L.L. Bean Beefs Up Back-To-School Focus

Back-to-school TV advertising spend is down by 13% year-over-year on national linear TV, according to new data from iSpot. The data looks at all back-to-school themed ads across retail and clothing/apparel brands from July 1-Aug. 2 – so there's also time for this year's back-to-school season to dial up investment. Brands spent an estimated $18.4 million on BTS ads this year, vs. $21.2 million this year.

Part of that may be due to Prime Day pushes in June and July, however.

Some additional notes:

• After its Prime Day push, Amazon has pivoted its back-to-school focus to the larger brand, accounting for the largest share of BTS household TV ad reach from July 1-Aug. 2, and the most estimated national TV ad spend.
• Advertisers like Macy’s and JCPenney, who sat out much of the Prime Day lead-up hype, put a greater emphasis on back-to-school TV ad spend YoY, up 34% and 102% YoY, respectively.
• L.L. Bean did not advertise around BTS from July 1-Aug. 2 last year, but has spent nearly $500K already this year as part of a larger YoY TV ad push during spring/summer (the brand typically emphasizes spend around the holidays).
• Six of the 10 most-seen BTS ads so far this year focus on savings messaging.