Weekly Spots

POSTED: October 15, 2012

(White Plains, NY) October 15, 2012 – According to Arbitron, Memphis, TN is the 51st largest radio market with a population of 1,112,400. Two years ago, they were the 49th radio market.

• Memphis is probably known best as the home of Graceland, the home of the late "king of rock 'n' roll", Elvis Presley, where more than 600,000 visitors come each year.

• Memphis was founded in 1820 and was named after the ancient capital of Egypt on the Nile River. The cotton economy of the antebellum South depended on the forced labor of large numbers of African-American slaves, and Memphis became a major slave market.

• Tennessee seceded from the Union in June 1861 and Memphis briefly became a Confederate stronghold. Union forces captured Memphis in the Battle of Memphis on June 6, 1862, and the city remained under Union control for the duration of the war.

• Memphis grew into the world's largest spot cotton market and the world's largest hardwood lumber market. And today, Memphis serves as the major hub and distribution center for FedEx.

• During the 1960s the city was at the center of civil rights issues, notably the location of a sanitation workers' strike. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

• "Memphis Soul sound" as it was known was primarily the product of Stax Records founded in 1957. Along with Stax, many notable blues musicians grew up in and around the Memphis and northern Mississippi area. Memphis musicians include: Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Aretha Franklin, Booker T. Jones, Justin Timberlake and Maurice White.

• In sports, Memphis is home to several professional sports teams: Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association; Memphis Redbirds of the Pacific Coast League, a Triple A baseball farm team for the St. Louis Cardinals; Mississippi River Kings, a professional hockey team of the Central Hockey League; and the Memphis Panthers, a football team that plays in the North American Football League.

• Famous people from Memphis: actors, Kathy Bates, Dixie Carter, Morgan Freeman, Fred Thompson and George Hamilton; from sports, NBA's Penny Hardaway and MLB's Tim McCarver.

MEMPHIS SPOT TEN

The #1 radio advertiser in Memphis last week was the law firm MORGAN & MORGAN with 689 spots. KROGER was a solid #2 with 558 ads, while HOMER SKELTON FORD drove into #3 with 430 commercials. GEICO held down the fort at #4 running 422 spots and THE HOME DEPOT increased from #12 to #5 with 370 spots. The DISH NETWORK was #6 airing 365 announcements, while O’REILLY AUTO PARTS parked at #7 with 356 spots. TENNESSEE LOTTERY landed at #8 with 313 ads and WOLFCHASE CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP jumped from #15 to #9 with 306 spots. And coming back up from #19 to #10 was IHEARTRADIO with 282 spots.

INSURANCE PROVIDERS SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

Well, it isn’t any surprise to those who read this page every week that the #1 insurance company on the radio last week was once again GEICO. They ran 45,440 spots. Coming in #2 was NATIONWIDE with 15,143 ads, while STATE FARM was #3 airing 9,589 spots. PROGRESSIVE remained at #4 clearing 6,360 spots and KAISER PERMANENTE stayed at #5 running 4,429 commercials. SAFEAUTO INSURANCE COMPANY captured #6 with 4,231 spots, while AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE claimed #7 with 3,764 spots. SELECTQUOTE INSURANCE SERVICES secured #8 with 3,609 spots and ALLSTATE took #9 with 3,154 ads. And at #10 was ANTHEM airing 2,805 spots.

NATIONAL SPOT TEN

NATIONAL STATISTICS -

It was GEICO staying on top last week with 45,440 commercials. THE HOME DEPOT keeps #2 with their 38,851 ads, while O”REILLY AUTO PARTS repeats at #3 airing 26,146 spots. MCDONALD’S was #4 with 23,962 spots and new to the top five, WELLS FARGO at #5 with 18,385 spots.

Posted: October 15, 2012

McNeil Consumer Healthcare is a pharmaceutical company. The company was founded on March 16, 1879 by 23-year-old Robert McNeil, who paid $167 for a drugstore complete with fixtures, inventory and soda fountain, as a retail pharmacy, in the Kensington section of Philadelphia. Robert McNeil was a graduate of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (University of the Sciences in Philadelphia).

In 1904, one of McNeil's sons, Robert Lincoln McNeil joined the company and together they created McNeil Laboratories in 1933. The company focused on direct marketing of prescription drugs to hospitals, pharmacists, and doctors. Development of acetaminophen began under the leadership of Robert L. McNeil, Jr., who later served as the firm's chairman.

In 1953 McNeil Laboratories introduced Algoson, a preparation containing acetaminophen together with sodium butabarbital, a sedative. In 1955, McNeil Laboratories introduced Tylenol Elixir for children, containing only acetaminophen.

In 1959, Johnson & Johnson acquired McNeil Laboratories and a year later the company was able to sell Tylenol over-the-counter.

In 1961 the company moved into its Fort Washington, Pennsylvania headquarters. Along with its Fort Washington plant, McNeil also has plants worldwide.

