FMCG ad/sales ratios held during the last recession

An overview of advertising investment and sales revenue for five of the largest FMCG companies between 2007 and 2010.

During the last global recession, FMCG companies cut advertising investment but its share of sales revenue held stable, according to the latest WARC Data analysis.

Sales revenue was down among five of the largest FMCG companies in 2009, though only P&G (-11.7% to $7.52bn) and Coca-Cola (-6.9% to $2.70bn) cut ad investment.

Unilever (4.4% to €5.06bn) and Nestlé (1.9% to CHF35.8bn) both reduced their advertising spend in 2008 while L'Oréal slowed advertising spend growth.

A drop in FMCG sales in 2009 contrasts with today’s downturn – consumers are stockpiling food and drink, and this may lead to a short-term boost...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands