The Most Popular RFPs of Q2 2019

Are you ready for the busiest RFP season of the year? Because it’s already upon us, and MediaRadar has some insight to share.

Q2 is the most active quarter for RFPs each year by a wide margin, and this year is no exception. MediaRadar expects that over a third (34 percent) of all RFPs in 2019 will be issued during Q2, with the majority concentrated in April as the most active month.

The conglomerates behind some of the most popular CPG, apparel and retail brands — including Sephora, Peet’s Coffee and Gillette — will be putting out the highest number of RFPs this month.

The Top Industries and Companies for RFPs in Q2

With April kicking off RFPs for Q2, brands of all shapes and sizes are eager to put their newly established budgets to good use in the latter half of 2019.

According to our research, the top four industries issuing RFPs this quarter will be:

Apparel
Travel
Retail
Home Furnishing

The second quarter is big for apparel companies in particular — the industry as a whole issues more than double the number of RFPs than any other quarter. If you’re interested in a deeper dive into the numbers for these categories, or zeroing in on your own optimal RFP opportunities, feel free to check out our brand new RFP predictor tool.

Within these industries, MediaRadar expects the top issuing companies in Q2 to be LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, the JAB Holding Company and Procter & Gamble. The three conglomerates are certainly major players in the ad market — they have collectively spent over $3.3B in advertising over the past year.

Advertising for LVMH, JAB and P&G

With dozens of brands between them, some large retail coffee chains and US household staples, it’s unsurprising that LVMH, JAB and P&G spent so much on advertising in the past year.

what\'s in your cup ad — Still image from Peet’s Coffe’s “What Fills Your Cup?” campaign video

The conglomerates are also great examples of what it means to take advantage of multiple advertising channels at once. All three companies advertise both on more traditional channels (like TV and print, as well as programmatic digital advertising) and newer, more direct-to-consumer style channels like Snapchat.

Examples of big spending include everything from the traditionally multichannel “What Fills Your Cup” campaign from Peet’s Coffee (owned by JAB) to the delightfully meta “It’s a #TideAd” that P&G put out for the Super Bowl in 2018. By the same token, you’re likely to find ads for LVMH brands (including everything from Hennessy to Hublot) in high-end publications.

Still image from Tide’s “It’s a Tide Ad” campaign video

Maybe you’re feeling more than a little overwhelmed at the volume of RFPs being issued this month — and the amount of brands they represent. If so, the same team that put together this research on the most popular RFPs of Q2 can help you get ahead of the game in future months and quarters. Use MediaRadar’s RFP predictor tool to look ahead to when RFPs are coming, complete with a handy research dashboard to assess how to position your publication for specific brands.