U.S. ad spend was up 0.8% in 2011

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ChartAccording to latest data from Kantar Media, total ad expenditures increased 0.8% in 2011 and finished the year at $144.0 billion. Surprisingly, considering the holidays, spend in Q4 dropped 1.0% versus the year ago period, the first quarterly decline since the end of 2009. Since reaching a post-recession peak in Q3 2010, ad growth rates have slowed sequentially for five consecutive quarters.


“The contrast of resilient TV spending and waning budget allocations to other traditional media was plainly evident at the end of 2011,” said Jon Swallen, SVP Research at Kantar Media Intelligence North America. “Some mature digital media formats were also touched by the year-end tide of reduced spending. Whether this is an isolated occurrence or an early sign of digital dollars moving more quickly towards emerging and unmeasured digital platforms bears watching as 2012 unfolds.”

Television continued to lead the ad market in the fourth quarter. Network TV expenditures jumped 7.7% year-over-year and were helped by strong pricing for football, a baseball World Series that went the maximum seven games and the launch of The X Factor singing competition program. The rate of Cable growth eased during Q4, finishing at +2.4% as higher demand from restaurants and retailers was offset by reductions from consumer packaged goods. For the full year, Network TV decreased by 2.0% while Cable rose 7.7%.

Spanish language TV ad spending surged 19.1% in fourth quarter, paced by higher sell-out levels at over-the-air networks. For all of 2011, the segment increased 8.3%.

Syndication TV benefitted from higher spending by department stores and health & beauty brands and saw expenditures soar 11.0% in Q4. FY spend  advanced by 15.4%.

Spot TV expenditures fell 8.7% in Q4, but the more significant indicator was that November and December spending were each down, despite easy comparisons against diminished, post-election spending volume of a year ago. Full year Spot TV spending dropped 4.5%.

The pace of spending in Radio also sagged. Local Radio spend was down 3.8% and National Spot was down 13.9% in Q4. The telecom, financial service and automotive categories were prime contributors to these quarterly decreases.

Free Standing Inserts achieved healthy gains in the fourth quarter with spend rising 3.0%. Although manufacturers have been distributing fewer FSI coupons, retailer promotion pages have increased significantly and this contributed to the improvement.

Adspend for measured digital media declined in the fourth quarter. Paid Search budgets were 6.4% lower versus a year ago with continuing reductions from financial, insurance and local service advertisers. Display investments decreased 5.9% in Q4, dragged down by smaller budgets from auto manufacturers, telecom providers and travel companies. For the entire year, Paid Search declined 2.8% and Display increased 5.5%.

Magazine ad spending eroded at year end. Consumer Magazines declined 5.2% in the fourth quarter due to deep cutbacks in auto, food and pharmaceutical advertising. Total year expenditures were level compared to prior year. Outlays in Sunday Magazines fell 9.8% in Q4, the sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines, and were down 7.2% for all of 2011.

Local Newspaper ad expenditures fell 3.9% during the fourth quarter, hurt by the reallocation of retailer advertising budgets to other media channels during the key holiday shopping season. Full year spending was 3.8% lower. The losses in Newspaper spending are consistent with reductions in the amount of space sold.

Percent Change in Measured Ad Spending1
MEDIA SECTOR 4th Quarter Year
• Media Type 2011 vs. 2010 2011 vs. 2010
(Listed in rank order of full year 2011 spending)
TELEVISION MEDIA 3.1% 2.4%
• Cable TV2 2.4% 7.7%
• Network TV 7.7% -2.0%
• Spot TV3 -8.7% -4.5%
• Spanish Language TV4 19.1% 8.3%
• Syndication – National 11.0% 15.4%
INTERNET MEDIA -6.2% 0.4%
• Paid Search5 -6.4% -2.8%
• Display -5.9% 5.5%
MAGAZINE MEDIA6 -4.9% -0.4%
• Consumer Magazines -5.2% 0.0%
• B-to-B Magazines -0.8% 0.8%
• Sunday Magazines -9.8% -7.2%
• Local Magazines -3.8% -2.9%
• Spanish Language Magazines 25.1% 24.9%
NEWSPAPER MEDIA7 -3.7% -3.7%
• Local Newspapers -3.9% -3.8%
• National Newspapers -3.9% -3.6%
• Spanish Language Newspapers 10.4% 1.9%
RADIO MEDIA -5.6% -0.6%
• Local Radio 8 -3.8% 0.6%
• National Spot Radio -13.9% -5.4%
• Network Radio 4.3% 2.7%
OUTDOOR 1.1% 6.5%
FSIs9 3.0% -4.3%
TOTAL -1.0% 0.8%

