MediaRadar Blog

person in front of grey screen

TV Still Rules in Brand Awareness, Top 5 Verticals Investing Show

Target Marketing logo

Heather Fletcher

Brand awareness in the age of digital marketing and direct brands can be a challenge. But TV still works well for the task, finds MediaRadar in its latest study.

“This data shows us that the biggest brands from the biggest categories — like Verizon, Ford and others — are still spending heavily on linear TV, even if TV is becoming a smaller part of the mix,” said Todd Krizelman, CEO and co-founder of MediaRadar, in a research announcement yesterday. “There’s an unmatched advantage from a brand visibility standpoint that comes with TV buys. It’s also a brand-safe environment, which has been a challenge online. I anticipate that even as buyers ramp up their digital investments, they will continue to spend large amounts on TV, given its benefits.”

Once the mass marketing workhorse, TV has competition in even brand awareness campaigns from channels that were once thought of as direct marketing vehicles. But all of the networks combined — from YouTube to Facebook — can’t fully replace TV, the company finds in its latest “MediaRadar Trends Report.

In March, eMarketer writes:

Related story: Which of Your Marketing Channels Is Most Profitable?

“With cord-cutting accelerating and over-the-top (OTT) viewing on the rise, outlays on TV ads will slip 0.5% in 2018 to $69.87 billion. As a result, TV’s share of total U.S. media ad expenditures will drop from 33.9% in 2017 to 31.6% this year.

“TV ad spending will see a slight uptick in 2020 (due to the U.S. presidential election and Summer Olympics in Tokyo), but it will sink back to negative territory in the following years and fall to less than a quarter of total ad spend by 2022.”

Here are details about the top five verticals spending marketing dollars on TV commercials, according to MediaRadar:

  • Technology: Tech advertisers spent $7.15 billion. The top three spenders in the tech industry were Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile.
  • Healthcare Marketers: Pharma advertisers spent $6.5 billion. The top three spenders in the pharma industry were SmileDirectClub, Entyvio and XEXLJANZ XR.
  • Automotive Brands: Auto advertisers spent $5.41 billion. The top three advertisers in the auto industry were Ford Motor Company (Ford), General Motors (GM), and Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota).
  • Media and Entertainment Companies: Media and entertainment advertisers spent $5.39 billion. The top three spenders in the media and entertainment industry were Sling TV, The National Football League (NFL) and Hulu.

(Author’s note: Sling TV is a new media brand, associated with cord-cutters who stream their programming on non-traditional TV, like Roku. The NFL is an interesting brand ranking here, as it’s got plenty of organic buzz brought on by, for instance, apparel partner Nike.)

  • Financial Services Marketers: Financial services advertisers spent over $3.15 billion. The top three spenders in the financial industry were LifeLock Inc., ROCKET MORTGAGE by Quicken Loans, and Credit Karma.

What do you think, marketers?

Please respond in the comments section below.

To see the full story – click here.