MARKETING FOCUS: TOP 100 ADVERTISERS - Confounding the pessimists, our top 100 chart from Media Monitoring Service shows increased ad budgets for many of Britain’s biggest brands and companies. In part one, Jane Bainbridge looks at the major shift

Nineteen ninety eight may have been a year in which many ad execs

feared recession and consequent budget cuts but, looking at the

top-spending clients in the UK, there was little sign of a slowdown in

spend.

Based on the budgets of the top 100 spending companies, provided by

Media Monitoring Service (MMS), ad budgets have actually risen an

inflation-beating 10.5% since 1997. So, far from tightening the purse

strings, it would appear that the top players at least are looking to

market themselves out of any possible recession.

But the coming year could see changes, with many of the top names

exploring new avenues. BT has put out a dedicated pitch for youth work

for the first time, Kellogg is branching into advertiser-funded

programming and Unilever is investing in the Jigsaw consortium.

So some of the big advertisers may be looking at different promotions,

but there aren’t many surprises among the companies that make up the top

ten spenders in the table. BT with its pounds 105m marketing budget,

dominates in top position.

BT cutbacks

The telecoms giant may still reign supreme but its ad budget has fallen

over 20% from its 1997 level. BT insiders say the reductions were a

result of the company restructure which saw the consumer and business

divisions merged. Further rationalisation is likely in the coming

year.

Procter & Gamble takes the second slot and is one of the strongest

advocates of TV. Ninety-three per cent of its budget goes on TV, with

its Health and Beauty division putting 92% of its budget there. About a

third of P&G’s ad budget goes on its washing powders and liquids;

spending about pounds 33m in this sector compared with Lever Brothers’

pounds 28m.

The leading brands in the hugely competitive car market continue to

fight it out on the adspend stakes. This sector leaps around most

dramatically from year to year, as it is so dependent on new car

launches.

Vauxhall, with its Astra launch, and Renault, with the Scenic, both

leapt above Ford in 1998 with 20%-plus budget increases. Vauxhall has

recently decided to increase its focus on the Vauxhall marque instead of

on individual cars. Nissan’s budget, meanwhile, dropped 60% with no

significant launch in 1998 - its Primera comes out this autumn. Honda

went up over 35% as it spent heavily on the Accord launch.

Tony Blair’s government has made no secret of its faith in the power of

marketing, so it isn’t surprising that in 1998 - the first full year of

a Labour government - the Central Office of Information (COI) moved into

the top ten spenders with an increase of over 25%. Of course, 1997 would

have seen lower budgets because COI advertising is suspended around the

election, but there were significant campaigns launched in 1998. These

included a child literacy brief to DMB&B, St Luke’s New Deal campaign,

and FCA’s millennium bug awareness work.

However, the prize for the most significant increase in budget goes to

BSkyB, which leapt 67% from 1997 to 1998. In October alone it spent

pounds 6m on TV ads for the launch of SkyDigital.

L’Oreal is another client upping its budget in 1998 - this time by 40%

because of a raft of new product launches. While the Jennifer Aniston

Elvive campaign began in 1997, the shampoo and styling mousse product

extensions were supported by further ads the following year. L’Oreal

also introduced new cosmetic ranges and relaunched its Elnett

hairspray.

In the supermarket sector the battle rages as fiercely as ever.

Sainsbury’s significantly beats all comers on adspend; its pounds 43m is

a 35% increase on 1997, Asda comes in next with a pounds 26m budget.

Budget trends

And these are just the above-the-line figures. With the recent focus on

customer loyalty programmes, significant amounts of companies’ marketing

budgets must also be shifting below the line. Market leader Tesco upped

its budget by a more modest 10%. Safeway was noticeable in bucking the

trend toward increased budgets by dropping its adspend by a third.

Meanwhile, the mobile phone companies have gone into a marketing frenzy

since introducing pre-pay tariffs, and last Christmas’s figures were

their best yet. This new payment method, combined with increased

distribution in retail outlets, saw phone companies tempting 2.5 million

new customers in the last quarter of 1998.

