Search »

Procter & Gamble Hacks Ad Budget 18% in Q1, Remains Top Advertiser

Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest advertiser, sliced its ad budget by nearly 18% in the first quarter, to $674.1 million, according to TNS. The average of the top 10 advertisers cut their budgets by 5.7%, while overall, U.S. media spending declined 14.2%.

The aggregate drop of the 10 top advertisers was due in large part to cuts in automotive spending, which fell 13.6%. Auto manufacturer spending was down 15.2%, while dealer advertising plunged 48.9%, according to TNS (via MediaPost).

Verizon, the second largest advertiser, spent $577.1 million during the first quarter, up 3.1%. Johnson & Johnson’s spending leaped 28.9%, while Sprint jumped 30.3%.

The “long tail” of small advertisers pulled down the average, writes Broadcasting & Cable. The bottom 20 of the top 100 advertisers reduced spending by 22.3%.

Procter & Gamble may be preparing to trim the number of advertising firms it uses. CEO A.G. Lafley is being replaced with Robert McDonald, currently its chief operating officer (Lafley will remain as chairman). McDonald has been streamlining the way P&G works with advertising and marketing companies, and his appointment to CEO could mean cuts to the number of agencies the packaged goods giant uses, according to ad executives close to the company, the Wall Street Journal writes.