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September sees a new high for the year

September sees a new high for the year

The “traditional” advertising market closed out September at CHF 387.5 million, putting it 3.1 percent down on the previous year’s figure. However, this was a striking increase of 53.1 percent compared to the month prior. The summer low is officially over.

All told, annual advertising pressure YTD is sitting at CHF 2,811.6 million gross, slightly higher than the previous year’s level by 0.4 percent.

In terms of “traditional” media groups, only cinema and out-of-home (this once again includes Livesystems for 2023 and 2024 following the half-year results) achieved increases compared to the previous year. This was particularly notable for cinema, with its increase of 64 percent, compared to 9 percent for out-of-home. By contrast, declines were recorded in radio, TV and print. Radio had the smallest decrease at 3 percent, while TV dropped by 6 percent and print 10 percent.

In the digital media space, the trends are positive across the board. While display and YouTube only managed slight increases of 3 percent each, search recorded growth of 26 percent.

From 2024, we will be reporting the traditional advertising market and digital channels (search, YouTube, display) separately to ensure better comparability to the previous year. Volatility in recording in the online sector, due to external influences such as adjustments made by Google, can lead to larger fluctuations throughout the year. In the search sector in particular there were numerous adjustments and changes made by Google in the last half of the year, which made comparing gross advertising spending with the previous year difficult.

Advertising pressure in the market as a whole

Advertising pressure development up to September 2024 in CHF million gross.

Only seven sectors rose

The food sector remains at the top of the leaderboard YTD and also takes the top spot for September, even though all six of the other sectors achieved bigger increases in percentage terms compared to the previous year. The largest of these was a 92.3 percent uptick for the energy sector. The other sectors on the up are telecommunications, cleaning, public transport and personal care.

Decline in 14 sectors

All told, 14 sectors saw a decline in September compared to the previous year. While tobacco (-75.1%) and beverages (-23.2%) fell the most, other sectors – such as media (-16.5%), finance (-16.1%) and digital & household (-13.0%) – were also down on the previous year’s figure.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking in September.

Top advertisers and products

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

Media Mix

Media mix for September.


Advertising pressure in the digital market

Advertising pressure development up to September 2024 in CHF million gross.

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

Retail takes the top slot in the digital market YTD, but only finished third in September.The sectors making it into the top three above retail were finance and leisure, gastronomy & tourism. In the “traditional” market there was no change from the previous month, with the food, retail and initiatives & campaigns sectors taking the top spots. In the digital market, though, food and initiatives & campaigns only managed to achieve middling positions (11th and 13th place respectively).

For both rankings, energy, tobacco, media and cleaning finish in the bottom third. In the digital market, energy is third from last and tobacco is in the penultimate position, while cleaning brings up the rear. This means that nothing has changed in the ranking compared to the previous month. In the “traditional” market, tobacco is in last place, while energy is second to last and media third from last. Just like in the digital market, the same sectors as last month find themselves at the bottom of the table.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking in September.

Top digital products

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

ALDI Fleisch tops the table for display, while Disney+ takes the lead for YouTube and, for the second month in a row, the top spot for search goes to booking.com. No product or service managed to break into the top 10 for more than one channel.

Media Mix

Media mix for September.

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

Highlights in August 2024

The “traditional” advertising market closed out August at CHF 249.3 million, putting it 8.3 percent down on the previous year’s figure. However, this was a slight increase of 2.8 percent compared to the month prior: August is battling its way out of the summer slump.

All told, annual advertising pressure YTD is sitting at CHF 2,400.7 gross, just under the previous year’s level by 0.1 percent.

A decline on the previous year is seen across all the “traditional” media groups. Cinema recorded a fall of 35 percent, followed by print media with a downswing of 10 percent and TV with a drop of 8 percent. The lowest reductions in percentage terms are in out-of-home and radio advertising. In August, out-of-home fell by 6 percent (this once again includes Livesystems for 2023 and 2024 following the half-year results) and radio by 3 percent.

The trends are primarily negative in the digital media space, too: display (-11%) and search (-10%) have tumbled compared to the previous year. YouTube, conversely, has grown by 9 percent on the previous year.

