With the recent financial crisis, advertising has dipped in a number of financial services areas. TV advertising by credit card services companies, which was up throughout 2008, dropped by almost 24% in the first three weeks of September, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported yesterday. Meanwhile, TV advertising by mortgages services companies continued to slide in September. TV advertising within that category was down by almost 50% in the first three weeks of September versus the same time period a year ago.
Advertising by credit card services companies dipped significantly in the first three weeks of September, as the ongoing economic turmoil in the U.S. reached a boiling point, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported Thursday.
Among credit card services companies, TV ad units for Sept. 1 – 21, 2008 were down by almost 24% versus the same time period last year.
Most of the top advertisers in the Credit Card Services category — including Capital One, Discover, Synovus, Washington Mutual, and Visa — reduced their TV television advertising activity in September.
Earlier in 2008, advertising by credit card services companies had shown increases. In July and August, for instance, ad spending for the category was up by almost 27% over the same period a year ago.
| Product Category | TV Ad Units: Sept. 3-23, 2007 |
TV Ad Units: Sept. 1-21, 2008 |
% Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit Services | 27,102 | 34,955 | 28.98% |
| Bank Services | 46,300 | 54,655 | 18.05% |
| Credit Union | 10,930 | 12,153 | 11.19% |
| Financial Investment Services | 15,693 | 15,424 | -1.71% |
| Loan Companies | 30,167 | 28,033 | -7.07% |
| Credit Card Services | 18,057 | 13,784 | -23.66% |
| Mutual Funds | 1,058 | 751 | -29.02% |
| Mortgage Services | 24,182 | 12,130 | -49.84% |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (September 3 – 23, 2007 and September 1 – 21, 2008). | |||
In July and August, ad spending by mortgage service companies was down by almost 54%, compared to the same period in 2007. Ad spending by loan companies also dropped by almost 37% between July-August 2007 and July-August 2008.
| Product Category | TV Ad Spending: July-August 2007 (in 000s) |
TV Ad Spending: July-August 2008 (in 000s) |
% Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credit Services | $35,334.483 | $54,259.391 | 53.56% |
| Credit Union | $4,800.275 | $7,181.590 | 49.61% |
| Credit Card Services | $172,656.147 | $218,473.427 | 26.54% |
| Financial Investment Services | $76,385.649 | $91,524.918 | 19.82% |
| Bank Services | $133,844.679 | $133,369.217 | -0.36% |
| Mutual Funds | $10,893.430 | $8,344.414 | -23.40% |
| Loan Companies | $63,093.366 | $39,783.735 | -36.94% |
| Mortgage Services | $56,127.525 | $25,849.113 | -53.95% |
| Source: The Nielsen Company (July 1 – August 31, 2007 and July 1 – August 31, 2008). | |||
