Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble continues to pour millions of dollars into radio advertising for brands like Charmin, Olay, Oral-B, Tide and Dawn. Media Monitors says P&G was the biggest marketer on radio during January and February when it aired more than eight million radio spots on stations it tracks. That was a 41% increase in the number of radio ads detected compared to a year ago.
Media Monitors says it was not only radio where P&G spending ramped up. It also was the biggest on broadcast television and local cable, increasing its ad volume on those two media too. Overall, P&G aired 25,176,258 spots in January-February across all three media. Media Monitors says that was an increase of 15% compared to a year ago.
“The market demand for household cleaning supplies remains strong, especially through the winter, as cold weather keeps Americans at home and we’re not out of the woods with the pandemic yet,” said Media Monitors President/CEO Philippe Generali. “CPG companies like Procter & Gamble want their products to be top of mind with maximum reach right now, and that’s why we’re seeing their instances increase in the early months of 2021.”
Another blue-chip brand also ramped up its radio spending during the first two months of the year as Media Monitors reports Bank of America aired more than 3.2 million radio spots, making it the second-biggest parent brand. It was followed by Lesson Nine’s Babbel language learning service, Progressive Insurance, and job site Indeed – all three of which increased their ad volume compared to a year ago.
Media Monitors says when it comes to specific brands, Babbel was the biggest volume radio advertiser during January and February with more than 2.8 million ads on stations it tracks. That was enough to edge out Progressive, which ran about 60,000 fewer ads. Bank of America, Indeed, and GEICO rounded out the top five.
“As we head into spring and summer, the percentage of the population vaccinated will increase and lock-down restrictions may start to loosen more broadly – potentially leading to new categories of advertisers increasing their airtime,” predicted Generali. “This might include categories that have been impacted by the pandemic such as travel, which many have been craving for months. Additionally, since some people are still likely to stay close to home, we expect home improvement advertisers to air more spots.”