GEICO Tops Cable and Television Rankings, Progressive Leads on Radio
Procter & Gamble, the top parent company advertiser in the U.S, aired 22% more spots in 2020 than in 2019. The consumer products goods company aired 23,154,642 spots in monitored markets on radio, broadcast TV and cable in 2020, compared to 18,913,975 during the prior year, according to Media Monitors’ rankings of the top 100 advertisers for the year.
Meanwhile, GEICO was again the nation’s top national advertiser, airing 6,984,053 instances – also an increase over 2019 – across local cable, broadcast TV and radio.
Procter & Gamble topped the TV and cable rankings, and held onto the number two spot for radio, where it followed closely behind the US Government.
“Faced with a pandemic, civil unrest and a presidential election, Procter & Gamble held the course on its advertising strategy,” said Media Monitors President and CEO Philippe Generali. “The company increased advertising of its brands in all channels, but particularly in radio, where it increased the number of instances by 44%.”
“As the pandemic upended normal routines, an opportunity was created for some advertisers,” Generali said. “For example, Babbel, a language learning app, rode a wave of increased interest in online education. The company advertised more on radio, where it entered the top 10 at number five. Meanwhile, insurance advertisers like GEICO and Progressive ran more spots for home and rental insurance and promoted givebacks on auto insurance.”
Here’s a look at who advertised the most on radio, broadcast TV and local cable.
RADIO
Procter & Gamble wasn’t the only advertiser to invest more airtime on radio. Another major brand, Progressive Insurance doubled its number of instances, airing 2,694,039 spots in 2020, up from 1,307,010 instances in 2019, according to Media Monitors data.
In addition, several new brands entered the top 10, including Babbel, which entered the top 100 at number five. In September, the company reported its app had been downloaded more than 10 million times. Allstate jumped to number six from number 57, while Quicken Loans entered at number eight, up from number 18.
Even as safe-at-home mandates created rising interest in home improvement projects, Home Depot dropped to number three from number one. However, Lowe’s increased the number of spots it aired on radio to 1,668,121, up from 1,410,499. It climbed in the ranking to number four.
Top Parent Advertisers in Radio
| 2020 Rank | Parent | Radio Instances | 2019 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US Government | 5,857,218 | 1 |
| 2 | The Procter & Gamble Company | 5,318,812 | 2 |
| 3 | Progressive Casualty Insurance Company | 2,694,034 | 9 |
| 4 | Berkshire Hathaway Inc | 2,417,772 | 4 |
| 5 | The Home Depot Inc | 1,990,732 | 5 |
| 6 | Lowe’s Companies Inc | 1,680,119 | 8 |
| 7 | Lesson Nine GmbH | 1,650,594 | – |
| 8 | T-Mobile USA Inc | 1,597,760 | 21 |
| 9 | Allstate Insurance Company | 1,587,703 | 63 |
| 10 | Macy’s Inc | 1,234,410 | 10 |
Top Brands in Radio
| Rank 2020 | Account | Parent | Class | Total Spots | Rank 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Progressive | Progressive Casualty Insurance Company | Insurance Providers | 2,694,039 | 6 |
| 2 | GEICO | Berkshire Hathaway Inc | Insurance Providers | 2,187,461 | 2 |
| 3 | The Home Depot | The Home Depot Inc | Home Centers & Hardware Stores | 1,983,725 | 1 |
| 4 | Lowe’s | Lowe’s Companies Inc | Home Centers & Hardware Stores | 1,668,121 | 5 |
| 5 | Babbel | Lesson Nine GmbH | Educational Tools | 1,643,144 | – |
| 6 | Allstate | Allstate Insurance Company | Insurance Providers | 1,575,741 | 57 |
| 7 | US Census Bureau | US Government | Government-Unions | 1,227,140 | – |
| 8 | Quicken Loans | Quicken Loans LLC | Banks-Credit Unions-Mortgage-Finance Svc | 1,206,079 | 18 |
| 9 | Indeed | Indeed Inc | Employment Services | 1,175,610 | 3 |
| 10 | Macy’s | Macy’s Inc | Department Stores | 1,149,780 | 7 |
LOCAL CABLE
Procter & Gamble and GEICO continued to favor local cable, with each company airing more instances on this medium than any other does.
Insurance providers, fast casual-quick service restaurants, and wireless phone companies dominated the ranking of the top 10 advertisers on cable. GEICO (1), Liberty Mutual (2) and Progressive (4) together aired more than 8 million spots, while the top three fast food brands – Domino’s (3), Burger King (5) and Taco Bell (7) ran more than 5.2 million.
Among parent advertisers, Procter & Gamble (1) aired more than twice as many spots as Comcast, the number two ranked parent advertiser. After Procter & Gamble, the remaining nine parent advertisers averaged 3 million instances on cable in 2020.