 

Ad spend by advertiser
Spending among the ten largest advertisers in 2011 reached $16,061.6 million, a 2.8% decline compared to a year ago. Among the Top 100 marketers, a diversified group that represents over two-fifths of all measured ad expenditures, full year budgets were down 0.2%.

For the ninth consecutive year, Procter & Gamble was the top advertiser with spending of $2,949.1 million down 5.4% compared to last year. While TV is still the foundation of its advertising media buys, P&G’s 2011 budget allocation saw share gains for magazines at the expense of TV.

AT&T was the second largest advertiser in 2011 with expenditures of $1,924.6 million, a decline of 11.7%. Media budgets were severely curtailed during the fourth quarter when the company abandoned its attempted acquisition of T-Mobile, triggering large breakup fees and a huge earnings loss. At Verizon Communications, full year ad spending was $1,636.9 million, a decrease of 11.8%. After a string of quarterly budget cuts dating to early 2010, Verizon sharply boosted its spending during the last quarter.

The largest growth rate among the Top Ten marketers was posted by Chrysler, up 36.2% to $1,193.0 for the full year. The increase was driven by marketing introductions for several new or redesigned models, coupled with the improved sales climate for new vehicles. In contrast, General Motors lowered its 2011 outlays by 16.1% to $1,784.1 million. Q4 media budgets dropped 24.7%. As factory support has been trimmed, GM dealers have been bearing a larger share of the overall marketing effort.

L’Oreal investments in 2011 rose 18.1% to $1,343.5 million as the company expanded marketing support for the L’Oreal Paris, Maybelline and Garnier brand lines. Comcast (+11.3%, to $1,577.2 million) and Time Warner (+5.8%, to $1,279.4 million) also posted full year spending gains.

Top Ten Advertisers Of 20111
Rank Company Year 2011 Year 2010
($ Millions) ($ Millions) % Change
1 Procter & Gamble Co $2,949.1 $3,116.9 -5.4%
2 AT&T Inc $1,924.6 $2,180.0 -11.7%
3 General Motors Corp $1,784.1 $2,127.0 -16.1%
4 Verizon Communications $1,636.9 $1,856.8 -11.8%
5 Comcast Corp $1,577.2 $1,416.6 11.3%
6 L’Oreal SA $1,343.5 $1,137.8 18.1%
7 Time Warner Inc $1,279.4 $1,209.8 5.8%
8 Pfizer Inc $1,203.5 $1,230.8 -2.2%
9 Chrysler Group LLC $1,193.0 $875.7 36.2%
10 News Corp $1,170.5 $1,362.2 -14.1%
TOTAL2 $16,061.6 $16,513.5 -2.8%

Ad spend by category
Spending for the ten largest categories grew 3.3% in 2011 and reached $81,629.2 million. Automotive was the leading category in dollar volume and finished 2011 at $13,890.4 million, up 6.3%. Category spending growth became increasingly bifurcated during the year with Tier 2 and Tier 3 dealer budgets continuing to expand and Tier 1 manufacturer expenditures flattening.

Miscellaneous Retail, which is comprised of all retail segments except Department Stores and Home Improvement purveyors, was the second largest category with 2011 expenditures of $10,019.5 million, up 4.0%. Robust ad spending during the critical year-end holiday season bolstered results.

Insurance registered the largest growth rate among the Top Ten categories with a 13.5% gain to $5,519.0 million. Aggressive competition among auto insurers to gain market share continues to drive media budgets higher.

