A relatively new wireless service provider has hurdled 80 positions up the spot count chart in one week to become radio’s new top advertiser for the week of Sept. 18-24. Boost Infinite aired 7,440 spots on broadcast radio the week of Sept. 11-17. But in the latest compilation, the Dish Wireless-owned brand ran nearly seven times as many ads to promote its guarantee of wireless service and unlimited 5G data for $25 a month for life.
Dish Network acquired Boost Mobile for $1.4 billion in July 2020 as one of the conditions for the government to greenlight the T-Mobile/Sprint merger. Now it’s Boost Infinite service has blown past T-Mobile (No. 80), Consumer Cellular (No. 94), and Verizon Wireless (No. 96) in the cellular advertising wars. Its quick ascension to the top of the Media Monitors list forces ZipRecruiter down to No. 2 (47,232 spot occurrences).
Boost Infinite’s “Wireless Utopia” campaign favors radio – it is not found in the current top ten for either National TV or National Cable. The campaign is the result of a partnership with Grey New York, which was recently named the brand’s agency of record.
The other big mover in radio’s top 10 is pharmaceutical company Pfizer, which advances 17-7 with 30,009 spots. Pfizer has had a growing radio presence in the past two years – the 174-year-old multinational spent more than $62 million on network radio in 2022, helping make pharmaceuticals a top network radio ad category. Moderna, meanwhile, ran 19,247 spots to rank No. 23 in the most recent week, while AbbVie’s Skyrizi medication is No. 70 with 8,584 airings and Apellis Pharmaceuticals ran 7,329 spots to rank No. 81.
The Federal Communications Commission does more than regulate radio, it also advertises there. Media Monitors said the government agency placed 10,400 ads to rank No. 56. It’s one of five federal government advertisers currently on the radio.
For the week of Sept. 18-24, 2023 the top ten on the Media Monitors tally are Boost Infinite at 1, ZipRecruiter at 2, Vicks at 3, Babbel at 4, Discover at 5, Bank of America at 6, Pfizer at 7, “Queen Of The Con” podcast at 8, Kelley Blue Book at 9 and Grainger at 10.
