Companies like Zoom, Microsoft, and Slack have gone on a $45 million advertising blitz as working from home becomes the norm amid the coronavirus pandemic

• Communication software companies including Zoom and Slack have been on a major advertising blitz as people transition to working from home to stop the spread of COVID-19, according to data from ad-sales-intelligence platform MediaRadar.
• Altogether, these companies spent $45 million in the first quarter of 2020, nearly three times higher than any quarter in 2019.
• The increased spending is reaping rewards, said MediaRadar CEO and cofounder Todd Krizelman, with Microsoft Teams and Slack adding more users and Zoom's stock soaring.
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Communication software companies including Zoom and Slack have been on a major advertising blitz as people transition to working from home to stop the spread of COVID-19, according to data from ad-sales-intelligence platform MediaRadar.

These companies shelled out $45 million collectively in the first quarter of 2020, nearly three times higher than any quarter in 2019, MediaRadar found.

Their ad spend steadily increased in the quarter month-over-month as the pandemic intensified, from $10 million in January to over $24 million in March - with the last week of March seeing the same level of spending ($12 million) as the first three weeks of the month combined.

MediaRadar CEO and cofounder Todd Krizelman said the impact of the pandemic and increased ad spending was visible with Microsoft Teams and Slack reporting gains in users and Zoom's stock soaring.

Microsoft Teams, the largest communications software advertiser year-to-date, has added 12 million daily active users over the last two weeks, while Slack said that it has added 9,000 new paid customers since the beginning of February.

MediaRadar doesn't break down ad spending by company, but Microsoft Teams, Fuze, GoToMeeting, Grammarly, Slack, and Zoom were among the top spenders year-to-date.

Slack, for instance, just released its first national advertising campaign as a public company in the form of a PSA supporting people on the frontlines of the coronavirus, and Slack is spending more on advertising to promote the company, its CMO Julie Liegl told Business Insider.

Similarly, Microsoft launched a new ad campaign to promote Microsoft Teams in January.

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