With the 2009 tax deadline quickly approaching, Nielsen conducted an audit of its own, looking back at how tax service companies spent their advertising dollars in 2008.
The Tax Services category spent $220 million in 2008 on ads, an increase of 11% from 2007. Over one-third of the 2008 total was spent on Cable TV ($76.9 million), followed by Spot TV ($40.5 million), and Network TV ($35.7 million).
Over half ($125.8 million) of the budget was spent in the first quarter – the three months leading up to the April deadline. That …

A sharp decrease in advertising spending by the mortgage and loan sectors led a 10% slide in spending across the entire financial services industry this year, according to an analysis released Monday by Nielsen.
Mortgage and loan companies, including Web-based companies, combined to spend 62% — or $778 million — less on advertising during the first three quarters of 2008, compared with the same time period last year.
Overall, ad spending by financial services companies dropped from $5.9 billion in Q1-Q3 2007 to $5.3 billion through September of this year, according to Nielsen.  Nielsen’s data excludes …

Advertising in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America grew by 1.5%, year-over-year, in the second quarter of 2008, Nielsen reported Wednesday.
Strong advertising growth in the Asia-Pacific region (+7.6% over Q2 2007) drove the increase, according to data released in Nielsen’s latest Global AdView Pulse report.
Ad spending trends worldwide showed significant variations — with overall advertising declines recorded in North America (-1%) and Europe (-3%).

Advertising by credit card services companies dipped significantly in the first three weeks of September, as the ongoing economic turmoil in the U.S. reached a boiling point, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported Thursday.
Among credit card services companies, TV ad units for Sept. 1 – 21, 2008 were down by almost 24% versus the same time period last year.
Most of the top advertisers in the Credit Card Services category — including Capital One, Discover, Synovus, Washington Mutual, and Visa — reduced their TV television advertising activity in September.
Earlier in 2008, advertising by credit card …

Advertising spending for the first half of 2008 declined by 1.4% compared to the same period last year, Nielsen Monitor-Plus reported Thursday.
Despite a continued softening of the economy, several media showed healthy growth in advertising for the first half.  Advertising on Cable TV (+8.1%), Syndication TV (+7.2%), and National Sunday Supplements (+7.2%) saw the largest growth, according to Nielsen.  Spot Radio fared worst among the 19 media categories analyzed by Nielsen (-10.1%). 
Although overall Internet ad spending, when including paid search and online video advertising, was up by 11% during the first half of …

America’s wealth landscape is in flux.  In recent years, a new segment of wealthy Americans has emerged, according to a new white paper recently released by Nielsen Claritas. 
Known as the “New Mass Affluent,” members of this group have amassed assets of more than $100,000 each, though most of these baby boomers were born into middle class households.  By 2007, the group represented 19% of all households in the U.S.  By 2012, the New Mass Affluent is expected to grow to account for at least 20% of all American households.
Often underserved …