In 1977, two companies were created: McNeil Pharmaceutical and McNeil Consumer Products Company or McNeil Consumer Healthcare. The focus of McNeil Pharmaceutical is to market prescription drugs only, while McNeil Consumer Healthcare markets over-the-counter and prescription pharmaceuticals including TYLENOL® acetaminophen products, the leading brand of pain reliever/fever reducer in the adult and pediatric categories. Other McNeil brands include BENADRYL®, ZYRTEC® and ZYRTEC-D® allergy medicines; IMODIUM® anti-diarrheal products; MOTRIN® IB; SUDAFED® and SUDAFED PE® nasal decongestants.

According to their annual report, McNeil’s parent company Johnson & Johnson had gross sales of $24.4 billion in pharmaceuticals, $25.8 billion in medical devices and diagnostics and $14.9 billion in sales for their consumer business segment. That brings the 2011 revenue number to $65.1 billion, with net earnings at $9.67 billion. The company has approximately 117,900 employees worldwide.

McNeil Healthcare ran 550,794 spots on Local Cable in the last 12 months. There biggest month was September 2012 when they ran 60,998 spots.

On the Radio, McNeil only ran 13,405 spots in the last 12 months with their biggest month being April 2012 when they cleared 4,117 ads.

On Broadcast TV McNeil Healthcare ran 414,074 spots in the last 12 months. Their hottest month was last April 2012 when they aired 51,532 spots.

POSTED: October 15, 2012

The IKEA story began in 1926 when founder Ingvar Kamprad was born in Småland in southern Sweden. He was raised on 'Elmtaryd', a farm near the small village of Agunnaryd. Even as a young boy Ingvar knew he wanted to develop a business. At the age of five Ingvar Kamprad sold matches to his nearby neighbors and by the time he was seven, he started using his bicycle to increase his selling territory.

The name IKEA was formed from the founder's initials (I.K.) plus the first letters of Elmtaryd and Agunnaryd, the farm and village where he grew up. IKEA originally sold pens, wallets, picture frames, table runners, watches, jewelry and nylon stockings—whatever Ingvar found a need for that he could fill with a product at a reduced price.

When Ingvar Kamprad outgrew his ability to make individual sales calls, he began advertising in local newspapers and operating a makeshift mail order catalog.

In 1947, furniture was introduced into their offerings and in 1951; the first IKEA furniture catalogue was published. And in 1953, the first brick and mortar IKEA furniture showroom was opened in Älmhult, Sweden. In 1955, IKEA took a big step and began to design its own furniture.

When the new IKEA stores opened, they featured the products POÄNG and BILLY bookcases. In the 1980s, IKEA expanded dramatically into new markets such as the United States, Italy, France and the UK.

In the 1990s, IKEA grew again with their Children's IKEA that focused on home furnishing solutions to meet the needs of families with children. The IKEA Group was formed and added a corporate responsibility for the environment.

In 2009, IKEA broke from tradition of this privately owned company and opened their books to the public for the first time.

In 2011 they continued to expand with the opening of 7 new stores, bringing the total to 287. In 2011, the IKEA Group stores had 655 million visits.

Sales grew in almost all countries with their biggest gains in Russia, China and Poland. Sales increased by 6.9% with revenues of EUR 24.7 billion, with net revenue of EUR 2.96 billion ($3.82 billion). They have 131,000 employees.

Ashley Furniture's Worldwide Headquarters in Arcadia, Wisconsin continues to be the core manufacturing and distribution center for the Ashley Companies.

Founded by Carlyle Weinberger in 1945, the company started as a sales organization with branches in Chicago and Goshen, Indiana.

In 1970, Ashley invested in the Wisconsin-based Arcadia Furniture. The Wisconsin factory encompassed 35,000 square feet and had 35 employees. At first the two companies maintained their separate identities, with Arcadia focusing on production and Ashley on sales. But they eventually merged.

By 1982, the merged company's annual sales reached $12 million and it had moved its corporate headquarters from Chicago to Arcadia. By the mid-1980s, Ashley offered a line of roughly 350 different furniture products, and had turned its design and manufacturing away from "heirloom pieces" toward products aimed at middle-income buyers.

Ashley Furniture sells home furnishings and accessories available through two distribution channels: independent furniture dealers and more than 400 Ashley Furniture HomeStores which are independently owned and operated by licensees in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and Japan.

They have more than 400 stores and employ 18,000. Several sources report that Ashley Furniture and Ashley Manufacturing, in 2011, created revenues of $3.3 billion.

In the last 12 months, IKEA ran 67.4% as many spots as Ashley Furniture on Local Cable. Ashley cleared 174,428 spots, while IKEA ran 117,976 ads. Ashley’s biggest month was February 2012 when they ran 21,740 spots and IKEA ran hottest in July (14,829) and August (14,832).

On the Radio, IKEA ran 10,564 spots in the last 12 months, while Ashley topped them with 25,351 ads. Ashley ran the most spots in the month of January 2012 with 4,006 and IKEA cleared the most in August 2012 at 2,085.

On Broadcast TV, Ashley won it hands down with 235,547 spots against IKEA’s 85,684 spots in the last 12 months. IKEA ran the most in August of this year with 14,187 ads, while Ashley’s biggest month was the same month August 2012 at 22,509 spots.

Posted: October 15, 2012

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