Advertising spending for Q1 rose 2.4% over the same period last year, due to gains across major media, according to preliminary figures released today by Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Advertising spending increased in almost all reported media, led by Spanish-Language TV, Cable TV, and Magazines. Network Radio and National Newspaper were essentially flat, while Coupon and the top 100 Spot TV markets showed declines. "Taking a closer look at Spot TV's performance for the quarter, the medium was down 3.9% overall; however, the smaller 101-210 DMAs experienced a steady 3.4% growth", said Jeff King, managing director of Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

Q1 ad spend for the top 10 companies reached 4.8 billion, up 8.1% from last year. Nearly every advertiser experienced growth. As usual, the automotive companies show healthy gains, accounting for 2.3 billion in spending, nearly half of the top 10 total.

Spending for the 10 largest categories reached 9.9 billion in the first quarter, 3.9% greater than the same period last year. The Credit Card Services category, which continues to be the fastest growing in terms of% increase (30.5%), continues to increase ad spending, exceeding 404 million dollars. Prescriptions Drugs, typically a category that shows substantial growth, has cut back spending 29 million (-2.8%).

Nielsen's Product Placement tracking service shows significant growth in the integration of product occurrences in primetime broadcast network programming. The top 10 brands in the product placement category totaled 6,020 occurrences during Q1.

Says King: "Illustrating just how quickly product placement is growing, the number one brand, Coca-Cola Classic, had 1,931 brand occurrences for the quarter, compared to 2,320 for all of last year." Coca-Cola Classic was also the number one brand for 2004. Coca-Cola Classic had nearly three times the number of occurrences than the number two brand, Everlast Apparel (691 occurrences). This is in part due to the brand's relationship with American Idol.

The top 10 programs that featured product placements in Q1 accounted for 12,867 occurrences. Further pointing to the rapid growth of this medium, this one quarter's occurrences (12,867) is more than half the brand occurrences for the Top 10 Programs in FY 2004 (23,526).

Top 10 Advertisers January – March 2005   Q1 2005 ($ Mil) % Change General Motors Corp.       $812 5.8% Procter & Gamble Co.    $677 -8.2% Ford Motor Co. $624 23.2% Toyota Motor Corp. $442 14.5% DaimlerChrysler AG $430 0.6% Time Warner Inc. $424 16.0% Johnson & Johnson $400 21.4% Walt Disney  Co. $392 -3.5% Altria Group $351 38.2% SBC Communications $295 -3.6% Total     $4,846 8.1% Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus Note: Automotive Advertisers reflects Factory and Dealer Association spending Based on spending estimates in the following media: Network TV, Spot TV, Syndicated TV, Hispanic TV, Nat’l/Local Magazine, Network/Spot Radio, Outdoor, FSI (CPGs only), Nat’l/Local Newspapers (display ads only), Nat’l/Local Sunday Supplements

Top 10 Product Categories January – March 2005   Q1 2005 ($ Mil) Q1 ‘04 vs. Q1 ‘05 $ Change Q1 ‘04 vs. Q1 ‘05 $%Change Automotive: Factory & Dealer Assoc. $3,185 $124 4.1 Automotive Dealerships-Local $1,239 $2 0.1 Prescription Drugs $985 -$29 -2.8 Restaurants-Quick Service $931 $101 12.2 Motion Picture $814 -$102 -11.2 Department Stores $737 -$6 -0.7 Telephone Services-Wireless $692 $104 17.7 Direct Response Products $543 $45 8.9 Credit Card Services $404 $94 30.5 Restaurants $368 $35 10.6 Total $9,897 $369 3.9 Source: Nielsen Monitor-Plus Based on spending estimates in the following media: Network TV, Spot TV, Syndicated TV, Hispanic TV, Nat’l/Local Magazine,  Network/Spot Radio, Outdoor, FSI (CPGs only), Nat’l/Local Newspapers (display ads only), Nat’l/Local Sunday Supplements

Top 10 Brands: Product Placement Q1 2005 Brand   Total # Occurrences Coca-Cola Classic Reg. Soft Drink 1,931 Everlast Apparel 691 Everlast Sporting Equipment 634 Adidas Apparel 476 Sports Illustrated Magazine 475 Nike Apparel 466 Gatorade Drinks-Isotonic 441 Home Depot Store 324 Toyota Autos & Trucks 319 New York Yankees Baseball Team 263 Total 6,020 Source:  Place*Views, Nielsen Product Placement service Top 10 Programs: Product Placement Q1 2005 Program  Network Total # Occurrences The Contender NBC 2,828 American Idol FOX 2,373 The Road To Stardom With Missy Elliott UPN 1,650 Amazing Race CBS 1,140 The Apprentice NBC 978 Extreme Makeover Home Edition ABC 916 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search NBC 792 What I Like About You WB 783 King Of Queens CBS 747 Fear Factor NBC 660 Total   12,867 Source: Place*Views, Nielsen Product Placement service