The ad-to-sales ratio of America's biggest advertisers is drifting down — except in consumer goods. A new WARC Media report shows CPG companies leaning harder into advertising while tech platforms spend a shrinking share of revenue, a split WARC calls a “two-speed marketplace.”
WARC attributes the overall decline to platforms such as Google, Meta and Netflix that “own consumer attention instead of renting it.”
WARC examined PepsiCo, The Coca-Cola Company, The Estée Lauder Companies, L'Oréal, Nike and Procter & Gamble. All except PepsiCo increased their ad-to-sales ratio between 2019 and 2025, as brands fought post-pandemic inflation and price-sensitive shoppers.
Part of the increase is accounting. Money that used to sit in shopper and trade budgets is now booked as retail media advertising, pushing reported ad spend higher as brands chase precision targeting.
WARC stresses that brands are not abandoning advertising. It forecasts global ad spend to grow 11.9% to $1.34 trillion this year. Spending simply hasn't kept pace with revenue at many large companies.
“The expansion of digital platform spend by smaller businesses and cross-border e-commerce sellers is by far outpacing growth in ad investment by big brands,” said Alex Brownsell, head of content at WARC Media. Outside tech and CPG the picture is mixed: Walmart, Starbucks and Expedia raised their ratios, while Visa and Mastercard lowered theirs.
CPG leaders increased advertising intensity precisely when demand softened. For a similar budget reset, see Campbell’s Moves 85% of Working Media to Social, Influencers, Commerce and AI Platforms.
Whether trade dollars moved into retail media count as ad spend can swing your ratio significantly. Align definitions before benchmarking. To connect retail media to actual purchases, read How to Read Retail Media Co-op Ad Reports.
It measures how much a company spends on advertising relative to its revenue. Among 25 major U.S. advertisers, WARC found it averaged 5.5% last year.
They used advertising to defend market share during softer demand, and trade and shopper budgets shifted into retail media, which is counted as advertising.
No. WARC forecasts global ad spend to grow 11.9% to $1.34 trillion this year; ad budgets at many big brands just aren't growing as fast as revenue.
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