GM, P&G and others cut Winter Olympics TV ad spending

Dive Brief:

General Motors, Proctor & Gamble and AT&T, the top three biggest ad spenders in the 2014 Winter Olympics, are expected to cut their advertising buys for this year’s games, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Declining viewership of the Olympics, changes in media consumption, less buzz around the winter games and a move toward targeted and digital ad spending are some of the reasons marketers give for the spending cuts, according to the report. The 2014 games generated $1.1 billion in revenue, which included national and local ad sales and other revenue. So far this year, NBC has generated more than $900 million, but that number doesn’t include local sales, and the network is still selling spots, an NBC spokesman told the Journal.
AT&T spent $84 million on TV spots during the 2014 Winter Olympics, and P&G spent $51 million. Both were expected to reduce Olympics ad spending by 30% this year. GM spent $148 million in 2014 and was planning a 10% reduction in spending.

Dive Insight:

Changing consumer habits and an evolving media landscape have many marketers taking a closer look at their TV ad budgets for the Winter Olympics and other big live sporting events. NBC has beefed up its offerings, including new multichannel and targeted options, to attract advertisers, but even with these efforts, it appears that ad spending will diminish compared with the last go around for the games.

How U.S. sports fans watch major sporting events and access the content surrounding the event continues to evolve. More often, they want to watch on their own terms, and that means live streaming or going online to watch interviews, highlights or behind-the-scenes content.

With the multiple big sporting events of the first half of 2018 — the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics and the upcoming FIFA World Cup — marketers have to decide where to direct their ad dollars and a number, including Visa, Head & Shoulders and Cheetos are choosing digital or multichannel campaigns that better reach consumers across different touch points. Digital ad spend reached $40.1 billion in the first half of 2017, an all-time high and a 22.6% increase year over year, per a report by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC.

As the past few Olympics have had disappointing ratings, NBC Olympics, part of the NBC Sports Group, is partnering with advanced TV provider BrightLine to offer interactive video ads that enhance viewers’ experiences across platforms. It is also expanding its partnership with Snapchat to live stream Olympics moments and offer Olympics-themed filters, stickers and augmented reality lenses. NBC is also selling 6-second Snapchat ads during the Olympics.

NBC, the U.S. Olympics rights holder until 2032, has asked advertisers to buy multimillion-dollar Olympics ad packages, according to the Journal. Thirty-second spots in prime Olympic spots can cost around $700,000 to $750,000. NBC had previously projected Winter Olympics ad revenue to reach $935 million. The network has also changed its ratings guarantee for TV advertisers from a household guarantee to a metric average of viewers age 2 and up to take into account the growth in digital TV viewership. NBC is giving advertisers results via its in-house Total Audience Delivery measurement.