Recent bank advertising campaigns (from Bank of America, American Express, Chase, Discover, and Visa) is leading to speculation that banks are once gain increasing bank advertising/marketing spend. However, the latest financial data does not support this contention. Most financial institutions reported year-over-year declines in advertising/marketing spend in 3Q09, and for many of these, the level of the y/y decline in 3Q09 was higher than that reported in 2Q09. An exception was U.S. Bank, which grew ad spending 83% y/y to $137MM.
The following table tracks trends in advertising/marketing spend for some leading U.S. financial institutions:
|
Financial Institution |
3Q09 Advertising/ |
Y/Y Change in 3Q09 |
Y/Y Change in 2Q09 |
|
American Express |
$504 |
–22% |
–47% |
|
Bank of America |
$470 |
–22% |
–13% |
|
JPMorgan Chase |
$440 |
–3% |
+1% |
|
Citi |
$317 |
–36% |
–43% |
|
Visa |
$283 |
-12% |
-15% |
|
Wells Fargo |
$160 |
-2% |
-44% |
|
U.S. Bank |
$137 |
+83% |
+21% |
|
Morgan Stanley |
$126 |
-24% |
-35% |
|
Capital One |
$104 |
-61% |
-53% |
|
Discover |
$78 |
-44% |
-22% |
|
PNC |
$58 |
-21% |
-27% |
|
Key |
$19 |
-30% |
-19% |
|
Huntington |
$7 |
+17% |
+2% |