The VAB, the TV advertising trade group, says 30 direct-to consumer (D2C) marketers are doing better across consumer action/digital engagement metrics, due to wide-reaching national TV media buys.

From a digital engagement perspective -- first-quarter 2017 to the first quarter of 2021 -- the group says 30 D2C brands across 20 different marketing categories witnessed a 63% average increase in unique visitors per month; a 135% gain in total visits; and total digital engagement minutes up an average of 89%.

Those 30 brands spent over $3 billion in TV advertising, according to the VAB.

When asked by Television News Daily, representatives for VAB did not offer comparable ad-spend analysis on non-TV media -- digital media or other platforms -- for its analysis that may have contributed to the results by press time.

TV spend over this period totaled more than 600 billion national TV impressions for all these brands, with 70% of the audience target adults 50 and older.

The VAB says annual revenue grew across many of these D2C brands. For example, Casper’s revenue increased by 28% to $485,028, while Redfin gained 34% to $886,093 and Zillow grew 46% to $3,339,817.

Other D2C marketers in the survey included Babbel, Hims, Marley Spoon, Tommy John, Wayfair, VRBO, Touch of Modern, Ring, Purple, Boxed, Zulily and Warby Parker.