Ad Age announced its "Top 100 Advertisers" ranking for the U.S. market in 2013. Procter & Gamble (P&G) retained the top spot for the second consecutive year, with advertising spending in 2013 increasing 3.3% year-on-year to $4.99 billion. Second place went to telecommunications giant AT&T, which rose from fourth place the previous year, spending $3.27 billion, a 12.3% increase. Third place went to General Motors with $3.15 billion, a 2.7% increase. Comcast, Ford, Verizon Communications, L'Oréal, American Express, Toyota, and Fiat Chrysler rounded out the top ten.
Among the 100 companies, 68 saw their 2013 advertising spending exceed the previous year's level. Thirty-nine companies exceeded $1 billion in annual advertising spending. Among Japanese companies, Toyota ranked 9th ($2.09 billion, up 4.1%), followed by Nissan at 31st ($1.25 billion, up 11.3%), Honda at 37th ($1.07 billion, down 19.8%), and Sony at 67th ($630 million, down 22.6%).
Total advertising spending by the top 100 companies in 2013 reached $108.6 billion (up from $104.5 billion the previous year), surpassing the previous record high set in 2007 before the global financial crisis.
Ad spending increased across all industries among the top 100 companies, but the technology sector saw the largest year-on-year growth rate at 26%. Apparel followed with an 11% increase. Even the mature, low-growth food sector saw a 7% increase, primarily driven by increased digital advertising spending. Conversely, the bottom performers in growth rate by industry were finance (0.5% increase), food service (1.4% increase), and automotive (2.5% increase).
Looking at advertising expenditure growth rates by company, Microsoft, which heavily promoted campaigns for "Windows 8" and "Surface," recorded a 61% increase, jumping from 35th to 15th place. Next was AstraZeneca in biopharmaceuticals with a 40% increase, followed by online travel company Expedia with a 30% increase.
The advertising expenditure in this ranking comprises the sum of measurable major media (traditional media and internet display advertising) and estimated values for other difficult-to-measure areas. The latter includes various digital advertising such as paid search, online video, and social media, as well as promotions, experiential marketing, and direct marketing.
Focusing solely on major media, the top 100 companies' advertising spending increased 3.2% year-over-year (compared to 0.9% growth for the U.S. overall), accounting for 54.5% of the total advertising spending of the top 100 companies. Meanwhile, non-measurable advertising spending for the top 100 companies increased 6.0%, representing 45.5% of their total advertising spending. This proportion is expected to continue growing, primarily driven by digital advertising.
Source: Ad Age
Blue-Chip Advertisers' Spending Hits Record $109B, Passing Pre-recession Peak
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