Growth In Advertising Spending Continues Into 2014

LIBERTYVILLE, Ill. - June 11, 2013 - PRLog -- Schonfeld & Associates, Inc. has just released the 37th edition of its annual study, Advertising Ratios & Budgets. The new research report covers more than 4,500 individual companies within 320 industry sectors.

Besides advertising-to-sales ratios, the study forecasts ad spending in 2014 and ad growth for each company and industry so users of the study can monitor competition and plan their own ad spending. Overall, 2014 promises to be a year of continuing recovery in advertising spending. Although some traditional advertising media are seeing a decline, the variety of newer advertising channels has resulted in increasing total marketing activity. In more challenging economic times, companies look to advertising to protect their market share. Money spent in nurturing a social media presence provides near to realtime two way communication with customers, helping to build and maintain brand loyalty.

The automotive industry is expected to be the top spending industry with an outlay of $45 billion, a 8.6% increase, with sales increasing by 7.7%. Chrysler, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen will each spend over $2 billion.

Large, diversified food companies are expected to spend over $25 billion in 2014, down slightly from 2013's $26 billion. The non-alcoholic beverage industry, made up of Coke and Pepsi, will spend over $6 billion, an increase of over 6 percent on sales increasing 10 percent. The 62 separate restaurant chains in the Schonfeld study will average 3.7% ad growth and spend a total of a bit over $4 billion in 2014.

Advertising growth by telecommunication service companies will pick up by 4.3% in 2014 with estimated spending of over $19 billion worldwide. Ad spending for wireless communications services will continue increasing, up 4.7%, to $25.5 billion. The widespread use of smartphones in everyday activity translates into continuing demand for high speed access and equipment.

The pace of industry wide growth by computer hardware manufacturers is led by Apple, which will increase its ad spending by over 15%. Advertising growth for software will rise 6.8%. Advertising for semiconductors and related devices will be up 7.8 percent in 2014, while spending by computer communication equipment manufacturers will increase by a modest 2.3 percent.

The pharmaceutical industry will increase spending slightly by 1.7% in 2014, exceeding $23 billion. The emphasis on affordable healthcare and the uncertainty as to the exact reforms coming have somewhat dampened the strength of pharmaceutical advertising. The industries of biotech and electromedical apparatus both show a growth in advertising spending of 6% or more. As in other industries, there is much interest and activity in social media advertising by the pharmaceutical companies. Most companies maintain Facebook pages and Twitter feeds.

Variety stores, such as Target, Wal-Mart and Dollar General, will increase their ad budgets 1.1% for a total of over $8.2 billion. Retail department stores, such as Macy’s and Kohl’s, will spend $ 3.7 billion in 2014, up slightly from 2013.

Advertising by catalog and mail-order houses continues to increase to just under $4.6 billion. Online powerhouse Amazon is growing its advertising budget by over 20 percent. A presence within the social media universe, along with spending on more traditional advertising, has become an integral part of every retailer's marketing and advertising efforts. Web portal Google is planning to spend over $3 billion, an increase of 25%, while Chinese search engine Baidu will spend $79 million, up 23 percent. Facebook plans to spend $124 million in 2014 and LinkedIn will spend $6 million.

In 2014, the top ad spender will be Procter & Gamble with a budget of almost $11 billion, an increase of 5.6 % displacing Nestle with an estimated budget of $9.5 billion, a decrease of 19 percent. Over 600 major foreign-based firms are covered by this year's study, including such firms as Unilever and Sony.

Advertising Ratios & Budgets is widely used for strategic planning by ad agencies, monitoring competitors, planning ad budgets, and identifying new business prospects. It is also used for selling advertising space and time, and for planning by publishers and broadcasters in developing new media vehicles. Budgets are grouped to show all competitors within an industry. Data from the study are also available in Excel format. Additional information is provided within the datafiles to allow for analysis by corporate location or NAICS code.

Advertising Ratios & Budgets is compiled from a variety of sources such as 10-K Reports. Since reporting may vary from company to company, careful use of the findings are advised. Caution is urged when: (1) financial events such as mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures may distort spending patterns; (2) private ownership of very large companies in specific industries may mean that some advertisers are omitted; (3) multi-industry companies are reported only in their primary industry based on sales of their dominant line of business.

Copies of the 188-page study are available at $ 395. Forecasts and data from Advertising Ratios & Budgets are also available for all companies and industries in Excel format. Additional information is provided within the datafiles to allow for analysis by corporate location or NAICS code. The 2013 edition of the 188 page study along with Excel datafiles is $ 495. Contact Schonfeld & Associates, Inc., 1931 Lynn Circle, Libertyville, Illinois 60048. Call for more information: 800-205-0030 or visit the company’s web site at http://www.saiBooks.com