According to The Nielsen Company, total advertising spending in the U.S. dropped 2.6 percent in 2008, with just two out of 19 categories seeing increases from 2007.
Hispanic Cable TV saw ad spending rise 9.6 percent in 2008 compared to 2007, while Cable TV saw ad spending increase 7.8 percent. These were the only two categories that were able to buck the trend in 2008.
Cable TV raked in $26.6 billion in sales in 2008, making it the biggest category in terms of revenue.
Not surprisingly, newspaper-related categories struggled the most in 2008. The Local Sunday Supplements category saw ad spending plummet 11.0 percent, while the Local Newspaper category experienced a drop of 10.2 percent.
Business to Business saw a decline of 9.7 percent, National Newspaper saw a decline of 9.6 percent and National Magazine saw a drop of 7.6 percent.
The Internet category, which accounts for CPM-based, image-based advertising and excludes “paid search advertising, text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream (‘pre-rolls’) players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns or house advertising activity,” according to Nielsen, saw a decline of 7.6 percent in ad revenue in 2008.
The overall drop in ad spending was not surprising, “but it’s not as bad as it could have been,” according to Annie Touliatos, vice president of sales development for Nielsen’s ad tracking service, Monitor-Plus.
She pointed to the Summer Olympics and the presidential campaign as the two saving graces for advertising in 2008, most notably for TV buys.
The top 10 advertisers in the U.S. spent $15.5 billion on advertising in 2008, reflecting a 15.1 percent drop from the $18.3 billion spent in 2007.
Procter & Gamble Co. remained the biggest spender, dishing out $2.8 billion in 2008, a 19.3 percent decline from the $3.5 billion spent in the previous year.
General Motors Corp. was the second biggest spender ($2.1 billion, down 14.9 percent), while AT&T Inc. was the third biggest ($1.7 billion, down 7.2 percent).
Cereberus Capital Management (Chrysler) saw its ad spending decline the most, as it finished 2008 with $1.0 billion spent, reflecting a 31.2 percent decline.
Ford Motor Co., another automobile company, saw its ad spending decline 28.5 percent, as it finished 2008 with $1.4 billion spent on advertising. Time Warner Inc. spent $1.1 billion in 2008, down 23.7 percent from 2007.
The report notes that Wal-Mart, which ranked 19th, boosted its ad spending by 55 percent in 2008, as the retailer spent $771 million during the year.
The top 10 product categories saw ad spending drop 8.8 percent in 2008. While the Automotive category remained far-and-away the biggest spender ($10.0 billion), its spending declined 15.5 percent.
The Direct Response Product category saw the biggest boost in ad spending (9.2 percent), followed by the Quick Service Restaurant category (3.8 percent). The Restaurant category saw its spending remain virtually unchanged.
Sources:</strong
http://en-us.nielsen.com/main/news/news_releases/2009/march/u_s__ad_spending_fell
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