The negative trend continues

The Swiss advertising market amounts to CHF 333.0 million gross for “traditional media”, 5.0% down on the previous year. Compared with the previous month (-3.8%), the drop has once again increased noticeably.

The cinema media group was the sole category to escape the negative trend, posting an increase of 33.3 percent compared to the same month in the previous year. Nevertheless, the ranking within the media mix remains unchanged: TV first, followed by print, then out-of-home, radio and cinema.

The traditional advertising market came to CHF 1’193.5 million gross, 4.4 percent lower than the previous year (2024) in a YTD comparison.

In the digital advertising market, while the results for search and display are lower than they were last year, YouTube continues to grow. Nevertheless, search takes the lead with a share of 49.7%, followed by display with 35.9 percent and YouTube with 14.4 percent.

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Advertising pressure in the market as a whole

Advertising pressure development up to April 2025 in CHF million gross.

Retail continues to dominate

A mere 7 out of 21 sectors in the traditional advertising market performed positively, contrary to the general downward trend, in April.

Although retail clearly comes out top in a year-to-date comparison, it was only second in terms of gross advertising pressure in April. Nevertheless, the sector posted a strong increase of 37.9% compared to the same month in the previous year. This month’s ranking was led by the food sector, with an increase of 10.5 %.

Other sectors with significant growth were initiatives & campaigns (+21.6%) and media (+9.6%). Telecommunications (+7.1%), personal care (+4.7%) and digital & household (+4.0%) also performed well.

Downward trend in 14 sectors

More than half of all sectors reported declining results. The services sector performed the strongest, still making it into the top 10 of the ranking – despite a drop of 3.1 percent. This was followed by the finance (-3.8%), construction, industry and furnishings  (-9.2%), events (-11.1%) and leisure, gastronomy and tourism  (-13.5%) sectors.

At the bottom of the table, tobacco and energy posted the largest percentage drops of -42.4 percent and -45.1 percent, respectively.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking for April.

Top advertisers and products

The top advertisers and most advertised products and services (excluding range, image and other advertising) in April.

Media Mix

Media mix for April.

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Advertising pressure in the digital market

Development of advertising pressure up to April 2025 in CHF million gross.

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

Retail occupies the top position in both markets, although the digital market recorded declines both year-to-date and compared to the same month in the previous year.

In the digital market, the leisure, gastronomy and tourism and finance sectors complete the top three. In the traditional market, conversely, initiatives & campaigns and food are the strongest sectors alongside retail.

In both the digital and traditional markets, the construction, industry and furnishings, fashion & sports and pharmaceuticals & health sectors are positioned in the middle of the ranking.

The energy sector brings up the rear in the traditional market, while it is fourth from bottom in the digital market. By contrast, cleaning is last in the digital market but occupies the 17th spot in the traditional market. Tobacco is in penultimate place in both markets.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking for April.

Top digital products

The most advertised products and services (excluding range, image and other advertising) in April.

The wireless carrier spusu.ch took first place in the display sector, while booking.com was top of the search rankings and the Hennes & Mauritz ladies’ clothes was at the top of the YouTube list. spusu.ch has dominated the display ranking since February, while booking.com has held the top position in search since January. TEMU.com was ranked in the bottom half for search and in the top half for YouTube.

Media Mix

Media mix for April.

Contact: mediafocus@mediafocus.ch, Tel.: +41 43 322 27 50