NEW YORK, September 29, 2005 – With the 2006 auto models rolling into the showrooms shortly, Nielsen Monitor-Plus takes a closer look at how the automotive industry distributes its advertising dollars.

Automotive Advertising Across Media

During the first half of 2005, automotive (Factory & Dealer Associations) ad spending was over $6.7 billion, representing an increase of 7.4% compared to the same period in 2004.  Nearly 80% ($5.3 billion) of all automotive dollars were placed in television, while 11% ($781 million) was in national magazines. Spending in cable TV grew 24%; leading the way was Ford who doubled their cable budget to $136 million, Volkswagen increasing their spending 238% to $35.5 million, and Honda reaching $71.3 million.  Network Radio experienced a decline of 26.3%, partly due to Ford, Toyota, and DaimlerChrysler reducing their budgets in this medium in the first half of 2005.

 

 

The Local Automotive Dealerships have held their ad spending steady compared to last year.  For the first half of 2005, Local Dealerships accounted for $2.5 billion in spending, just 1% greater than the same time in 2004. The great majority of the spending was in Local Newspapers ($1.8 billion), followed by Spot TV ($457 million).

Top Auto Advertisers

The top 10 Auto Advertisers spent close to $4 billion in the first half of the year 2005.  Ford was the number one advertiser, with $768 million in spending, which represents a 19.5% increase. General Motors showed the biggest percent increase (78%), raising their ad budget to $215 million this year. Four of the top 10 advertisers cut back their spending, ranging from Chevrolet at -2% to Chrysler at -18%.

Automotive Product Placement

Nielsen’s Product Placement tracking service showed significant growth in the integration of product occurrences in primetime broadcast network programming. The top 10 automotive brands in the product placement category totaled 2,636 occurrences in the first half of the year.  Last year, the top 10 auto brands accounted for 1,925 placements.

 The top 10 programs that featured automotive product placements in the first half accounted for 2,597 occurrences, growing from 1,422 placements last year. The Contender was the number one program, with more than triple the amount of product placements than the number two program, Amazing Race, 843 and 279, respectively.

Automotive Product Placement: Top Brands Jan-June 2005
Brand	Total Occurrences
Toyota Autos & Trucks	819
Ford Autos	336
Ford Trucks	305
Chevrolet Trucks	268
Mercedes-Benz Autos	214
GMC Trucks	157
Jeep Trucks	143
Ford Mustang Autos	142
Chevrolet Autos	135
Volvo Autos	117
Total Top 10 Auto Brands	2,636
Source: Nielsen Product Placement Service

 

Automotive Product Placement: Top Programs Jan-June 2005
Program	Total Occurrences
The Contender	843
Amazing Race	279
CSI Miami	259
Extreme Makeover Home Edition	223
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	204
Veronica Mars	184
Without A Trace	162
Law & Order	154
One Tree Hill	146
Law & Order Special Victims Unit	143
Total	2,597
Source: Nielsen Product Placement Service

In May 2005, Nielsen’s Product Placement service started tracking the presence of police cars, taxis, and limos. During the May-June 2005 period, 7.4% of the 1,245 automotive placements in primetime TV were police cars, taxis, or limousines.  Chevrolet was the most popular police car brand, Ford was shown the most times as a taxi, and Lincoln was the top choice for limousines. Police cars and taxis were included in a wide variety of program genres, while limos were most often shown on reality programs such as The Cut, The Apprentice, and America’s Top Model.  

New Brands

 $848 million was spent by auto brands that had advertising activity in the first half of 2005, but were not active for the same period in 2004.  The chart below features the new brands that had the largest advertising budgets. The top 10 brands collectively spent $556 million, ranging from the Chevrolet Cobalt ($83.6 million) to the Land Rover LR Truck with a budget of $31.9 million. 

About Nielsen Media Research

Nielsen Media Research is the world's leading provider of television audience measurement and advertising information services. In the United States, Nielsen's National People Meter service provides audience estimates for all national program sources, including broadcast networks, cable networks, Spanish language networks, and national syndicators. Local ratings estimates are produced for television stations, regional cable networks, MSOs, cable interconnects, and Spanish language stations in each of the 210 television markets in the U.S., including electronic metered service in 56 markets.

Nielsen Media Research, outside the U.S. and through international partnerships, operates TV ratings panels in 45 markets.  Nielsen Media Research also offers radio audience measurement, print readership, direct mail measurement and customized media research services outside the U.S.  Nielsen Media Research provides competitive advertising intelligence information through Nielsen Monitor-Plus in the U.S. and 30 other markets worldwide. Through a network of affiliates, our coverage is extended to more than 70 countries, representing 85% of the world’s advertising spending. For more information, please visit: www.nielsenmedia.com

Nielsen Media Research is part of VNU Media Measurement & Information, a global leader in information services for the media and entertainment industries. The group serves the information and marketing needs of television and radio broadcasters, advertisers, agencies, media planners, music companies, publishers, motion-picture studios, distributors and exhibitors, and the Internet industry.  VNU is a global information and media company with leading market positions and recognized brands in marketing information (ACNielsen), media measurement and information (Nielsen Media Research) and business information (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Computing, Intermediair).  VNU is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands and New York, USA. The company employs 38,000 people.   Total revenues amounted to EUR 3.8 billion in 2004. VNU is listed on the Euronext Amsterdam (ASE: VNU) stock exchange. For more information, please visit the VNU website at www.vnu.com.

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