Weekly Spots

POSTED: January 16, 2012

(White Plains, NY) January 16, 2012 – According to Arbitron, Bakersfield, California is the 77th radio market with a population of 616,700. Two years ago it was the 75th largest market.

• In 1869, the town was named Bakersfield in honor of Colonel Thomas Baker who came to California during the Gold Rush.

• In the summer of 1952, Bakersfield suffered through two earthquakes and many aftershocks. The earthquakes measured 7.3 and 5.8. Four people died.

• Bakersfield has diverse cultures and events. They host horse shows all year round ranging from local to 4H to breed shows.

• Country Music has been part of Bakersfield history: local musicians such as Bill Woods, Tommy Collins, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and Wynn Stewart developed a streamlined country music style called the Bakersfield sound, which emphasized pedal steel guitar, the Fender Telecaster electric guitar and intense vocals.

• The professional sports teams in Bakersfield include: Bakersfield Blaze (baseball), Condors (hockey), Jam (basketball) and Brigade (PDL Soccer).

• Schools of higher learning: Bakersfield College, California State University, Bakersfield and the Santa Barbara Business College.

• Some famous people from Bakersfield: NBA’s Lonnie Shelton, NFL’s Brock Marion, MLB’s Todd Walker, heavy rock band KORN and though he was not born in Bakersfield, spent most of his life there, Buck Owens. In his honor they named a street after him.

BAKERSFIELD SPOT TEN

The #1 radio advertiser in Bakersfield last week was GEICO with 655 spots. The BAKERSFIELD CONDORS (hockey) were #2 with 424 spots, while RITE AID clocked in at #3 airing 418 announcements. MCDONALD’S secured #4 running 394 commercials and SAM’S CLUB found #5 with 272 ads. TOYOTA raced from #77 to #6 with 258 spots, while REGIONALHELPWANTED.COM was #7 with 248 spots. ALBERTSONS moved from #13 to #8 last week with 237 commercials and MONSTER X TOUR leaped from #59 to #9 with 233 ads. And coming in #10 was the UNVERSITY OF PHOENIX airing 224 spots.

FINANCIAL PRODUCTS & SERVICES SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

Coming in #1 in this category was radio veteran JOHN CUMMUTA with his WEALTH BUILDING PROGRAM running 6,616 spots. FREEDOM DEBT RELIEF was #2 with 5,216 spots followed by CONSOLIDATED CREDIT COUNSELING with 2,323 spots. At #4 was SUPERSONICPAYDAY with 1,703 spots, while DOLLAR LOAN CENTER held steady at #5 with 1,308 announcements. CHECK INTO CASH checked into #6 with 1,158 spots and RICH DAD inherited #7 with 1,095 commercials. PEACHTREE FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS was #8 with 1,039 spots, while 888PAYDAY.COM secured #8 with 973 spots. Coming in #10 was THE LAMPO GROUP clearing 785 spots.

NATIONAL SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

GEICO stays #1 with 54,054 spots. THE HOME DEPOT moved from #6 to #2 with 33,524 commercials, while SAM’S CLUB explodes from #59 to #3 with 29,488 ads. SEARS moved from #20 to #4 with 26,195 spots and RITE AID declined from #2 to #5 with 26,024 spots.

Posted: January 17, 2012

Nationwide Insurance has historic roots. Over the last 80 years, Nationwide has grown from a small mutual auto insurer owned by policyholders to one of the largest insurance and financial services companies in the world, with more than $135 billion in assets.

In 1925, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation incorporated the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company with the goal of providing quality auto insurance at low rates for farmers in Ohio.

With help from locally based sponsoring organizations in 1928, Farm Bureau Mutual expanded into other states. These included West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Vermont and North Carolina. By 1934, they started insuring motorists in metropolitan areas and, through the purchase of a fire insurance company, began writing property insurance policies.

Between 1943 and 1955, the Farm Bureau Mutual expanded operations until it became clear that they had far outgrown their original goals and their name. So, with a western expansion that included 20 additional states, the company changed its name to Nationwide Insurance®.

In 1982, Nationwide acquired a 100-year-old company and America's leading farm insurer Farmland Insurance, which is now Nationwide Agribusiness Insurance. In 1997 Nationwide Financial® went public, but in 2009 Nationwide Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (Nationwide), purchased all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Nationwide Financial Services (NFS) it did not already own; NFS became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nationwide.

Some sources claim they produce more than $20 billion in yearly revenues. According to their recent press release in the first nine months of 2011, Nationwide paid more than $10.1 billion to its customers and business partners in the form of property & casualty claims, life insurance and other benefits. Nationwide ended the third quarter with total assets of $149.6 billion, compared to $148.7 billion at the end of last year.

On Cable, Nationwide ran 608,546 spots in the last 12 months. Their hottest month was June with 60,098 ads cleared. Out of the three media, Cable lead the way with 89.38% of all spots run.

