It may be cold outside, but TV is hot. Just grab the remote to find everything you need to soothe the aches and pains, sniffles and sneezes of cold and flu season. Total spending in this category more than doubled between 2002 and 2005, with all but about 10% each year put into TV.
Annual National Advertising Spend – Q4 – Cold and flu season
| Q4 2002 | Q4 2003 | Q4 2004 | Q4 2005 | |
| Analgesic lotions, rubs, creams | $74,130 | 314,725 | 791,028 | 4,543,817 |
| Analgesic tablets, gum, throat sprays | $3,541,579 | 4,842,918 | 9,578,188 | 6,269,516 |
| Cold, allergy, congestion remedies | $5,630,221 | 7,154,800 | 9,160,434 | 11,689,440 |
| Cough drops, lozenges & capsules | $1,730,248 | 946,526 | 1,774,029 | 2,230,647 |
| Cough syrup | $2,547,690 | 3,497,958 | 3,193,228 | 3,717,853 |
| Total | $13,523,868 | 16,756,927 | 24,496,907 | 28,451,273 |
National Q4 Total Spend by Medium
2002
| Dailies: | $29,918 | (0.2%) |
| Magazines: | $179,297 | (1.4%) |
| Out of Home: | $159,870 | (1.2%) |
| Radio: | $431,962 | (3.3%) |
| Total TV: | $12,155,682 | (93.8%) |
2003
| Dailies | $116,983 | (20.9%) |
| Magazines: | $407,805 | (3.0%) |
| Out of Home: | $750,608 | (5.6%) |
| Radio: | $225,450 | (1.7%) |
| Total TV: | $12,023,022 | (88.9%) |
2004
| Dailies | $84,228 | (0.5%) |
| Magazines: | $342,117 | (2.0%) |
| Out of Home: | $568,294 | (3.4%) |
| Radio: | $139,010 | (0.8%) |
| Total TV: | $15,623,278 | (93.2%) |
2005
| Dailies | $597,468 | (2.4%) |
| Magazines: | $1,567,570 | (6.4%) |
| Out of Home: | $248,893 | (1.0%) |
| Radio: | $278,069 | (1.1%) |
| Total TV: | $21,804,907 | (89.0%) |
National Q4 2005 – Top 5 Spenders, Cold and flu season
1) HPI Health Products – Lakota Joint Care Roll-on Topical Pain Reliever – (Analgesic lotions, rubs, cream, patches)
2) Johnson & Johnson – Tylenol Cold Severe Congestion Tablets – (Cold, allergy, congestion remedies)
3) Pfizer Inc. – Benylin 1 All in One Cough & Cold Syrup – (Cough syrup)
4) Wyeth – Dimetapp Cold & Allergy Elixer Childrens – (Cold, allergy, congestion remedies)
5) Wyeth – Advil Liquid Gels for Pain Relief – (Analgesic tablets, gun, throat sprays)
Data courtesy of Nielsen Media Research, AdExpenditures. For more information, contact: andrea.beach@nielsenmedia.com.
