• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, August 3, 2010

Procter & Gamble, the world's largest advertiser, stepped up global ad spending by $1 billion over the 12-month period ending June 30. The bulk was in the last six months, fueled by support for new product innovations and an investment in Olympic-themed marketing in February.

The company sponsored the U.S. team, linked with 16 athletes to back 18 brands and ran its "Proud Sponsor of Moms" campaign on NBC Universal properties. P&G said Tuesday the multi-part program led to an estimated $100 million in incremental sales.

Last week, the company signed on as a worldwide Olympic sponsor through 2020.

For the fiscal year concluding June 30, global ad spend was as much as $8.7 billion, leading to a 20% jump in impressions, the company said. P&G's ad spending was about 10% of sales -- its usual range -- but higher revenues led to the dollar increase.

In the U.S., Kantar Media shows P&G increased ad spending by 17% to $776 million for the first three months of 2010, which included the Vancouver Winter Games.

In addition to the success of its Olympic effort, P&G indicated Tuesday its satisfaction with the "Smell Like a Man, Man" campaign for the Old Spice brand, saying it has accounted for 1.2 billion impressions since February -- and yielded the most-watched sponsored YouTube channel ever. Old Spice has grown to become the top-selling body wash brand in the U.S., the company said.

Ad support behind the Charmin and Bounty brands was apparently effective, with P&G saying each gained share. Charmin's share in the toilet tissue category in the U.S. rose to nearly 29%. Bounty's position in the paper-towel segment increased to 46%-plus.

In the April-June period, global organic sales volume was up 4%. Total sales were up 5% to $18.9 billion.

Profit was down 12% to $2.2 billion, partly due to marketing spending. But with new products and innovations in the Pampers, Pantene, Gillette and other brand arenas, CFO Jon Moeller said: "We would have been crazy to do anything else."

P&G gave no indication that ad support would plateau. It cited a $2 billion investment in R&D over the 12 months ending in July, resulting in the new products and SKUs, which likely will continue to receive support.

Also, CEO Bob McDonald said on the earnings call, P&G will be saving significantly from a company-wide digitization project. "To invest, we must save. We are strengthening our efforts in this area with a culture that continually simplifies the way we work and increases productivity," he said.