With the exception of the market leader, Vodafone, all the big names

increased their adspend by over 30% in 1998. One 2 One went up by 38%

and became the biggest spending operator with a pounds 39m budget which

ensured its ’Who would you like to have a one to one with?’ campaign

maintained its high profile.

Still in telecoms, Cable & Wireless’s ad budget reduced in 1998 as the

flurry of advertising around its launch eased off. The company’s spend

dipped from over pounds 27m to pounds 19m, a drop of over 40%.

As far as the financial sector is concerned Abbey National is the

highest spending bank with Barclays close behind. While Abbey National

is still promoting the benefits of its non-mutual status, the Nationwide

building society has increased its spend by 54% to ensure the public is

familiar with its mutual benefits.

British Gas is another high climber, but its 45% hike in budget is a

reflection of the market opening up to competition.

Next week, Marketing looks at the biggest spenders in key sectors.

UK top 100 advertisers

     Organisation                  pounds total   pounds total  % change

                                         (1998)         (1997)

1    BT                             105,015,866    129,266,142    -23.09

2    Procter & Gamble                99,137,797     91,569,351      7.63

3    Vauxhall Motors                 83,005,987     66,293,013     20.13

4    Renault (UK)                    79,991,461     59,468,628     25.66

5    Ford Motors                     79,733,484     72,377,409      9.23

6    Kellogg                         67,098,394     61,243,796      8.73

7    Elida Faberge                   62,985,545     54,528,281     13.43

8    Central Office of               60,202,414     44,555,877     25.99

     Information

9    L’Oreal                         57,897,362     35,596,620     38.52

10   Mars Confectionery              54,126,098     51,868,874      4.17

11   Van den Bergh Foods             49,227,150     54,154,058    -10.01

12   Procter & Gamble                48,923,088     60,172,232    -22.99

     Health & Beauty

13   Lever Brothers                  48,496,053     41,614,476     14.19

14   British Sky Broadcasting        47,490,367     15,290,509     67.80

15   Peugeot Motors                  46,245,741     40,942,783     11.47

16   Coca-Cola (GB & Ireland)        44,099,503     37,927,328     14.00

17   McDonald’s Restaurants          43,951,697     36,097,833     17.87

18   Volkswagen (UK)                 43,888,982     43,508,568      0.87

19   Sainsbury’s                     43,542,656     28,275,600     35.06

20   Rover Group                     42,007,584     42,805,017     -1.90

21   One 2 One                       39,410,172     24,424,518     38.02

22   Fiat Auto (UK)                  36,584,885     35,390,412      3.26

23   Boots                           35,472,309     39,255,591    -10.67

24   UDV                             35,050,421     25,755,980     26.52

25   Honda (UK)                      33,504,975     21,349,158     36.28

26   British Gas                     33,081,358     18,188,900     45.02

27   News Int’l Newspapers           33,037,740     23,931,886     27.56

28   Kraft Jacobs Suchard            32,670,369     28,314,070     13.33

29   Citroen (UK)                    31,978,633     29,446,650      7.92

30   Birds Eye Wall’s                31,777,793     28,650,244      9.84

31   Hutchison Telecom               31,105,778     21,227,371     31.76

     (Orange)

