radio and local broadcast.

Agency & martech readers - We have not heard of any roster shifts since Shipt parted ways with its former marketing SVP, Missy Polhemus, in October, so keep the company on your radar if and when it selects a replacement. Competition includes Markstein, PR and social AOR since 2016.