Home Depot Leads Radio Spots, While Fast Food Takes a Bite of Local Cable
Local cable and radio were the media of choice for 2019 advertisers, according to Media Monitors’ rankings of the top 100 advertisers for the year. And once again, GEICO was the nation’s top national advertiser, airing 6,900,687 spots across local cable, broadcast TV and radio.
Among parent advertisers, Procter & Gamble stepped up advertising instances on radio, rising to number 2 from number 5. Although the US Government topped the chart once again, the consumer packaged goods company more than doubled the number spots they aired in this medium over 2018 (3,671,569 vs 1,803,412).
“Just as we predicted last year, P&G made a major push into radio in 2020,” said Media Monitors President and CEO Philippe Generali. “Advertisers across the board are finding value in the medium. In our rankings, nine of the top 10 increased the number of spots they aired – some of them by significant margins. Only McDonald’s ran fewer instances.”
Though GEICO aired the most spots on local cable, where it ranked number 1, it also heavily favored radio, where it ranked number 2.
“In 2019, GEICO aired spots for auto insurance and featured their lovable gecko. But they also aired plenty of other messages as well, promoting other lines of insurance, including their homeowners and rental policies. The company also touted how easily their 24/7 agents can solve insurance needs,” Generali said. “From homeowners who chose to live in a snow globe or with a mime, to how buying insurance from GEICO is like playing football with Jerome Bettis, the insurer kept audiences engaged. In their latest, the Sequels campaign, they add a viral element to their campaign encouraging viewers to vote on spots and share them.”
Halfway through 2019, automotive and insurance companies revved up their advertising engines. The end of the year rankings proved they didn’t release the accelerator. Besides GEICO, insurers such as Liberty Mutual, Progressive and State Farm ranked in the top 10 in one or more media channels. Dealer associations for Chevrolet, Toyota, Ford and Nissan held on to their top 10 rankings in broadcast TV.
Here’s a look at who advertised the most on radio, broadcast TV and local cable.
LOCAL CABLE
Local cable continues to be GEICO’s preferred medium. The company ran more spots on cable than in any other media – and 535,074 more spots than it did in 2018, landing it once again at number 1.
Two categories – insurance and fast food – accounted for seven of the top 10. In addition to GEICO, Liberty Mutual, Progressive and newcomer State Farm ranked number 2, number 4 and number 8 respectively. Meanwhile, Burger King (3), Taco Bell (5) and Domino’s (5) led the way for fast casual-quick-service restaurants.
Each of the advertisers ranked in the top 10 aired more than 1 million spots – with Geico airing over 3 million. Together, they advertised 16,877,090 instances on local cable, more than any other medium.
Source: Media Monitors
Source: Media Monitors
RADIO
Advertisers also found a home on radio in 2019, where the top 10 aired a combined 15,199,263 spots, up 1,829,342 from 2018. And for the third year in a row, Home Depot and GEICO held onto their number 1 and number 2 rankings, respectively. In 2019, the home improvement giant aired 2,604,503 spots, while GEICO increased its instances by 301,909, according to Media Monitors data.
Taking advantage of a strong job market, employment services company Indeed was promoted to the number 3 spot, up from number 4 in 2018.
In addition, two new advertisers emerged among the top 10. Seriously Digital Entertainment smashed into 10th place from number 42. In 2018, the internet gaming company was at number 42. Sprint also finished the year up 12 spots to number 8.
Source: Media Monitors
Source: Media Monitors
BROADCAST TV
For the third year in a row, GEICO aired the most spots on broadcast TV with 1,252,212, an increase of 26.7%. Progressive and McDonald’s rounded out the top 3. Together, these advertisers aired 3,351,867 spots.
And yet, the category that led the list for airing the most number of spots was automotive dealer associations. Chevrolet (4), Toyota (5), Ford (6), Nissan (9) together accounted for 3,315,998 instances.
Source: Media Monitors
Source: Media Monitors
“As we dive into 2020, a strong economy certainly indicates higher advertising investment. Insurance companies and automotive dealers are likely to take their strong momentum into the new year,” says Generali. “But a US presidential election is also on the horizon. As a result, brands will have to compete with campaigns for limited advertising inventory and the numbers of spots they air may not be quite as robust as we’ve seen over the last few years.”