Nielsen: U.S. Advertising spending declines 0.5% in first half 2007.

The Nielsen Company reported that advertising spending for the first half of 2007 was down 0.5% over the same period last year, with Internet spending showing the strongest performance (plus 23.2%) of any category.

According to preliminary figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the leading provider of competitive advertising information, advertising spending was mixed across media with gains in some categories and declines in others. In addition to Internet advertising, other categories that showed an increase during the first half of this year were: National Magazines (8.4%), National Sunday Supplements (6.5%), Outdoor (5.1%) and Spot TV Markets 101-210 (3.2%).

“Even in this soft market outdoor ad spending continues to show strength. This traditional medium has embraced technology and is offering more and more digital and interactive advertising opportunities,” said Brian Lane, Senior Vice President of Client Strategy & Product Development for Nielsen Monitor-Plus. “National magazine ad spending is also on an upswing with increased rate card ad revenue reported for the first half of 2007.”

Advertiser Spending

Advertising spending across monitored media for the top 10 companies in the first half of 2007 reached $8.3 billion, down 7.3% from the same time period in 2006. Seven out of the ten advertisers decreased budgets. General Motors continues to show the largest decline, cutting advertising for some truck brands, although they did increase spending on Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid trucks as well as Saturn hybrid cars and trucks. (Refer to Advertiser Spending chart in full PDF download of release.)

Category Spending

Spending for the 10 largest categories reached $20.8 billion in the first half, 2% less than the same period last year. Most product categories have decreased spending, with the exception of Pharmaceuticals, Wireless Telephone Services, and Direct Response Products. The top category in terms of total dollars, Automotive, also had the greatest dollar and percent decline (-$671 million; -10%). .

Product Placement

Broadcast Network Product Placement

Nielsen Product Placement Service reports an increased number of product placement occurrences in prime-time broadcast network programming for the first half of 2007, based on its Top 10 Programs Broadcast Network ranking (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW & MyNetworkTV tracked). The Top 10 programs featured 17,371 occurrences compared to 14,643 occurrences for the same time period last year. “American Idol” is once again the #1 show in terms of the number of product placements, a position it held last year. During the first half of 2007, American Idol featured 4,349 product placement occurrences vs. 4,086 occurrences for the first half of 2006. “Fast Cars and Superstars,” which premiered in June of this year, zoomed into second place with 3,231 occurrences overall.

The Top 10 featured brands on prime-time broadcast network television for first half of 2007 accounted for 6,848 occurrences. An increase compared to the first half of 2006 when 6,451 brands were reported. Coca-Cola through its association with “American Idol,” was the top brand once again, with 3,054 occurrences in the first half of 2007. The Pussycat Dolls Lounge Nightclubs placed second in terms of the brand with the most occurrences (750). The brand is directly linked to the show “The Pussycat Dolls Present” airing on the CW, and places in the top 5 among programs with the most product placement occurrences. The Nike apparel brand had 511 occurrences, with a majority of the occurrences on the “Amazing Race All Stars.”

Cable Network Product Placement

Nielsen Product Placement Service reports a slight decrease in the number of product placement occurrences in prime-time cable network programming for the first half of 2007, based on its Top 10 Programs Cable Network ranking (A&E, HGTV, MTV, TLC & BRAVO tracked). The Top 10 programs featured 92,925 occurrences for the first half of 2007 vs 107,792 occurrences for the first half of 2006. “American Chopper,” which premiered in Jan 2007, is the #1 cable network show in terms of the number of product placements, with 29,476 occurrences. “Dog the Bounty Hunter” placed second with 12,321 occurrences and “Miami Ink” placed third with 10,892 occurrences.

The Top 10 featured brands on prime-time cable network television for first half of 2007 accounted for 27,697 occurrences. A slight decrease compared to the same time period last year, when 28,271 brands were reported. Orange County Chopper apparel was the top brand with 6,118 occurrences for the first half of 2007 and the Orange County Chopper Motorcycles brand place third with 4,308 occurrences, both brands are featured on the “American Chopper” program. The Oakley Sunglasses brand placed second with 5,205 occurrences. Oakley Sunglasses are worn on the “Dog the Bounty Hunter” program.

“Our Top 10 Program and Brand rankings for broadcast network programming are showing an increase primarily due to the new ABC show ‘Fast Cars and Superstars.’ This program is an example of the increased value placed on product integrations and the resulting relationships between brands and producers,” said Annie Touliatos, Director, Product Development & Marketing for Nielsen Product Placement Service. “Product placement is being viewed more strategically and more frequently woven into the storyline to achieve a maximum and lasting impact. The majority of cable network product placements are on reality-based series, and there are less storyline integrations, however we consistently observe four to five times the number of occurrences on the networks tracked compared to broadcast network programming.”

To view additional charts CLICK above on ‘More Images’.