On the Radio, Nationwide ran the least number of spots out of the three media. They ran 33,242 spots on radio in the last 12 months with the most in August at 5,056 ads.

On TV, Nationwide ran 39,085 spots with May outscoring the other months with 5,994 ads run.

POSTED: January 17, 2012

General Mills (NYSE: GIS) traces its roots to the banks of the Mississippi River in what is now Minneapolis. Harnessing the power of St. Anthony Falls, Cadwallader Washburn built one of the leading milling companies in the world. John Crosby eventually became his partner, forming the Washburn Crosby Company.

When the Minnesota Valley Canning Company named its new, extra-large green pea variety "Green Giant," no one dreamed that one day it would become the company's name. Today, the Green Giant and his helper, Sprout, still live happily in their valley growing vegetables picked at the peak of freshness. Green Giant has been part of General Mills since 2001.

The mascot, Betty Crocker began as a pen name in 1921 to answer cooking-related questions that were sent to the Washburn Crosby Company, the predecessor of General Mills. This advertising icon has grown to become one of the more recognizable brands in the grocery store.

Wheaties cereal was discovered by accident. A health clinician spilled bran gruel on a hot stove. The mixture crackled and sizzled into a crisp flake, and it tasted great. The clinician brought the idea to the Washburn Crosby Company in 1924, launching the cereal that later became The Breakfast of Champions. The choice of an athlete to appear on the box is not only an honor, but one that comes with certain role model expectations by General Mills.

In 1928, Washburn Crosby merged with other regional millers to become General Mills.

General Mills became the sponsor of the popular radio show The Lone Ranger in 1941. The show was then brought to television, and, after 20 years, their long-term sponsorship came to an end in 1961.

In 1970, General Mills acquired a five-unit restaurant chain called Red Lobster and expanded it nationwide. From this sprung a division called General Mills Restaurants which took charge of the Red Lobster chain. In 1982, General Mills Restaurants founded a new Italian-themed restaurant chain called Olive Garden.

In 2001, General Mills Inc. acquired Pillsbury. Giggling his way to spokes character superstardom, Poppin' Fresh, the Pillsbury Doughboy, first introduced himself to TV viewers across the nation in 1965. The Pillsbury Doughboy has become one of corporate America’s most popular advertising icons.

In their annual report, General Mills showed revenues of $14.88 billion, producing a net income of $1.8 billion, which was .6% increase in sales for 2011. They have 35,000 employees.

Campbell Soup Company (NYSE: CPB), also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. Headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, Campbell's divides itself into three divisions: the simple meals division, which consists largely of soups both condensed and ready-to-serve, the baked snacks division, which consists of Pepperidge Farm, and the health beverage division, which includes V8 juices.

The company was started in 1869 by Joseph A. Campbell, a fruit merchant, and Abraham Anderson, an icebox manufacturer. They produced canned tomatoes, vegetables, jellies, soups, condiments, and minced meats.

In 1897, John T. Dorrance, a nephew of the general manager Arthur Dorrance, began working for the company. Dorrance was a chemist with degrees from MIT and Göttingen University, Germany and figured out a method for condensing soup by halving the quantity of its heaviest ingredient: water. He went on to become president of the company from 1914 to 1930, eventually buying out the Campbell family.

In 1898, Herberton Williams, a Campbell's executive, convinced the company to adopt a cherry red and bright white color scheme, because he was taken by the crisp colors of the Cornell University football team's uniforms. To this day, the layout of the can, with its red and white design and the metallic gold medal seal from the 1900 Paris Exhibition, has changed very little, with the exception of the French phrase changed to English: "Paris International Exposition".

Campbell Soup became one of the largest food companies in the world under the leadership of William Beverly Murphy. While at Campbell's Soup Company, he took the corporation public and increased its brand portfolio to include Pepperidge Farm's breads, cookies, and crackers, Franco-American's gravies and pastas, V8 vegetable juices, Swanson broths, and Godiva's chocolates.

According to their annual report Campbell’s produced revenues of $7.72 billion with a net income of $796 million, which represented .6% growth in 2011. They have 17,500 employees.

These two powerhouses in the food business use all three media a lot. General Mills ran 1,483,493 spots on Cable in the last 12 months compared to Campbell’s that ran 895,861 spots. The biggest month for General Mills was October with 191,815 spots, while Campbell’s ran hottest in the cold month of February with 125,416 ads.

On Radio Campbell’s beats General Mills. Campbell’s ran 82,133 spots in the last 12 months, with General Mills racking up 59,498 spots, which was 72.44% of what Campbell’s ran. Campbell’s biggest month was February with 22,326 ads, while General Mills biggest month was October 2011 with 19,419 spots.

On TV, General Mills is totally dominated with 1,934,737 spots. Campbell’s ran 347,305 spots in the last 12 months. General Mills ran the most in October at 247,172 spots against Campbell’s biggest month in the same month with 63,901 ads.

Posted: January 17, 2012

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