US Ad Spend Slips 11.5% through Q3; Auto Advertising Plunges 31%

December 11, 2009

US ad spending slipped 11.5%, or by $10.9 billion, to $83.4 billion through the first nine months of the year, according to Nielsen.

Spanish-language cable TV, free-standing insert coupons and cable TV were the only ad categories that posted gains so farin 2009, up 36.7%, 11.2% and 9.1% respectively, reports Media Buyer Planner. Nine of the top 10 cable advertisers boosted spending so far this year.

Internet ad spending is down 0.5%, while network TV is down 13.9% and spot TV is down 16%, Nielsen said.

Results for all media:

nielsen-yearly-change-ad-spend-by-media-q3-2009.jpg

Category Ad Spending

Though auto advertising remained the top spending category, it plunged 30.9% for the first three quarters, with local auto dealership spending down 26.9%. Pharmaceutical is the second largest spending category, spending declined 4.6%.

Motion picture spending fell 1.7%. Overall, the top 10 product categories slipped 12.7%, with quick-service restaurants and direct-response products the only of the top 10 categories showing slight gains:

nielsen-top-10-product-categories-ad-spending-q3-2009.jpg

Further Nielsen analysis of the top product categories reveals more about where money was spent through Q309:

  • Almost 70% of all US ad spending by the top 10 product categories was invested in television.
  • Despite? pharmaceutical? overall decline, the category upped its radio ad spend 137%? and its internet spend increased by one-third.
  • TV ad spend by quick service restaurants remained essentially flat year-over-year, but the category dramatically boosted its print (+42%) and internet (+88%) budgets.
  • Local auto dealerships dropped their overall ad budgets 27%, but increased Internet ad spends 45%. The category is also the only one out the top ten that spent more on print media ($1.5 billion) than TV ($610 million) in the first nine months of the year.

North American ad spending is expected to drop anywhere from another 2.4% (per ZenithOptimedia) to 4% (per GroupM) in 2010.

Chart-Library-Ad-1

Explore More Articles.

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

9 in 10 RevOps professionals view data analysis skills as being important, a high percentage also don’t believe they need this skill for their job.

Marketing Charts Logo

Stay on the cutting edge of marketing.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This