Financial Services totaled $9,059.9 million of spending, a 3.6% increase. Growth has been fueled by the credit card segment, offsetting continued weakness in ad budgets for investment products and retail banking.

The Telecom category lost ground as 2011 expenditures fell 5.8% to $8,649.0 million. Declines were most pronounced among the leading wireless service advertisers. Aggregates expenditures from TV service providers also slowed.

Top Ten Advertising Categories Of 20111
Rank Category Year 2011 Year 2010
($ Millions) ($ Millions) % Change
1 Automotive $13,890.4 $13,062.2 6.3%
  • (Manufacturers)
$8,586.5 $8,291.6 3.6%
  • (Dealers)
$5,303.9 $4,770.6 11.2%
2 Miscellaneous Retail2 $10,019.5 $9,637.4 4.0%
3 Local Services $9,573.3 $8,922.1 7.3%
4 Financial Services $9,095.9 $8,778.7 3.6%
5 Telecom $8,649.0 $9,180.4 -5.8%
6 Personal Care Products $6,497.7 $6,155.9 5.6%
7 Food & Candy $6,354.1 $6,644.3 -4.4%
8 Direct Response $6,155.7 $6,119.0 0.6%
9 Restaurants $5,874.7 $5,627.9 4.4%
10 Insurance $5,519.0 $4,862.7 13.5%
TOTAL3 $81,629.2 $78,990.7 3.3%

Top spending advertisers by media
The top ten TV advertisers spent $10,115.4 million in the medium during 2011, down 0.8% from a year ago. This group accounted for 14.9% of total TV expenditures by all advertisers.

Top Ten Television AdvertisersOf 20111
Year 2011 % Change vs.
Rank Company ($ Millions) Year Ago
1 Procter & Gamble Co $1,718.7 -6.8%
2 AT&T Inc $1,332.6 -12.6%
3 General Motors Corp $1,112.2 -7.6%
4 Verizon Communications $1,064.1 -3.9%
5 Chrysler Group Llc $890.4 38.8%
6 General Mills Inc $842.4 4.3%
7 Comcast Corp $840.3 10.6%
8 Ford Motor Co $781.0 -3.9%
9 Toyota Motor Corp $767.4 -4.0%
10 Time Warner Inc $766.2 9.8%
TOTAL2 $10,115.4 -0.8%

 The ten largest Internet advertisers invested a total of $2,360.6 million in paid search and display campaigns, up 10.0% versus a year ago. Despite fragmentation on the web, the group accounted for 10.9% share of all Internet ad dollars.

Top Ten Internet Advertisers Of 2011
(Display + Paid Search)
Year 2011 % Change vs.
Rank Company ($ Millions) Year Ago
1 IAC/Interactivecorp $316.2 28.9%
2 Experian Group LTD $277.8 -5.8%
3 General Motors Corp $270.8 15.7%
4 AT&T Inc $245.7 6.3%
5 Progressive Corp $239.7 22.9%
6 Verizon Communications Inc $230.3 27.9%
7 Comcast Corp $203.7 31.8%
8 Capital One Financial Corp $203.4 0.0%
9 Amazon.com Inc $199.8 -13.1%
10 Ebay Inc $173.2 -2.0%
TOTAL1 $2,360.6 +10.0%

 The top ten advertisers in Hispanic Media spent $1,403.6 million during 2011, an increase of 29.2%. This group accounted for 24.7% of all Hispanic Media expenditures, the largest Top Ten share concentration of any medium.

Top Ten Hispanic Media Advertisers Of 20111
Year 2011 % Change
Rank Company ($ Millions) vs. Year Ago
1 Broadcasting Media Partners $362.0 212.9%
2 Procter & Gamble Co $209.6 9.6%
3 Dish Network Corp $153.7 71.2%
4 McDonalds Corp $114.4 -2.6%
5 Verizon Communications Inc $113.2 -16.6%
6 AT&T Inc $111.0 -16.2%
7 General Mills Inc $93.6 5.1%
8 Toyota Motor Corp $84.6 8.3%
9 Kraft Foods Inc $82.9 130.9%
10 General Motors Corp $78.6 -21.8%
TOTAL2 $1,403.6 +29.2%