the HOT List

P&G: Broadcast Media’s Top Advertiser Once Again

January 19, 2022

Marc Pritchard, CMO, Proctor & Gamble Co.

It’s official: Procter & Gamble Co. was the top parent advertiser in the U.S. for the second year in a row, thanks to millions of spots airing on the radio and TV stations and cable TV channels offering local drop-in capabilities across 2021 tracked by iHeartMedia-owned Media Monitors.

According to Media Monitors, P&G aired more than 26 million spots on radio, local cable and broadcast TV last year.

And, for the second consecutive year, the consumer products goods (CPG) firm increased its year-over-year instances. In 2021, Procter & Gamble aired 14% more instances (26,398,691) than it did in 2020, when it ran 22% more spots (23,154,642) than 2019.

At the same time, GEICO is once again the top advertising account. The insurer aired a total of 5,945,084 instances across radio, local cable and broadcast TV. Although it was the top advertiser on broadcast TV, it ranked second on local cable and fourth on radio.

“With some of the world’s most trusted household brands like Tide, Gillette and Crest, it recognizes the value of reaching out to consumers during challenging times such as the current pandemic,” said Media Monitors President/CEO Philippe Generali. “The brand has continued to increase its reach and use advertising to boost sales.”

Here’s who advertised the most on radio, local cable and broadcast TV.

RADIO

Procter & Gamble was the number one parent advertiser on radio. The CPG company allocated more of its spots to radio (9,097,535) than to local cable or broadcast TV, and aired 71% more instances year-over-year on the medium. In 2020, it aired just 5,318,812 spots on radio.

The US Government (2), which had ranked as the number one on radio for both 2020 and 2019, fell to number two. COVID-related government advertising dropped slightly, to 5,372,010 in 2021 from 5,857,218 in 2020.

Job search service INDEED was the top radio account, with 2,532,634 instances, having just barely made it into the top 10 for 2020. Progressive Insurance aired fewer spots in 2021 than it did in 2020, dropping to number two with 2,296,537 instances. Babbel, the language-learning service and a newcomer to the list last year, rose to number three from number five in 2020. GEICO (4) and The Home Depot (5) each dropped one spot in the ranking.

Top Parent Advertisers in Radio

Top Accounts in Radio

LOCAL CABLE

On local cable, the top three parent advertisers of 2020 retained their positions in 2021, with Procter & Gamble once again at number one. With over 8.5 million instances, Procter & Gamble aired more spots than communication providers Comcast Corporation (2) and Charter Communications, Inc. (3) combined.

Other top parent companies also were focused on personal care, including GlaxoSmithKline, PLC (4), L’Oreal USA, Inc. (5) and Unilever, PLC (9).

Meanwhile, the battle for share-of-voice among three insurance providers rages on. Among the top 5 accounts were: Liberty Mutual Insurance (1) with 3,051,031 spots, closely followed by GEICO (2) with 3,035,714 instances. Progressive (5) trailed slightly, airing over 1.8 million spots.

After its release in early 2021, Discovery+ shot to number three among the top 10 accounts with 2.8 million instances. This was enough to drive parent company Discover, Inc., into the top 10 ranking of parent advertisers in the medium.

For parent advertiser Amazon.com, Inc., 3,051,527 instances were enough to lift the e-commerce company into the top 10 at number seven. With 1.4 million spots aired, Amazon.com also entered the ranking of top accounts at number 10.

Top Parent Advertisers in Local Cable

Top Accounts in Local Cable

BROADCAST TV

After being #1 on Radio and #1 on Cable, P&G did the “hat trick” in 2021: on broadcast TV, it is also the top parent advertiser. Procter & Gamble aired nearly four times as many spots as number two Johnson & Johnson. Together, the two firms aired almost as many spots (a total of 11,024,353) as the eight other parent companies in the top 10 combined (a total of 12,050,439).

Broadcast TV, like local cable, also reflected a trend for self-care. In addition to Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal USA, Inc. (6), and Unilever PLC (7) led the top 10.

In addition, healthcare-focused organizations were strongly represented in the top parent company advertiser rankings. Among the top 10 were GlaxoSmithKline PLC (3), the US Government (4) and AbbVie, Inc. (9).

Insurance companies topped the rankings of advertising accounts, with GEICO holding the number one spot, followed by Liberty Mutual Insurance (2) and Progressive (4).

However, five of the top 10 advertising accounts were related to health and personal care. Procter & Gamble-owned Tide (6) and Downy (7) were followed by Dupixent (8), Neutrogena (9) and Colgate (10).

“We’re only going to see growth in the self-care sector,” said Generali. “The ongoing need to self-protect from the pandemic combined with increased stay-home time means that people are taking even more time to focus on themselves. They’re going to be looking for brands that reflect their lifestyles for the coming year.”