Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1956)

BROADCASTING TELECASTING March 12, 1956 Vol. 50, No. THE TOP 25 AGENCIES IN SPOT BROADCAST BUYING B*T presents herewith its analysis of the spot television and spot radio expenditures of the 25 advertising agencies who were last year's leaders in the use of spot broadcast campaigns for their clients. This exclusive feature, which to our knowledge has never before been attempted, was prepared by Florence Small, agency editor, who also compiles B*T's annual analysis of agency expenditures for all broadcast media, network as well as spot [B*T, Dec. 12, 1955]. Four agencies, the B*T study shows, spent more than $20 million each for time and talent used in spot broadcast campaigns during 1955. Ted Bates & Co. led the field with spot billings of $29 million — $24 million for spot tv, $5 million for spot radio. Young & Rubicam ranked second with a total spot volume of $27 million; McCannErickson was third with $22 million and BBDO a close fourth with $21.5 million. Compiled in the main from data supplied B*T by the agencies themselves, this authoritative survey reveals that there is no correlation between spot and network expenditures but that a wide variation exists from advertiser to advertiser. The makers of low-cost packaged products — foods, drugs, toiletries, cigarettes, beverages and the like — are the major users of spot radio and tv, but not the only ones, as the manufacturers of such items as automobiles and watches also bank heavily on spot broadcast campaigns. TED BATES & CO., New York, led the nation's advertising agencies in spot billing in 1955 with a combined tv-radio spot outlay of $29 million. The agency billed $24 million in spot tv and $5 million in spot radio. Ranking second and third respectively in B»T's first annual review of agency spot activity were Young & Rubicam, with combined tv-am spot billings of $27 million, and McCann-Erickson, with a combined spot total of $22 million. Y & R spent $16 million in spot tv and $11 million in radio; McCann-Erickson invested $20 million in spot television and $2 million in radio spot placement. Completing the list of the Big 10 in combined tv-am spot expenditures: BBDO, $21.5 million; Leo Burnett Co., $18 million; N. W. Ayer & Son, $15 million; J. Walter Thompson Co., $12.7 million; Benton & Bowles, $11 million; Kenyon & Eckhardt, $10 million, Dancer-Fitzgerald-Sample, $9 million. Ted Bates rated first also in the category of tv spot buys, expending $24 million in that medium alone, followed by McCann-Erickson, which deployed $20 million into tv spots. Third in television spot purchases was Young & Rubicam with a billing total of $16 million. The leader in radio spot purchases in 1955 was Young & Rubicam, spending $11 million for am spots, well ahead of second-ranking BBDO with a radio spot of $7.5 million. J. Walter Thompson Co. plowed $3.2 million into spot radio to emerge third in that category. Ted Bates, ranking eighth in B»T's recent survey of 1955 overall agency tv-am billings [B*T, Dec. 12, 1955], achieved its dominance in the spot field in large measure as a consequence of the advertising policy of one client, Brown & Williamson. Second largest spot advertiser in the nation — exceeded only by Procter & Gamble Co., which has strongly divided agency representation — B & W devotes nearly $7.5 million of its radio-tv budget to spot. The company underwrote massive spot campaigns in 1955 for each of its products in the Ted Bates fold, Viceroy and Kool cigarettes and Tube Rose Snuff. Other heavy spot advertisers at the agency, contributing to the record total, were ColgatePalmolive Co., Carter Products and Anahist. Young & Rubicam, on the other hand, displayed no similar imbalance in favor of spots, arriving at its position largely as a natural result of general strength in tv and radio, as recorded in B«T's earlier agency report on overall tv-radio billing. McCann-Erickson, third in rank, owes some of its position to Bulova Watch Co., which devotes its entire $6 million budget to spots, plus an array of spot advertisers such as National Biscuit, Esso Standard Oil, and others. At both these agencies, spot billings last year amounted to roughly two4hirds those of network spending. At Ted Bates the ratio was better than three to one in favor of spot. The figures in this spot survey represent expenditures for both time and talent. The estimate in almost all cases is based on information received directly from responsible officials in each agency. A summary of the status of each of the 25 leading spot agencies follows. TED BATES & CO.: Combined tv-am spot billing, $29 million; television only, $24 million; radio only, $5 million. Network tv-am total billing, $8 million. Total broadcast billing, $37 million. Leading spot advertisers: Brown & Williamson, Colgate Palmolive Co., Carter Products and Anahist. YOUNG & RUBICAM: Combined tv-am spot billing, $27 million; television only, $16 million; radio only, $11 million. Network tvam total billing, $45 million. Total broadcast billing, $72 million. Leading spot advertisers: Borden Co., General Foods, Procter & Gamble, Broadcasting • Telecasting March 12, 1956 • Page 31