2025 annual summary – the Swiss advertising market

Traditional media in the Swiss advertising market closed 2025 with a gross advertising pressure of CHF 3’930.8 million, down -1.7% from the previous year. The course of the year showed a gradual stabilization: after Q1 (-4.2%) and Q2 (-2.9%), the market in the second half of the year approached the same level as the previous year (Q3 -0.2%, Q4 +0.1%). TV delivered its only positive quarterly momentum (+0.8%) in Q3 (WEURO 2025), while out-of-home sales continued to grow throughout the year (overall: +4.4%).

Broadening our view to include the display delivery statistics, the total advertising pressure (traditional + display delivery statistics) was CHF 4’481.1 million, corresponding to a decrease of -1.4%. The turnaround is more visible at the quarterly level: Q1 -4.9%, Q2 -2.8%, Q3 +0.6%, Q4 +0.9%. Adding YouTube to the mix changes the picture only marginally: traditional + display delivery statistics + YouTube reached CHF 4’688.5 million (likewise -1.4%).

Search rounds off the digital market – and thus the total advertising pressure (traditional & digital) of CHF 6’007.5 million (-2.4%). With regard to search, it is important to note that Google updates led to strong fluctuations in recording in 2025 – especially in the first half of the year – limiting the comparability of gross advertising pressure with the previous year.

The 2025 media mix shows a further shift in favor of out-of-home in the traditional advertising market. Out-of-home advertising increased its share from 25.2% (2024) to 26.8% (2025), an increase of +1.6 percentage points. At the same time, print declined from 32.7% to 31.9% (-0.9 percentage points). As the largest media group, TV remained largely stable, but declined slightly (35.8% → 35.4%, -0.4 percentage points). Radio also declined slightly (5.4% → 5.1%, -0.3 percentage points). Cinema increased slightly (0.8% → 0.9%), confirming its stable position as an attention-grabbing, supplementary medium.

Search remained the clear leader in the digital market at 63.5% (despite volatility in recording). Display accounted for 26.5% of advertising pressure; the channel grew marginally (+0.6% growth). YouTube accounted for 10% of advertising pressure. However, the increase cannot be explained by growth within the measured values (+/- 0%), but by the fact that less search advertising pressure could be measured (see limitations of search measurement in the first half of 2025).

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Retail and FMCG continue to dominate – with some movement away from the top positions

The advertising client rankings remain stable at the top: Coop and Migros retained their positions in first and second place. Coop’s share of advertising (SoA) was 24.0%, slightly below the previous year (-2.5%), while Migros increased its share significantly with 16.2% SoA (+20.9%). Procter & Gamble once again landed in third place (SoA 7.7%), albeit with a decline of -19.0% compared to the previous year. From diapers to razors to toothpaste, P&G significantly reduced its TV advertising pressure across several product segments, which had a noticeable impact on the total volume.

Below the top three, the dynamism of individual advertisers is particularly striking: Denner grew by +20.9% and rose from sixth to fourth place – supported by a strong presence in Migros Magazin and two OOH campaigns, one at the start of the year and one around WEURO in July. Swisscom increased by a huge +54.5%, rising significantly from 12th place. The telecommunications provider noticeably increased advertising pressure in 2025, particularly in OOH, but also in TV and radio. McDonald’s also grew (+7.8%). On the other hand, several brands were under pressure: L’Oréal lost -25.9%, Henkel -18.2%, Beiersdorf -7.2%, Aldi -7.9% and IKEA -6.6%.

The top 20 ranking shows additional movement: with its TV offensive, Nestlé is now in the top 20, climbing straight to 11th place (previous year 23rd), accompanied by very strong growth (+91.7%).

However, Möbel Pfister AG, Swisslos Interkant and Verfora SA are no longer in the top 20. Overall, the ranking shows that retail and FMCG remain the backbone of the traditional advertising market – while at the same time, the top 20 are clearly shaken up every year.

