Report: A big year for restaurant ad spending

The restaurant industry’s ad spending finally slowed in Q3 but it remains ahead of total U.S. advertising growth for the year.

Restaurants spent $1.58 billion on measured-media advertising (excludes Internet advertising, free-standing inserts and public-service ads) during Q3, a 3.6% decrease from the Olympics-inflated $1.64 billion spent during the July-September span in 2012. Total U.S. ad spending also was down for Q3, dipping 1.9% (vs. a year ago) to $34 billion, according to Kantar Media.

Through the first nine months, however, restaurants remain ahead of overall ad-spending growth, having increased 5.5% through September while all U.S. advertising has grown by just 0.7%. So far this year, roughly $1 of every $13 spent in the U.S. on advertising has been spent by restaurants.

Only the telecom and insurance industries have increased ad spending more than restaurants’ 5.5% growth so far this year. The $4.935 billion spent on advertising by restaurants almost matches the $5.019 billion spent through the first three quarters for all food and candy advertising.

Much of the restaurant segment’s gain came during Q2, when the it increased spending by 12.6% while overall ad spending grew just 3.5%.

In the first quarter of 2013, restaurant spending was up 8%, compared with a 0.1% decline in total spending. In 2012, however, restaurant ad spending rose 4%, which was roughly on a par with the 3% gain for total business spending.