Comcast Corp. was the biggest advertiser on national spot radio in 2021 based on dollar volume, according to new exhaustive breakdown of Kantar ad spend data on U.S. measured-media produced by Ad Age. The internet/wireless/cable TV giant shelled out $91 million on national radio last year for its Xfinity internet/wireless/cable triple-play package, edging out T-Mobile which allocated $87 million.
No other marketers came close to the top two. The U.S. Government finished in a distant third place tie with a $47 million outlay spread across various government branches in 2021. That’s the same amount spent by Berkshire Hathaway for its high-profile GEICO insurance brand on national spot radio. Fifth place belonged to Walt Disney Co. which invested $36 million, mainly to promote its Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu services.
Rounding out the top 10 are Inspire Brands, owner of Arby’s, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin and other restaurant chains, at No. 6 with $30 million of national spot radio investment; grocery chain Kroeger at No. 7 with $28 million; Draft Kings at No. 8 ($26 million), the only sportsbook to make the top 10; insurance and financial services provider United Services Automobile Association (No. 9, $25 million) and wireless giant AT&T (No. 10, $21 million).
Many of the same marketers are found on the Ad Age tally of top local radio advertisers in 2021. Consumer packaged goods behemoth Procter & Gamble towers above the rest with $812 million on measured local radio ad spending. Comcast is a distant No. 2 ($53 million), followed by the U.S. Government at No. 3 ($46 million), Berkshire Hathaway (No. 4, $43 million) and T-Mobile (No. 5, $37 million).
At No. 6 in local radio ad spend and not included in the national top 10 is Amazon with $33 million, department store chain Macy’s at No. 7 with $31 million, quick-serve restaurant McDonald’s at No. 8 ($27 million), home improvement chain Lowe’s at No. 9 ($26 million), and Recruit Holdings, the parent of online job search platform Indeed, at No. 10 with $25 million.
All told radio booked $4.7 billion in ad revenue from the Ad Age Leading National Advertisers top 200. These 200 power spenders accounted for nearly two thirds (64%) of measured-media TV spending and 39% of radio spending in 2021.
The top ad categories from Kantar for all advertisers last year was retail at $9.9 billion, medicine and remedies ($9.5 billion), general services ($9.3 billion), telecom, internet services and internet service providers ($8.1 billion), automotive ($7.9 billion) and insurance ($6.6 billion).
Ad Age’s radio figures include national spot and local ad sales and exclude network radio.
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