If you ask the advertising market, the essentials for 2025 are quickly revealed: fast food, diapers – and vacations. McDonald’s restaurants and Pampers diapers are once again at the top, closely followed by trivago.ch, bringing dream vacations firmly to third place. And because there still seems to be time for online shopping between the daily grind and leisure time, two e-commerce providers – NZZ Shop and brack.ch – made it into the top 10. The shopping list is complemented by other travel providers (car-tours.ch, Thurgau Travel), a financial flexibility booster (Credit Now personal loan) and Poltronesofa living room furniture – so that your home really feels like home when you return. Ariel All-in-1 Pods round off the list, ensuring that the laundry is quickly sorted after returning from vacation.

Technology and consumer goods dominated the top new products in 2025, with the Apple iPhone 17 Pro leading the list, followed by the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. In addition, there were strong innovations from the FMCG and beauty sectors – from Ariel with Lenor Unstoppable and the Nivea Cellular Epigenetics Serum to Schwarzkopf Creme Supreme Coloration. A health product is also represented in the form of Vicks Angimed lozenges, while Bilz Stellare 0,0, Super Bock Unfiltered and Birra Moretti Sale di Mare show that new drinks – especially non-alcoholic alternatives – have been visibly promoted. The service innovation Swisscom Blue Security + Service rounds off the top 10 and addresses the growing need for cybersecurity in times of phishing and malware.

In the area of display, retail continues to set the pace: with Coop, Migros, Aldi, Lidl and now Denner, five retailers are in the top 10. Behind them, the list is much broader: VW brings vehicle power to the rankings, and Spusu, a (price) challenger from the telecommunications sector, also made it into the top 10. With UBS and Bitpanda, both an established financial giant and a fintech company are represented in the top 10. Philip Morris completes the rankings and makes it clear that digital channels are particularly attractive for heavily regulated categories – also due to the stricter restrictions in traditional media – to build reach and target specific audiences.

On YouTube, a mix of entertainment and strong consumer goods brands are at the top: Nintendo leads the ranking, followed by Beiersdorf and PepsiCo. With Coop in fourth place, a retailer is once again prominently represented, while The Walt Disney Company reinforced the entertainment presence in the top 10. This shows how broadly YouTube is used as a brand platform. Philip Morris enters the ranking in sixth place, Ferrero follows in seventh and international e-commerce giant Temu is forced to settle for eighth place (previous year: fourth place). McDonald’s (ninth place) and L’Oréal (10th place) round off the top 10.
The comparison with TV is fascinating. Only three of the top 10 YouTube advertisers are also in the top 10 in TV: Coop ranked fifth, Ferrero ranked third and McDonald’s ranked eighth. Beiersdorf (11) and L’Oréal (12) narrowly fell short of the top 10. Others, such as the rankings leader Nintendo (48th place), Pepsi (60th place) and Disney (186th place) are much less visible in TV. And still others – namely, Temu and Philip Morris – do not appear in TV at all. In the case of tobacco, this is consistent with the legal situation. 

When you look at the top 10 search advertisers, you might think that the Swiss have only one thing on their mind: vacation. Seven of the top 10 advertisers are travel platforms. In 2025, search therefore clearly reflects the topic of travel and comparison: with booking.com at the top and other travel services such as Skyscanner, Trivago, Opodo, eDreams, ab-in-den-urlaub.ch and ab-ins-blaue.ch, travel providers dominate the ranks. Comparis.ch, coming in second place, also underscores the ongoing high level of information and price awareness, while axa.ch (insurance) and yallo.ch (telecommunications) remain visible players outside the travel sector. Overall, the ranking shows that when booking and purchasing decisions are expected to be made, search continues to be used as the central channel for sales and generating demand.

Vehicles still under pressure – winners from retail, services and personal care

In the traditional advertising market, the vehicle industry remained under clear pressure in 2025: at -8.5%, it closed well down on the previous year, but remained at seventh place. However, there is no uniform picture behind the downward trend: several brands noticeably increased their traditional advertising pressure – including Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Polestar and Fiat. At the same time, the decline was substantially influenced by significant reductions from individual major players, in particular VW and Cupra, which reduced their traditional advertising pressure the most.

