US ad spend Rose 6.4% in first half 2004
US ad spending for the first half 2004 rose 6.4% over the same period last year, due to gains across major media, according to preliminary figures released by Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
Political spending combined with an increase from traditional advertisers helped fuel spending for the first six months of the year. The automotive category saw the largest dollar increase, as major automotive companies, such as DaimlerChrysler and Nissan, continue to boost the ad economy.
"Advertising spending remains strong in 2004," Jeff King, managing director of Nielsen Monitor-Plus observes. "The second half of the year will be fueled by two major events, the Summer Olympics and the presidential campaign. President Bush and Senator Kerry have already placed a substantial amount of advertising on spot television in key battleground markets. In addition, independent interest groups supporting Kerry contributed a significant amount of ad support for the candidate."
Ad spending increased in all reported media, led by Local Magazine and Cable TV. First half advertising spending for the top 10 companies topped 8 billion, up 11.3% from last year. Nearly every advertiser experienced growth, with two of the four automotive companies, DaimlerChrysler (+55.9%) and Nissan Motor Co. (+21.3%), showing the greatest increases in advertising expenditures.
As sport utility vehicles continue to maintain popularity, DaimlerChrysler considerably increased ad budgets for several of its trucks, including Dodge Ram, Jeep Cherokee, Jeep Wrangler, and the Mercedes-Benz ML350. Nissan's growth is also due to increased spending on trucks, such as the Infiniti FX, Infiniti QX56, Nissan Pathfinder Armada, and the Nissan Titan.
Spending for the 10 largest categories reached close to 19 billion for the first half, 5% greater than the same period last year. Combined spending for the three Automotive categories (Factory, Local Dealerships, Dealer Associations) reached 8.7 billion, for a net increase of 50 million (0.6%). The Pharmaceutical category, which is the fastest growing in terms of percent increase, and second largest in terms of dollars, continues to increase spending, exceeding two billion dollars in the first half.
As this year's presidential election race heats up, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reports that in the first half of this year, 356,161 commercials have aired on spot television from the groups listed in the chart below. Advertising support for Senator Kerry is actually much greater than the 8,422 difference between the two candidates' campaigns, when soft money funding is taken into account. Media Fund, Move On, AFL-CIO, and Sierra Club, all independent interest groups that support Senator Kerry, accounted for an additional 100,000 ads that aired in the first six months of the year.
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