The 10 most-advertised brands today vs. a decade ago

For brand advertising, it’s been the decade of the gecko. Geico and its hardworking spokes-creature over the past decade climbed into the top spot for brands based on U.S. measured-media spending, up from No. 10 in 2009. The lizard hasn’t been lounging. Measured-media spending for the Berkshire Hathaway-owned insurance brand totaled $1.5 billion in 2018 and an eye-popping $10.7 billion over the past 10 years, according to Ad Age Datacenter’s analysis of spending data from Kantar. Amazon moved into prime time over the past decade, vaulting to the No. 2 advertised brand in 2018—and the only retailer in the top 10. Amazon didn’t make Ad Age’s list of the 200 most-advertised brands in 2009. Insurance brand Progressive came in third place in 2018 among advertised brands, up from No. 33 in 2009. Apple over the past decade jumped to No. 6 in brand spending from No. 47 in 2009, back when iPhone was a relative newcomer (introduced in 2007) and iPad hadn’t yet debuted (introduced in 2010). Some big brands keep plugging away. Verizon and AT&T led the ranking a decade ago and still appear among the 10 biggest spenders, though their brand measured spending has fallen sharply as the wireless phone market matures. Sprint fell out of the top 10. T-Mobile, which has a pending deal to buy Sprint, moved into the top 10. Ford, General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet and McDonald’s ranked among the 10 most-advertised brands both then and now. 10 most-advertised brands now vs. a decade ago Ranked by U.S. measured-media spending. Dollars in millions. Now Rank Brand Marketer Ad spending 1 Geico Berkshire Hathaway $1,546 2 Amazon Amazon 1,255 3 Progressive Progressive Corp. 1,048 4 Verizon Verizon Communications 935 5 Chevrolet General Motors Co. 825 6 Apple Apple 797 7 Ford Ford Motor Co. 779 8 T-Mobile Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile US) 768 9 McDonald's McDonald's Corp. 761 10 AT&T AT&T 659 Then Rank Brand Marketer Ad spending 1 Verizon Verizon Communications $2,241 2 AT&T AT&T 1,908 3 Walmart Walmart Stores 1,143 4 Sprint Sprint Nextel Corp. 1,137 5 Chevrolet General Motors Co. 924 6 McDonald's McDonald's Corp. 872 7 Ford Ford Motor Co. 848 8 Macy's Macy's 831 9 Target Target Corp. 644 10 Geico Berkshire Hathaway 613 Source: Ad Age Datacenter analysis of measured-media spending data from Kantar. "Now" is 2018 spending fromAd Age Leading National Advertisers 2019. "Then" is 2009 spending from Ad Age Leading National Advertisers 2010.More info: kantar.com/media. Geico ad spending U.S. measured-media spending. Dollars in millions. Year Rank among most-advertised brands Ad spending 2009 10 $613 2010 10 741 2011 7 769 2012 5 921 2013 3 1,014 2014 3 1,109 2015 2 1,138 2016 1 1,353 2017 1 1,472 2018 1 1,546 Source: Ad Age Datacenter analysis of measured-media spending data from Kantar. More info: kantar.com/media.

The 10 most-advertised brands today vs. a decade ago

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