Other declines include initiatives & campaigns (-9.8%, third place), beverages (-6.6%, 10th place) and pharmaceuticals & health (-5.7%, 12th place).

But there were also winners in 2025: retail continued to consolidate its leading position and grew by +13.3%. Services also rose (+6.4%) and moved up one place (now 11th). There was also a striking increase in personal care (+10.6%), which also increased its rank (now 16th place). Likewise, telecommunications saw significant growth (+13.3%), not least due to Swisscom’s advertising campaign, holding 15th place.

Differences between the traditional and digital advertising market: clear channel profiles for each sector

A comparison of the industry rankings shows significant shifts between the traditional and digital advertising market in 2025 – and above all, many industries have their own unique profile for each channel.

As the traditional advertising frontrunner, in digital retail remains dominant in display in particular (first place), but is losing significance in search (12th place) and YouTube (10th place). Retail therefore uses digital primarily for offers and promotional campaigns. Food is also widely visible, but stands out above all on YouTube (third place), with display (10th place) and search (15th place) well behind.

Conversely, other sectors have a much stronger digital presence than their traditional ranking would suggest: telecommunications ranks 15th in traditional advertising, but fourth (display) and sixth (search) in digital. Digital & household (ranked 14th in traditional advertising) has a particularly prominent online presence – ranking second on YouTube and fourth for search.

The financial sector is in fourth place for traditional channels, but its digital position was even better in 2025, maintaining second place in display and search and rising from third to first place on YouTube. The Migros Bank and AXA YouTube campaigns are a key factor behind this. This confirms the sector’s lead in the digital market.

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Summary and outlook

In traditional media, the Swiss advertising market presented a robust overall picture in 2025: at CHF 3’930.8 million, gross advertising pressure was only slightly below the previous year (-1.7%). What stands out is the year’s trend, which gradually stabilized quarter by quarter – following a weaker start, the market in the second half of the year moved closer to the previous year’s level. If we include the digital channels display delivery statistics and YouTube, the decline in advertising pressure diminishes slightly (from -1.7% to -1.4%). All measured channels together – print, TV, OOH, radio, cinema, display delivery statistics, YouTube and search – generate a gross advertising pressure of CHF 6’007.5 million (-2.4%). However, a comparison with the previous year is only possible to a limited extent due to the high volatility caused by Google’s adjustments in the first half of the year.

The traditional media mix clearly continues to evolve: out-of-home continued to grow in importance and is once again expanding its share of the traditional market. OOH also experienced particularly consistent growth over the year, reaffirming its role as a stable growth driver in the Swiss advertising market.  However, ongoing discussions about a possible ban on out-of-home advertising are sowing further uncertainty. A ban could clearly further encourage the shift of advertising budgets to international platforms – with negative effects on value creation in Switzerland.

Despite a decline, TV remains the strongest media group – only in the third quarter did sports campaigns around WEURO provide a noticeable boost, while TV declined in the other quarters.

Print and radio, on the other hand, continued to face structural pressure, while cinema confirmed its role as an attention-grabbing, supplementary medium.

Against a backdrop of continued uncertainty, 2026 will be particularly interesting: geopolitical tensions, periods of punitive tariffs and a global economy that is difficult to predict will increase pressure on budgets and make flexibility the key currency in media planning. Then there’s the matter of politics: potential advertising bans and, in particular, the initiative to halve broadcast fees create uncertainty. At the same time, consolidation in the media landscape is accelerating – affecting reach, pricing considerations and the availability of high-quality environments.

Last but not least, social media has become a key addition to the media mix, with the migration of advertising funds to the major tech platforms continuing (though this has only been partially statistically measurable to date).

In conclusion, like 2025, 2026 will likely be a year in which advertisers, agencies and media companies alike face new challenges. It will therefore be all the more interesting to examine how budgets continue to shift between traditional media, digital platforms and new AI-driven opportunities.

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