32   Currys                          30,706,366     31,603,765     -2.92

33   DFS Northern Upholstery         30,527,872     26,278,634     13.92

34   Nissan Motors (GB)              28,984,393     47,730,389    -64.68

35   Toyota (GB)                     28,706,832     32,880,344    -14.54

36   Royal Mail                      28,529,175     20,823,356     27.01

37   Cellnet                         28,467,181     16,845,416     40.83

38   Nestle Rowntree                 28,404,510     25,695,310      9.54

39   Scottish Courage                26,747,924     29,837,114    -11.55

40   Asda                            26,432,066     21,312,769     19.37

41   Pedigree Masterfoods            25,469,334     28,316,459    -11.18

42   Whitbread Beer                  24,875,250     18,331,223     26.31

43   Nestle Grocery division         24,835,786     18,099,029     27.13

44   Volvo Car (UK)                  24,435,238     18,529,621     24.17

45   Camelot Group                   24,336,689     18,709,095     23.12

46   Bestfoods (UK)                  24,314,487     15,707,788     35.40

47   Tesco                           23,890,009     21,504,017      9.99

48   Bass Brewers                    23,635,722     17,759,864     24.86

49   Associated Newspapers           23,356,745     15,657,907     32.96

50   SmithKline Beecham              22,292,971     16,131,076     27.64

     Health Care

51   IBM (UK)                        21,981,496     17,707,950     19.44

52   Woolworths                      21,412,229     18,788,610     12.25

53   Direct Line Insurance           20,872,476     21,792,910     -4.41

54   Vodafone Retail                 20,772,105     22,391,370     -7.80

55   Great Universal Stores          20,514,845     16,635,083     18.91

56   Comet Group                     20,218,721     23,495,766    -16.21

57   SmithKline Beecham              19,950,778     16,131,076     19.15

58   Mattel (UK)                     19,613,610     14,546,698     25.83

59   Cable & Wireless                19,610,566     27,717,592    -41.34

60   Granville Technology            19,586,782     11,385,474     41.87

61   Cereal Partners (UK)            19,280,743     16,660,134     13.59

62   MFI Furniture Group             19,015,931     18,422,637      3.12

63   PC World Computer               18,851,299     18,332,216      2.75

     Superstore

64   Barclays Bank/Barclaycard       18,798,036     14,434,056     23.22

65   Guinness Brewing (GB)           18,452,469     17,955,438      2.69

66   United International            18,142,681      9,366,556     48.37

     Pictures (UK)

67   Abbey National                  18,073,080     10,814,604     40.16

68   Westbay Distributors            18,032,553     16,333,560      9.42

69   Barclays Bank                   18,003,767     15,030,730     16.51

70   Colgate Palmolive               17,816,855     14,789,144     16.99

71   B&Q                             17,762,239     19,809,951    -11.53

72   British Airways                 17,685,598     13,827,966     21.81

73   Kimberly-Clark                  17,481,268     17,477,542      0.02

74   Buena Vista Int’l (UK)          17,408,849     11,988,152     31.14

75   Sony (UK)                       17,383,482     17,221,842      0.93

76   Dixons Stores Group             17,379,974     17,792,319     -2.37

77   Saab (GB)                       17,241,182     14,892,690     13.62

78   Nationwide Building             17,172,599      7,792,402     54.62

     Society

79   Audi (UK)                       17,121,106     16,180,537      5.49

80   Weetabix                        17,054,064     18,099,342     -6.13

81   JD Williams                     16,992,689     16,655,576      1.98

82   Safeway                         16,739,654     22,400,057    -33.81

83   Colt Car                        16,696,028     14,247,789     14.66

84   Hasbro (UK)                     16,693,125     12,568,613     24.71

85   AXA Sunlife Asset               16,444,656     10,269,180     37.55

     Management

86   Alliance & Leicester            16,364,879     12,276,319     24.98

87   Virgin Records                  16,230,485     12,762,176     21.37

88   Automobile Association          16,023,037     16,653,663     -3.94

89   Mercedes-Benz (UK)              15,642,411     10,855,961     30.60

90   Masterfoods                     15,609,396     14,545,918      6.81

91   Specsavers Optical Group        15,504,672     12,174,404     21.48

92   SCA Hygiene Products(UK)        15,492,680     12,670,978     18.21

93   BMW (GB)                        15,351,899     10,294,591     32.94

94   Johnson & Johnson               15,279,641     16,968,973    -11.06

95   Daewoo Cars (UK)                14,822,453     11,577,050     21.90

96   Heinz                           14,807,404     10,415,542     29.66

97   Chrysler Jeep Import UK         14,642,333     15,398,214     -5.16

98   20th Century Fox                14,486,055     10,925,016     24.58

99   Carlsberg-Tetley Brewing        14,227,732     12,847,938      9.70

100  Reckitt & Colman                14,181,402     13,395,542      5.54

     Total                        2,954,614,226  2,640,862,726     10.62

     Organisation              pounds press  pounds cinema  pounds radio

                                     (1998)         (1998)        (1998)

