The biggest spenders in advertising are the big cell phone companies. So says Advertising Age, which worries about such things for a living. Ranked by "total U.S. Advertising spending in 2007", AT&T came in first, spending $3.2 billion, second only to Procter & Gamble. Verizon Communications came in a close second, at $3.0 billion, and Sprint Nextel held down the Number 11 spot at $1.9 billion.
T-Mobile USA spent a mere $606 million. Further down Ad Age's list - way further - was Microsoft at $959.5 million, and Apple, $491.8 million. The data for the "Top 100" are here, and there's a convenient summary of the wireless cellular-related numbers, along with some flashy color charts, at RCR Wireless. RCR's data differ from the original source, which is Advertising Age, because they've concentrated on wireless.
I noticed Palm isn't in the big spenders for advertising. Many of its competitors are - even Sprint, which like Palm is losing money. I got the picture from one of Sprint's animated ads. It's on YouTube, but I never saw it on the cable channels I watch.
