The reports in this collection look at ad spending in the retail, financial services, computing products and consumer electronics, automotive, telecom, travel, health and pharma, media and entertainment, and CPG industries. Countries covered in this report series include the US, UK, and Germany.

Digital ad spend by telecom and by computing products and consumer electronics companies will outperform industry averages in 2020. In a difficult year for digital ad spending, they will be two of only three industries to maintain double-digit growth.

eMarketer principal analyst at Insider Intelligence Victoria Petrock discusses how to make marketing more accessible. She then talks about the most interesting takeaways from this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), how to make people feel more comfortable with facial recognition technology, and the significance of two driverless car developments.

Despite general pullback in digital ad spending across many industries this year, the healthcare and pharma industry will increase its digital ad spend by 14.2% to reach $9.53 billion. This will make it the fastest-growing industry after computing products and consumer electronics, we forecast.

Amid 2020’s grim retail environment, ecommerce stands out as a bright spot. By now, the story is well known: US buyers have turned to online retailers like Amazon and Walmart in record numbers, mostly to avoid shopping in crowded places or because their local stores were closed.

The US computing products & consumer electronics industry will be the fastest growing digital ad spender in 2020, increasing its spend by 18.0% in a year when the total US digital ad market will only grow by 1.7%.

Consumer Electronics Ecommerce Sales. Ecommerce had a banner year across the board, but the consumer electronics industry was particularly well suited to serve the needs of a population suddenly stuck at home managing unexpected work, school, and leisure time. Consumer electronics ecommerce sales were in line to be $150.10 billion but instead will be $179.35 billion.

Apparel/accessories remains the largest category for social commerce, but consumer electronics, cosmetics, home decor, and consumer goods are also key players. Brands featuring new and differentiated products and/or aspirational imagery are best suited for the social commerce environment. What social commerce strategies should brands consider?

Computing Products and Consumer Electronics Digital Ad Spending. The computing products and consumer electronics industry will be a key beneficiary of the pandemic effect. Indeed, it’s the only industry whose spend will keep pace with that of the UK digital ad market this year.

Best Buy benefited from a season of high-demand consumer electronics products like the iPhone and from the release of Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. Mobile retail apps are a critical touchpoint for holiday ecommerce.

While entirely virtual this year, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) had all the usual trappings of the futuristic tech gadgets prototyped and brought to market that it is known for. Rollable phones stole the show, along with enormous and transparent screens. The pandemic loomed large, inspiring sanitizing robots, touchless doorbells, and air filter monitoring smart masks.