1    BT                          30,105,173        387,282     8,512,787

2    Procter & Gamble             3,724,831         31,998       443,898

3    Vauxhall Motors             23,612,521      1,803,197     3,239,562

4    Renault (UK)                18,228,427              0     5,379,018

5    Ford Motors                 16,016,308        376,053     5,400,117

6    Kellogg                      5,572,732              0       855,552

7    Elida Faberge                6,241,659      2,326,353       391,140

8    Central Office of           17,812,686      1,878,475     8,561,724

     Information

9    L’Oreal                      8,154,087        168,880       398,367

10   Mars Confectionery           2,596,883      1,934,748       393,323

11   Van den Bergh Foods          3,862,304              0       746,020

12   Procter & Gamble             3,336,755        332,235       225,888

     Health & Beauty

13   Lever Brothers               7,423,025         20,169       600,252

14   British Sky Broadcasting    15,700,744        565,498     1,330,997

15   Peugeot Motors              10,123,797              0       890,680

16   Coca-Cola (GB & Ireland)     1,687,251      1,364,380     4,396,633

17   McDonald’s Restaurants         311,670        434,164     1,847,993

18   Volkswagen (UK)             10,731,057         78,258     1,689,292

19   Sainsbury’s                 18,167,403              0     1,096,654

20   Rover Group                 14,030,625        778,708     1,617,165

21   One 2 One                    7,071,937        553,113     3,453,180

22   Fiat Auto (UK)              10,491,697              0     2,237,815

23   Boots                       11,623,083      1,801,805       704,502

24   UDV                          3,754,477      4,699,738     1,168,244

25   Honda (UK)                   7,903,900              0       109,310

26   British Gas                 12,875,967              0     1,171,764

27   News Int’l Newspapers          242,222              0     2,383,279

28   Kraft Jacobs Suchard         5,237,468        213,334       128,803

29   Citroen (UK)                 8,862,099        201,000       605,499

30   Birds Eye Wall’s             2,749,931      1,158,218       503,675

31   Hutchison Telecom           10,330,949        793,326     2,585,225

     (Orange)

32   Currys                      25,623,309              0       563,053

33   DFS Northern Upholstery     11,322,898              0     2,653,225

34   Nissan Motors (GB)           8,777,771              0       543,326

35   Toyota (GB)                 12,705,376              0     1,402,012

36   Royal Mail                   4,058,631              0       713,749

37   Cellnet                      3,134,914              0     1,971,059

38   Nestle Rowntree                361,597              0       164,821

39   Scottish Courage             1,686,083      2,335,523       267,391

40   Asda                         7,320,625        593,686     1,057,179

41   Pedigree Masterfoods           659,730              0       125,868

42   Whitbread Beer               2,241,970      2,035,533       267,207

43   Nestle Grocery division      1,589,470        116,685     1,328,648

44   Volvo Car (UK)               9,408,821              0       606,567

45   Camelot Group                1,467,440              0     3,350,217

46   Bestfoods (UK)               2,275,872              0       398,832

47   Tesco                        5,606,637              0     2,211,095

48   Bass Brewers                 1,515,797        583,898       262,945

49   Associated Newspapers           96,168        223,690     1,475,207

50   SmithKline Beecham           2,392,269              0       502,029

     Health Care

51   IBM (UK)                    15,848,719              0        74,264

52   Woolworths                   4,789,964              0       527,299

53   Direct Line Insurance        5,072,596              0       153,776

54   Vodafone Retail              4,132,307              0     5,993,234

55   Great Universal Stores      15,666,088              0        22,008

56   Comet Group                 13,634,037              0       886,087

57   SmithKline Beecham           1,017,324          8,128        69,098

58   Mattel (UK)                    413,217              0             0

59   Cable & Wireless             7,759,502              0     1,754,384

60   Granville Technology        14,791,999              0        30,935

61   Cereal Partners (UK)           630,169         65,000       330,034

62   MFI Furniture Group         12,330,662              0       806,334

63   PC World Computer           13,831,888              0     1,803,644

     Superstore

64   Barclays Bank/Barclaycard    4,634,517              0       526,173

65   Guinness Brewing (GB)          400,082      1,976,061       264,750

66   United International         3,526,552              0       407,229

     Pictures (UK)

