Earned & PaidAbbVie
AbbVie spent $2.10B on advertising and marketing in fiscal 2025, up 0.0% on the year before and +91% since 2019. That's 3.4% of revenue, more than in 2019: leaning in.
Marketing spend by year
Bars: advertising and marketing expense, $B (10-K). Line: spend as a share of revenue.
What the 10-K says about marketing
- cutting spend “In the third quarter of 2025, the company made a decision to discontinue development and commercialization of Resonic, a rapid acoustic pulse device for long-term improvement in the appearance of cellulite. The company also made a decision to reduce current sales and marketing…” 10-K, Feb 20, 2026
- cutting spend “In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company made a decision to reduce current sales and marketing investment related to both CoolSculpting, a body contouring technology for aesthetic nonsurgical fat reduction, and Liletta, an on-market women’s health product. Each of these…” 10-K, Feb 20, 2026
Say vs do
AbbVie's management has talked about its marketing budget, but in ways annual filings can't check: one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix.
What they said
“In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company made a decision to reduce current sales and marketing investment related to both CoolSculpting, a body contouring technology for aesthetic nonsurgical fat reduction, and Liletta, an on-market women’s health product.”
The FY2025 10-K, Feb 20, 2026 · 10-K
Can't tell from annual filings It's about part of the business; filings report one company-wide number.
What they did
| Year | Marketing spend | Change | Share of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | $2.10B | 0.0% | 3.4% |
| FY2024 | $2.10B | -4.5% | 3.7% |
| FY2023 | $2.20B | +10.0% | 4.0% |
| FY2022 | $2.00B | -4.8% | 3.5% |
| FY2021 | $2.10B | +16.7% | 3.7% |
| FY2020 | $1.80B | +63.6% | 3.9% |
Against its peers. Compared with the 3 other Pharma advertisers we track (Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly): since 2019 its marketing spend went +91% (peer median +17%); its share of revenue moved +0.1 pts (median -1.0); last year 0.0% (median +107.1%).
How we check: a statement gets a verdict only when it's clearly about the size of the whole company's marketing budget over a full fiscal year; we compare it with the advertising and marketing expense in that year's 10-K. Statements about one quarter, one brand or channel, or the mix between brand and performance can't be checked against annual filings.
What they say about media
The marketing channels it talks about using for itself on earnings calls and in its 10-Ks and 10-Qs, since 2019; counts are statements, not spending.
- Creative campaigns “We expect to further catalyze growth with new promotional programs for Botox, including the Only You campaign that was launched over the last several months, with encouraging early results.” Jeffrey Stewart on the earnings call · Feb 4, 2026 · source
- CRM, loyalty & first-party data “Our commercial team is executing at a high level with targeted promotion and enhanced digital services, including our Alle loyalty program driving strong market share performance across our major brands.” Rick Gonzalez on the earnings call · Apr 30, 2022 · source
- Paid social “But even in social media so they didn't -- and typically what we do with brands when we want to drive a maximum speed of market penetration is we invest at a steady-state and continue to do that for an extended period of time.” Rick Gonzalez on the earnings call · Oct 31, 2020 · source
- Organic social & content “Meaning, it has a social media aspect to it that allows them to be able to access accurate information about ORILISSA and the benefits of it and the appropriate use of it.” Richard A. Gonzalez on the earnings call · Feb 7, 2020 · source
In the news
- Skyrizi holds pharma TV lead in August, while Colgate tops YouTube rankings Medical Marketing and Media · Sep 28, 2026 · measurement