The financial service and insurance categories have remained one of national radio’s strongest during 2020 even as other segments have suffered through a year like no other. So, in fitting end, half of the top ten national advertisers last week hailed from those two ad categories.
Media Monitors says among the stations it tracks, State Farm was the largest volume national radio advertiser as it aired at more than 94,000 radio ads between Dec. 21 and Dec. 27. That was more than double the 40,000 radio ads it ran a week earlier. That was enough to bypass Bank of America – the previous week’s big spender – even though Bank of America increased its ad volume by 13% week-to-week. Fellow insurance providers Progressive and Geico also increased the number of national radio ads they aired last week according to Media Monitors.
The data also reflected a seasonal flavor as the nation’s biggest retailer Walmart remained on Media Monitor’s top ten with commercials targeting last minute shoppers. Big retailers including JC Penney (No. 12), Macy’s (No. 18), Kohl’s (No. 63) and Target (No. 99) also looked to grab a piece of eleventh-hour holiday buying using radio. And with many people expected to hit the road for the Christmas holiday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration placed nearly 50,000 ads on national radio last week. That was up from 37,000 a week earlier.
The online language app Babbel also began targeting those looking to make learning a new tongue part of their New Year’s resolutions. It jumped from the 27th largest-volume national radio advertiser two week ago to tenth place last week.
The weekly update from Media Monitors also offered a hint of what is to come in the first quarter. The tax prep service Optima Tax Relief ran 17,891 ads on stations tracked by the company last week. The category has typically been one of radio’s strongest during the otherwise quiet early weeks of January.