Julia Faria
Research lead covering advertising and marketing
CPG industry advertising in the U.S. - statistics & facts
Consumer packaged goods (CPG) advertising is a marketing sector promoting perishable consumer goods such as food, beverages, or household products. As consumers regularly use and replenish these items, the CPG industry has become highly competitive, with numerous brands and companies campaigning for shelf space and consumer dollars. In the United States, CPG brands of various sectors, sizes, and price tiers have increased marketing spending in recent years. According to a survey conducted among U.S. marketing professionals, roughly 23 percent of CPG companies’ budgets were devoted to marketing efforts in early 2023, the highest share of ad expenditures among U.S. industries. But while market leaders such as PepsiCo and L’Oréal continue to invest billions of dollars in marketing campaigns each year, they must now adapt to fundamental shifts in consumer behavior.
CPG advertising trends
The consumer packaged goods industry encompasses food, personal care, household supplies, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. In 2022, the U.S. CPG sector spent 8.5 billion U.S. dollars to advertise its products in the country. Television accounted for the largest share of the total media spend, closely followed by digital channels. CPG brands have been rapidly embracing online ad formats and leveraging technology to keep up with consumer behavior and expectations changes. For instance, retail media networks accounted for nearly a fifth of U.S. CPG brands' digital ad spend in 2022. As the ad format skyrockets, over 60 percent of CPG executives planned to increase spending on retail media in 2023.Which CPG brands spend the most on advertising?
CPG companies are among the most prominent advertising spenders in the United States. While consumer demand for overall CPG products remains largely consistent, the high market saturation makes the sector a highly competitive battleground for brands across various categories. According to the latest data, L’Oréal Paris remained the leading personal care brand in the U.S. in terms of ad spend, with its parent company L’Oréal investing more than 203 million U.S. dollars in promotion. In the household products category, brands owned by Procter & Gamble unsurprisingly boasted the most significant advertising expenditures. P&G has been the world’s largest consumer goods company for several decades, not least because of its multi-billion-dollar advertising campaigns.
