Packaged goods are typically the biggest spenders in advertising. Not only is a CPG company’s brand and product mix massive, but the competitive threats from e-commerce and direct-to-consumer brands are significant and growing. The competition has taken a toll. In the last two years, CPG sales have declined. As a result, marketers are spending billions on advertising to safeguard their market share and stay top-of-mind among consumers.

For publishers, however, the competitive marketing environment has created a substantial revenue growth opportunity. CPGs are notorious TV spenders, but they also spend considerably on print and online. For publishers to compete for those dollars, it’s important for them to know these CPGs as well as possible.

CPG Ad Intelligence

With that in mind, here’s an advertising-intelligence snapshot of three of the biggest CPG advertisers – according to annual revenue from 2018 – based on MediaRadar data.

Nestle SA – Nestle is the top CPG by revenue, with nearly $90 billion on the year. But it only grew by 0.4%. Still, in North America, the brand spends nearly $640 million on ads. According to our data, Nestle invests in premium ad units, and it advertised on over 250 different media properties in the last year across multiple formats. For publishers, this could mean opportunities with digital video, native and other premium formats. Nestle launched and advertised 90 new products in the past 12 months. There are nearly 125 people on file in marketing roles at Nestle, as well as over 50at their agencies. This offers a lot of targets for publishers.

Procter & Gamble – P&G’s sales declined in 2018, down nearly half a percentage point. Still, the company brought in more than $65 billion in sales. The company’s marketing budget has been slashed by hundreds of millions in certain areas in an effort to adapt to the sales outlook with cuts of $200 million alone in digital). Still, even with a contraction, the company is one of the world’s most prolific marketers, pouring more than $7 billion in advertising globally. Like Nestle, our data finds that P&G invests in premium ad units on over more than 250 properties. They launched slightly fewer products, though, with “just” 83 in the last year. P&G’s marketing team is comparable to Nestle’s, with over 125 people in marketing roles, according to our data. We’ve also identified nearly 130 agency people who work on P&G business. Perhaps that speaks to chief brand officer Marc Pritchard’s push for agency streamlining and transparency.

PepsiCo – PepsiCo beat out Unilever in sales with $63 billion total on the year. The company is one of the few CPGs to see some sales growth, with an uplift of 1.2%. Everything from Frito-Lay snacks to its beverage portfolio have helped the company rise above some of the stagnation experienced by its peers. In terms of where PepsiCo is advertising, the numbers were fairly similar to those for Nestle and P&G. All three prefer high-impact inventory and spend on hundreds of media channels. But PepsiCo only launched and advertised 17 new products in the past 12 months. That seemed to benefit their sales (a more focused approach, possibly). However, it likely doesn’t help publishers who would benefit from the company’s need to promote more new products. Additionally, PepsiCo has the smallest overall marketing team, with almost 100 people on file in marketing roles and over 50 at their agencies.

As CPGs come under threat, they will consolidate some of their marketing spend. However, overall, these companies continue to be massive sources of revenue for publishers. A careful analysis of their growth and marketing strategies – investing in premium formats, new product launches and more – can help publishers unlock more value from existing relationships or even build new ones.