The annual U.S advertising spend-report just arrived from Advertising Age. As usual, financial brands were big spenders. Eleven financial brands were in the top 100, including two in the top 10 (JP Morgan Chase and American Express).
Internet spend (note 1): Experian was the #1 spender online among all companies in all industries with a reported $350 million. That amounts to more than 3% of the entire $10 billion spent online in the United States last year across all industries. The credit-reporting giant didn’t spend enough offline to crack the top 100 in total advertising, which means at least 80% of its total spending is online.
Among the big overall spenders, estimated Internet spending varies widely. American Express, BofA, Capital One, and State Farm all spent a bit more than $100 million.
In terms of percentage of all advertising, the totals varied widely. On the low end, JP Morgan, Discover and Visa devoted 2% to 3% of their budget to online advertising. On the other side, Capital One, Citi, and Progressive all placed around the 9% mark.
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Table: U.S. advertising spending
Total of measured media and estimated unmeasured*
| Company** | 2012 | 2011 | %Chg | Internet | % Internet | Top-100 Rank |
| 1. JP Morgan | $2.1 bil | $2.4 bil | (11%) | $46 mil | 2.1% | 8 |
| 2. AmEx | $2.1 bil | $2.1 bil | (3%) | $120 mil | 5.7% | 9 |
| 3. BofA | $1.6 bil | $1.7 bil | (5%) | $110 mil | 6.9% | 18 |
| 4. Capital One | $1.3 bil | $1.0 bil | +22% | $110 mil | 8.5% | 26 |
| 5. Citi | $930 mil | $980 mil | (5%) | $81 mil | 8.7% | 41 |
| 6. Progressive | $800 mil | $800 mil | — | $77 mil | 9.6% | 51 |
| 7. Allstate | $790 mil | $740 mil | +8% | $52 mil | 6.6% | 54 |
| 8. State Farm | $780 mil | $800 mil | (3%) | $110 mil | 14% | 55 |
| 9. Discover | $600 mil | $460 mil | +30% | $12 mil | 2.0% | 68 |
| 10. Wells Fargo | $580 mil | $610 mil | (5%) | $21 mil | 3.6% | 70 |
| 11. Visa | $480 mil | $490 mil | (1%) | $12 mil | 2.5% | 83 |
| Total | $12.1 bil | $12.1 bil | — | $750 mil | 6.2% | — |
| Experian | INA | INA | INA | $350 mil | 80%+ | NA |
*Source: Advertising Age, 24 June 2013; methodology; The % change number was calculated with more precise annual spend numbers than what appears above
**We did not include Warren Buffet’s conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway which owns Geico and had the following numbers: 2012 = $1.6 bil; 2011 = $1.4 bil; +13%; Internet $31 mil, 1.9% of total
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Note:
1. Internet spend covers desktop display/search only. Does not include mobile or video ad units.