Supermarkets lift ad spend on the celebrities

The UK's supermarket chains dramatically increased their advertising budgets in 2007, according to figures compiled by Nielsen Media Research.

 Morrison's increased its advertising spend by £18 million,
or 61%, hiring celebrities including Lulu, Alan Hansen and Denise Van Outen.

Morrison's advertising spend from January to November 2007
was £46.5m, up from £28.8m in the same period last year.

Tesco increased its advertising spend by almost £4m to
£71.2m, hiring the Spice Girls for its Christmas campaign. The action was
succesful, sales of Christmas beef are up 110% at Tesco, thanks partly to the
endorsement of the Spice Girl's Mel C (Sporty Spice) in the supermarket's TV ad
campaign.

Marks & Spencer's spend decreased by £3m to £60.4m,
despite adding actor Antonio Banderas to its celebrity roster. Asda increased its budget from £39.5m to £44.9m. Sainsbury's Jamie Oliver-led campaign increased spending
from £50.6m to £53.5m.