Credit Card Services Advertising Down In September

admin — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:47:48 +0000

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 services companies had shown increases. In July and August, ad spending for the category was up by almost 27% over the same period a year ago.

Product Category	TV Ad Units: Sept. 3-23, 2007	TV Ad Units: Sept. 1-21, 2008	% Change
Credit Services	27,102	34,955	28.98%
Bank Services	46,300	54,655	18.05%
Credit Union	10,930	12,153	11.19%
Financial Investment Services	15,693	15,424	-1.71%
Loan Companies	30,167	28,033	-7.07%
Credit Card Services	18,057	13,784	-23.66%
Mutual Funds	1,058	751	-29.02%
Mortgage Services	24,182	12,130	-49.84%
Source: The Nielsen Company (September 3 – 23, 2007 and September 1 – 21, 2008).

Ad spending by other sectors of the financial services industry has declined steadily so far this year.

In July and August, ad spending by mortgage service companies was down by almost 54%, compared to the same period in 2007. Ad spending by loan companies also dropped by almost 37% between July-August 2007 and July-August 2008.

Product Category	TV Ad Spending: July-August 2007 (in 000s)	TV Ad Spending: July-August 2008 (in 000s)	% Change
Credit Services	$35,334.483	$54,259.391	53.56%
Credit Union	$4,800.275	$7,181.590	49.61%
Credit Card Services	$172,656.147	$218,473.427	26.54%
Financial Investment Services	$76,385.649	$91,524.918	19.82%
Bank Services	$133,844.679	$133,369.217	-0.36%
Mutual Funds	$10,893.430	$8,344.414	-23.40%
Loan Companies	$63,093.366	$39,783.735	-36.94%
Mortgage Services	$56,127.525	$25,849.113	-53.95%
Source: The Nielsen Company (July 1 – August 31, 2007 and July 1 – August 31, 2008).

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings by the Associated Press and in Ad Age, the Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail, Broadcasting & Cable, and Adweek.

Nielsen Wire » TV ad units

Credit Card Services Advertising Down In September