MMM: Easter Advertising Trends 2024; Truth Social Outpaces Alt Tech Peers in User Growth

Sensor Tower data shows that the top advertisers in the confections category by Easter-specific mentions across the US and the UK had one thing in common: the Cadbury Egg. In a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp, former President Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group went public last week, powered by its alt tech social media app, Truth Social. ST data shows that Truth Social has exhibited stellar growth in downloads and MAUs through the beginning of this year, driven primarily by launches in international markets over the course of 2023.

Key Takeaways:

Sensor Tower data shows that the confections category saw elevated levels of spend in the past 5 weeks (ex-3/17-3/23) leading up to the Easter holiday (2/19-3/16). In 2023, US ad spend in the confections category jumped 34% MoM in Mar’23, potentially due to the longer advertising period before Easter, as consumers spent a record $24bn in preparation for the holiday
Hershey and Mondelez are the top advertisers by mentions of Easter in the US and UK, respectively, due to the success of the Cadbury egg, as it accounts for 50% of Mondelez’s Easter advertising in the UK and ~65% of Hershey’s Easter spend in the US (including Hershey’s assortment & seasonal) over the past 30 days
Digital World Acquisition Corp, a SPAC formed to initially list alt tech platform Truth Social, merged with former President Donald Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group last week. Shares of the newly formed entity, DJT, soared more than 45% upon listing. ST data shows Truth Social has seen a stronger uptick in adoption compared to its alt tech social media peers with 1Q24 QTD downloads up 45% YoY, vs -84% for Gettr during the same period
As of 1Q24 QTD, Truth Social has ~400k MAUs, up 94% YoY, compared to Gettr (-69%) with 257k MAUs and Parler (-75%) with less than 50k MAUs. This is a continuation of stellar growth exhibited in 2023 for Truth Social with MAUs up 85% YoY, per quarter, from 1Q23-4Q23 as the platform benefitted from a slew of international launches in countries such as Turkey, Argentina, and Nigeria
- Although Truth Social boasts a much larger user base than its alt tech social media peers, the platform is significantly smaller than traditional micro-blogging social media apps such as X, Threads, Reddit, and Bluesky. Per ST Data, X, Threads, Reddit, and Bluesky have ~349mn, 85mn, 71mn, and 2mn MAUs, respectively, through 1Q24 QTD, compared to 400k for Truth Social

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