Procter & Gamble remained radio’s top parent company advertiser in 2022, investing $233.6 million in the medium, according to data provided to Inside Radio by advertising intelligence firm Vivvix. P&G increased its radio allocation roughly 48% last year, from $157.3 million in 2021.This occurred while the consumer packaged goods behemoth reduced its linear TV spend by 17%. However, the maker of Tide, Pampers, Colgate, Gillette, and other household brands significantly boosted its investment in ad-supported video on demand (AVOD) as eyeballs moved from broadcast TV to connected TV/streaming. Spending on mobile media was also up as P&G expanded the number of brands it advertises.
Comcast Corp. was radio’s second largest parent company advertiser in 2022, shelling out $205.5 million. P&G and Comcast Corp. were the only two companies to invest more than $200 million on radio last year. Both upped their year-over-year radio spending in 2022. Comcast Corp., the global media and technology company, boosted its radio investment by 35% from $152.0 million in 2021 to market its Xfinity wireless/internet service, Comcast Business, and NBCUniversal brands.
At No. 3 is Deutsche Telekom. The German telecommunications giant, which owns a majority share in U.S.-based wireless provider T-Mobile, spent $101.2 million on radio in 2022. That’s down 21% from $128.1 million in 2021.
The U.S. Government came in fourth place with a $100.1 million outlay. Uncle Sam used radio last year to air messages from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Centers For Disease Control & Prevention, the Army National Guard, and the U.S. Postal Service, among others. The federal government decreased its radio outlay last year by 22% from 2021, which was a big year for the CDC encouraging Americans to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Berkshire Hathaway, home to insurance carrier GEICO, was radio’s fifth largest parent company advertiser last year, with an $86.1 million outlay, down 25% from $114.4 million in 2021.
Pfizer, radio’s fastest growing major advertiser, ranked sixth. The pharma giant more than doubled its radio spending in one year, from $59.3 million in 2021 to $122.0 million in 2022. Pfizer isn’t the only drug manufacturer using broadcast radio to market its products. Others, including AbbVie are using radio significantly more than in the past, especially network radio. “Among the top 10 pharmaceutical house spenders, we observed 42% growth in spending from 2021 to 2022,” says Michelle Galvan, Senior Director, Marketing & Demand Gen at Vivvix, a Kantar Company.
Pfizer Is Radio’s Top Brand Advertiser
Looking at radio’s top six spending brand advertisers in 2022 shows two internet/wireless providers, a pair of insurance carriers, one employment recruitment service and one large pharmaceutical company. Pfizer came in first with a $120.7 million radio outlay. Comcast, one of two internet/wireless providers, was second with $110.0 million invested in radio. The other is T-Mobile, which placed third with $92.3 million. Online job recruitment service Indeed was fourth with $89.3 million, up 36% from $65.5 million in 2021. Insurance companies Progressive ($74.0 million) and GEICO ($58.0 million) ranked fifth and sixth, consecutively.
When the insurance and wireless/internet categories are combined, Vivvix reports a 17% decrease in national TV and a 15% decline in local TV spending, respectively. AVOD spend shot up 82%, while local radio jumped 45%, and mobile app spend grew 34%.
In other category trends spotted by Vivvix in 2022, tech and automotive spending “was usurped by the post-COVID return of travel spend and the advent of mid-term political races, the latter of which is impacting local radio spending,” Galvan says.
In January, Kantar combined syndicated media coverage from Kantar Media with the ad creative intelligence platform from its Numerator division to form an independent brand called Vivvix, led by former Nielsen CRO Andrew Feigenson as CEO.