Indiantelevision.com Team

(3 April 2008 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: US media research company Nielsen has reported that advertising spending for the full year 2007 rose 0.6 per cent compared to 2006, with Internet continuing to demonstrate the strongest performance ( 18.9 per cent growth) of any media category.

According to preliminary figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus, ad spending was mixed across media with gains in some categories and declines in others. In addition to Internet advertising, other media categories that showed an increase in 2007 were National Magazines (7.6 per cent), Outdoor (7.2 per cent), Sunday Supplements (4.9 per cent), Cable TV (2.2 per cent), and Spanish-Language TV (1.5 per cent).

Nielsen Monitor-Plus director product development and marketing Annie Touliatos says, "Several traditional media outlets are demonstrating resilience and strong growth in an overall softening economy, with Outdoor continuing a five-year steady climb in advertising spending".

US ad growth was substantially lower than other regions of the globe, with Asia-Pacific reporting a 12.1 per cent increase and Europe, Middle East, and Africa up nearly five per cent. Specifically, Newspapers have shown a steady decline year-over-year in the US, while all other countries measured by The Nielsen Company reported growth for this media category.

Advertising spending across monitored media for the top 10 companies in 2007 reached $17.9 billion, down an average of 4 per cent from 2006.

Seven out of the ten advertisers decreased budgets. The three companies that increased their spending were Procter and Gamble, Verizon Communications (6 per cent each), and AT&T (two per cent). Procter and Gamble, the largest advertiser and also the advertiser with the largest increase in budget ($205 million), boosted spending for many brands including Pantene Pro-V Hair Care Products, Gillette Fusion Razor-Electric Power, Cover Girl Volume Exact Mascara, and Olay Definity Moisturising Facial Deep Penetrating Foaming. In addition, many new brands were introduced; of these, Secret Clinical Strength Antiperspirant/Deodorant Advanced Solid had the largest advertising budget.

In contrast, General Motors showed the largest advertising spending decline in terms of dollars (-$267 million). In 2007, GM cut back on advertising for Chevrolet Tahoe Trucks, GMC Yukon Trucks, Buick Lucerne Autos, and Hummer H3 Trucks, among others.

Spending for the 10 largest product categories reached $44.6 billion in 2007, three per cent less than in 2006. In all, six categories showed decreased spending in 2007. The top category in terms of total dollars, Automotive, also had the greatest dollar and percent decline (-$1.48 billion, a 11 per cent fall).

Financial/Investment Services had the fastest percentage growth (14 per cent), while Wireless Telephone Services had the greatest dollar increase ($422 million). Within the Financial Services category, FMR Corp. was the top spender ($220.7 million), followed by Scottrade Inc. and Wachovia Corp., each with a budget of $119 million.

In the wireless product category, Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T were the top two advertisers in terms of total spending for 2007, each with a budget of $1.2 billion.