HSBC: +20%
HSBC's ad and marketing budget for online venues such as Google and Yahoo! shot up in 2004 and again in 2005. "Banking is one of the activities best suited to the Internet," says Peter Stringham, HSBC's global head of marketing and advertising. "The percent of our own customers who are dealing with us on the Internet has gone up astronomically in the last two years, particularly in developed markets. That means you have to shift your marketing. If that's where your customers are, you have to follow them."