67   Abbey National               5,136,466        406,970       200,925

68   Westbay Distributors           500,636      1,864,260       660,966

69   Barclays Bank                5,036,376        939,536     2,035,060

70   Colgate Palmolive            1,333,505              0       129,689

71   B&Q                          8,248,760              0       555,165

72   British Airways              6,214,937        138,522     1,239,505

73   Kimberly-Clark               1,442,068              0     1,227,581

74   Buena Vista Int’l (UK)       1,697,380         77,000     1,364,538

75   Sony (UK)                    3,419,143        998,445       485,406

76   Dixons Stores Group         14,984,603              0     2,393,524

77   Saab (GB)                    2,482,782        151,970     1,824,570

78   Nationwide Building          4,637,627              0     1,074,105

     Society

79   Audi (UK)                    4,164,543        471,472       320,447

80   Weetabix                     1,240,665        234,651       575,433

81   JD Williams                 15,392,789              0             0

82   Safeway                      3,670,749              0        97,874

83   Colt Car                     4,603,748         83,300       924,759

84   Hasbro (UK)                    262,840          2,940        89,101

85   AXA Sunlife Asset            9,775,682              0         1,822

     Management

86   Alliance & Leicester        11,028,607              0        93,021

87   Virgin Records               1,003,711              0     2,608,064

88   Automobile Association       2,007,976              0     1,698,568

89   Mercedes-Benz (UK)           7,142,793        222,422     1,222,483

90   Masterfoods                  2,224,922              0        92,643

91   Specsavers Optical Group     4,996,787         47,646       179,450

92   SCA Hygiene Products(UK)       759,357              0     1,413,893

93   BMW (GB)                     5,739,931              0        21,268

94   Johnson & Johnson            1,694,109              0       167,718

95   Daewoo Cars (UK)             5,756,290              0       760,161

96   Heinz                        1,157,762              0        50,727

97   Chrysler Jeep Import UK      7,170,726              0       306,187

98   20th Century Fox             3,059,825              0     1,115,959

99   Carlsberg-Tetley Brewing       825,143              0       462,143

100  Reckitt & Colman             1,448,380              0        28,595

Total                           669,570,287     35,478,270   122,003,387

     Organisation            pounds outdoor      pounds TV

                                     (1998)         (1998)

1    BT                           3,615,073     62,395,551

2    Procter & Gamble             2,665,546     92,271,524

3    Vauxhall Motors              8,425,007     45,925,700

4    Renault (UK)                12,877,691     43,506,325

5    Ford Motors                  4,110,051     53,830,955

6    Kellogg                      9,328,862     51,341,248

7    Elida Faberge                4,846,762     49,179,631

8    Central Office of            3,283,780     28,665,749

     Information

9    L’Oreal                      1,510,293     47,665,735

10   Mars Confectionery             748,232     48,452,912

11   Van den Bergh Foods          3,934,363     40,684,463

12   Procter & Gamble                   750     45,027,460

     Health & Beauty

13   Lever Brothers               5,327,669     35,124,938

14   British Sky Broadcasting     7,228,646     22,664,482

15   Peugeot Motors               3,520,111     31,711,153

16   Coca-Cola (GB & Ireland)       292,777     36,358,462

17   McDonald’s Restaurants      10,567,945     30,789,925

18   Volkswagen (UK)              1,647,284     29,743,091

19   Sainsbury’s                    797,827     23,480,772

20   Rover Group                  4,568,247     21,012,839

21   One 2 One                    4,919,679     23,412,263

22   Fiat Auto (UK)               6,298,351     17,557,022

23   Boots                          950,879     20,392,040

24   UDV                          5,531,190     19,896,772

25   Honda (UK)                   4,223,055     21,268,710

26   British Gas                  4,403,234     14,630,393

27   News Int’l Newspapers          684,698     29,727,541

28   Kraft Jacobs Suchard         4,182,116     22,908,648

29   Citroen (UK)                 2,375,210     19,934,825

30   Birds&nbs

This article was first published on Marketing