Progressive Leads on Radio in 2020's Top Advertisers

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, January 13, 2021 | 12:58pm CT

Media Monitors

Procter & Gamble, the top parent company advertiser in the U.S, aired 22% more spots in 2020 than in 2019. The consumer products goods company aired 23,154,642 spots in monitored markets on radio, broadcast TV and cable in 2020, compared to 18,913,975 during the prior year, according to Media Monitors' rankings of the top 100 advertisers for the year.

Meanwhile, GEICO was again the nation's top national advertiser, airing 6,984,053 instances - also an increase over 2019 - across local cable, broadcast radio and TV. Procter & Gamble topped the TV and cable rankings, and held onto the number two spot for radio, where it followed closely behind the U.S. Government.

"Faced with a pandemic, civil unrest and a presidential election, Procter & Gamble held the course on its advertising strategy," said Media Monitors President and CEO Philippe Generali. "The company increased advertising of its brands in all channels, but particularly in radio, where it increased the number of instances by 44%."

"As the pandemic upended normal routines, an opportunity was created for some advertisers," added Generali. "For example, Babbel, a language learning app, rode a wave of increased interest in online education. The company advertised more on radio, where it entered the top 10 at number five. Meanwhile, insurance advertisers like GEICO and Progressive ran more spots for home and rental insurance and promoted givebacks on auto insurance."

Procter & Gamble wasn't the only advertiser to invest more airtime on radio. Another major brand, Progressive Insurance doubled its number of instances, airing 2,694,039 spots in 2020, up from 1,307,010 instances in 2019, according to Media Monitors data.

In addition, several new brands entered the top 10, including Babbel, which entered the top 100 at number five. In September, the company reported its app had been downloaded more than 10 million times. Allstate jumped to number six from number 57, while Quicken Loans entered at number eight, up from number 18.

Even as safe-at-home mandates created rising interest in home improvement projects, Home Depot dropped to number three from number one. However, Lowe's increased the number of spots it aired on radio to 1,668,121, up from 1,410,499. It climbed in the ranking to number four.

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