Kantar Measured 3Q Ad Spending By Category

Expenditures for the ten largest categories grew 1.1 percent in the first nine months of 2013 to $64,311.9 million.

• Automotive was the top category in the period with expenditures of $10,991.3 million, up 2.3 percent. Manufacturer spending rose 1.1 percent while auto dealers spent 3.9 percent more. The strong sales climate for vehicles coupled with a steady flow of marketing launches for new and redesigned models continues to push auto spending higher.

• Retail was the second largest category. Expenditures totaled $10,929.0 million, a 0.8 percent decline. Cutbacks among apparel and consumer electronics retailers more than offset robust spending by mass merchandisers.

• Telecom had the highest growth rate among the leading categories as year-to-date spending rose 11.7 percent to $6,905.1 million. The wireless device segment was responsible for more than one-half of category dollar growth and was driven by an extraordinary number of smartphone product launches, backed by generous ad budgets.

• Fierce competition among auto insurers helped spending in the Insurance category advance by 6.0 percent to $3,681.6 million. The impact of the Affordable Care Act on the ad budgets of health insurers remained modest through the end of September.

• Advertising expenditures in the Restaurant category were $4,934.8 million in the period, an increase of 5.5 percent over the prior year. Industry traffic and sales growth remained sluggish and this put pressure on marketers to try and increase share of voice in an effort to hold market share.

• Year-to-date ad expenditures on Financial Services fell 7.1 percent to $5,526.5 million. Declines were prevalent across credit cards, banking, investment products and retirement products. Thirteen of the top fifteen advertisers in the category reduced their spending, further evidence of the widespread slowdown.