Aldi and Lidl outspend Tesco on Christmas ads

German discounters Aldi and Lidl spent twice as much on British advertising as UK grocery leader Tesco in the initial buildup to Christmas as they sought to build on market share gains at the seasonal peak.

Together, the budget chains spent £16.5m (€21m) in the four weeks to December 7, researcher Nielsen said, increasing their expenditure by 26% and 85%, from a year earlier. Tesco paid out £8.3m, a decrease of 2%, Nielsen said.

The increased advertising budgets demonstrate the ambition of the discounters, says Marius Luedicke, a marketing professor at Cass Business School in London.