The top 100 U.S. advertisers cut ad spending just 2.7 percent last year, according to Ad Age, far less than expected after the collapse of the financial markets and the realities of the recession. However, that drop may be considered mild when the final numbers are examined for 2009.
Ad spending on measured media is already down 8.1 percent for the first quarter among the top 100 advertisers, according to Ad Age, and the latest estimate on U.S. media spending for 2009 is an 8.7 percent plunge, according to Publicis Groupe's ZenithOptimedia. That decline will be followed by a dip of 1.7 percent in 2010.
The numbers for 2008 are slightly deceiving. Overall, half of the top 100 advertisers actually increased their total ad spending last year, with companies such as Wal-Mart leading the way. It should also be noted that strong numbers from the earlier part of the year offset the cuts that came as the economic recession became a certainty in the later months.
