Proctor and Gamble (P&G) is the world’s largest advertiser, and according to Ad Age’s Global Marketing Report earned that title by spending $1-million an hour making sure we knew who to turn to for teeth that sparkle and outdoors fresh laundry. To the tune of around $8.5 billion in ’06, nearly twice that of closest competitor Unilever. And that’s a lot of toothpaste and detergent.

The short take is that P&G wrote the book on knowing the product, knowing the market and supporting the message to reach the desired result.