Top Parent Advertisers in Local Cable
| 2020 Rank | Parent | Cable Instances | 2019 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Procter & Gamble Company | 9,263,280 | 1 |
| 2 | Comcast Corporation | 3,948,288 | 2 |
| 3 | Charter Communications Inc | 3,554,989 | 4 |
| 4 | Berkshire Hathaway Inc | 3,355,371 | 3 |
| 5 | GlaxoSmithKline PLC | 2,996,937 | 8 |
| 6 | Unilever PLC | 2,969,535 | 7 |
| 7 | L’Oréal USA Inc | 2,742,150 | 9 |
| 8 | Restaurant Brands Intl Inc | 2,721,565 | 6 |
| 9 | Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc | 2,701,696 | 13 |
| 10 | Yum! Brands Inc | 2,697,601 | 5 |
Top Brands in Local Cable
| Rank 2020 | Account | Parent | Class | Total Spots | Rank 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GEICO | Berkshire Hathaway Inc | Insurance Providers | 3,298,918 | 1 |
| 2 | Liberty Mutual Insurance | Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc | Insurance Providers | 2,693,813 | 2 |
| 3 | Domino’s | Domino’s Pizza LLC | Fast Casual-Quick Service Restaurants | 2,067,528 | 6 |
| 4 | Progressive | Progressive Casualty Insurance Company | Insurance Providers | 2,066,937 | 4 |
| 5 | Burger King | Restaurant Brands Intl Inc | Fast Casual-Quick Service Restaurants | 1,815,756 | 3 |
| 6 | T-Mobile | T-Mobile USA Inc | Wireless Carrier | 1,366,232 | 7 |
| 7 | Taco Bell | Yum! Brands Inc | Fast Casual-Quick Service Restaurants | 1,363,805 | 5 |
| 8 | State Farm | State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company | Insurance Providers | 1,363,479 | 8 |
| 9 | Spectrum Int-Wireless | Charter Communications Inc | Telecom Bundled Services | 1,260,384 | 15 |
| 10 | Allstate | Allstate Insurance Company | Insurance Providers | 1,148,529 | 12 |
BROADCAST TV
Insurance providers led the rankings of top 10 advertisers on broadcast TV. GEICO (1) and Progressive (2) each aired more instances in 2020 than 2019. Liberty Mutual Insurance entered the list at number three. Previously, it was ranked at number 13.
Cleaning products, personal health care and household goods were popular categories for shoppers in 2020, as they sought protective measures against the coronavirus. Target (6), Colgate (8) and Tide (10) were newcomers to the top 10, airing a combined 2,247,622 between them.
Top Parent Advertisers in Broadcast TV
| 2020 Rank | Parent | Cable Instances | 2019 Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Procter & Gamble Company | 8,572,550 | 1 |
| 2 | US Government | 2,233,090 | 4 |
| 3 | Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc | 1,911,409 | 2 |
| 4 | Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC | 1,885,353 | 3 |
| 5 | GlaxoSmithKline PLC | 1,874,760 | 6 |
| 6 | The Hershey Company | 1,716,602 | 7 |
| 7 | Berkshire Hathaway Inc | 1,666,186 | 9 |
| 8 | L’Oréal USA Inc | 1,516,074 | 8 |
| 9 | Unilever PLC | 1,423,401 | 12 |
| 10 | Progressive Casualty Insurance Company | 1,080,312 | 13 |
Top Brands in Broadcast TV
| Rank 2020 | Account | Parent | Class | Total Spots | Rank 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GEICO | Berkshire Hathaway Inc | Insurance Providers | 1,497,674 | 1 |
| 2 | Progressive | Progressive Casualty Insurance Company | Insurance Providers | 1,078,466 | 2 |
| 3 | Liberty Mutual Insurance | Liberty Mutual Holding Company Inc | Insurance Providers | 913,626 | 13 |
| 4 | McDonald’s | McDonald’s Corporation | Fast Casual-Quick Service Restaurants | 858,195 | 3 |
| 5 | Neutrogena | Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc | Cosmetics & Skin Care Products | 824,196 | 7 |
| 6 | Target | Target Brands Inc | Discount Department Stores | 803,379 | 12 |
| 7 | Febreze | The Procter & Gamble Company | Cleaning & Household Products | 771,754 | 8 |
| 8 | Colgate | Colgate-Palmolive Company | Dental Hygiene Products | 746,637 | 18 |
| 9 | Macy’s | Macy’s Inc | Department Stores | 704,911 | 10 |
| 10 | Tide | The Procter & Gamble Company | Cleaning & Household Products | 697,606 | 19 |
“There are many reasons for advertisers to be optimistic about 2021,” says Generali. “With the presidential election behind us, advertising inventory will increase. And now that vaccine distribution is underway, people should soon be able to move about safely, creating more new opportunities for advertisers’ products and services.”