From 2024, we will be reporting the traditional advertising market and digital channels (search, YouTube, display) separately to ensure better comparability to the previous year. Volatility in recording in the online sector, due to external influences such as adjustments made by Google, can lead to larger fluctuations throughout the year. In the search sector in particular there were numerous adjustments and changes made by Google in the last half of the year, which made comparing gross advertising spending with the previous year difficult.

Advertising pressure in the market as a whole

Advertising pressure development up to August 2024 in CHF million gross.

Only five sectors rose

While the food sector remains at the top of the leaderboard YTD, it fell behind retail and initiatives & campaigns in August – despite an uptick of 10.1 percent on the previous year. This makes the food sector one of the five areas that increased in August, compared to the previous year. The others include cosmetics & toiletries, cleaning, personal care and energy.

Decline in 16 sectors

All told, 16 sectors saw a decline in August compared to the previous year. While tobacco (-52.8%), media (-38.1%) and vehicles (-37.2%) fell the most, other sectors – such as public transport (-28.5%), telecommunications (-23.8%) and services (-22.8%) – were also in the red.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking in August.

Top advertisers and products

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

Media Mix

Media mix for August.


Advertising pressure in the digital market

Advertising pressure development up to August 2024 in CHF million gross.

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

Retail takes the top slot in the digital market YTD, but only finished third in August. The food, retail and initiatives & campaigns sectors make up the top three in the “traditional” market. In the digital market, though, food and initiatives & campaigns only managed to take 11th and 14th place respectively. The finance, and leisure, gastronomy, tourism sectors are second and third in the digital market, but sixth and fifth in the “traditional” market.

Cosmetics & toiletries, pharmaceuticals & health and telecommunications are in the middle of the table in the digital and traditional markets alike.

The energy and tobacco sectors finished in the bottom third of both market rankings. In the digital market, energy is third from last and tobacco is in the penultimate position, while cleaning brings up the rear. In the “traditional” market, tobacco is in last place, while energy is second to last and media third from last.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking in August.

Top digital products

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

TEMU.com tops the table for display, while SBB takes the lead for YouTube and booking.com for search. Alongside being well-positioned for display, the Chinese retail platform TEMU.com is also faring well on YouTube, where it took seventh place. Brack.ch was also able to gain a foothold on two channels, finishing seventh for display and ninth for search.

Media Mix

Media mix for August.

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

Annual review 2023 Advertising Market Trend July 2024 Factsheet Media

Highlights in July 2024

The “traditional” advertising market closed out July at CHF 242.6 million, putting it 5.6 percent up on the previous year’s figure. However, this was a striking drop of 23 percent compared to the month prior: the summer slump has officially begun.

All told, annual advertising pressure YTD was just a fraction – one percent – above the previous year, at CHF 2’151,4 million gross.

In terms of “traditional” media groups, only print (-2%) and cinema (-66%) were behind the previous year’s values. The drop in cinema advertising was due to Barbie and Oppenheimer, the two box office smash hits from last year. The other media groups were in the black, led by radio with an uptick of 21 percent. Out-of-home grew by 12 percent (after the half-year results, this figure once again includes Livesystems for 2023 and 2024) and TV by 7 percent.

In digital media, there was a positive trend in all categories. YouTube rose by 12 percent on the previous year, closely followed by search engine advertising at 11 percent, while display only recorded an increase of 5 percent.

From 2024, we will be reporting the traditional advertising market and digital channels (search, YouTube, display) separately to ensure better comparability to the previous year. Volatility in recording in the online sector, due to external influences such as adjustments made by Google, can lead to larger fluctuations throughout the year. In the search sector in particular there were numerous adjustments and changes made by Google in the last half of the year, which made comparing gross advertising spending with the previous year difficult.

Advertising pressure in the market as a whole

Advertising pressure development up to July 2024 in CHF million gross.

The food sector falls 10 percent

While the food sector remains at the top of the leaderboard YTD, its 9.9 percent drop saw it slip just behind retail in July – a sector that experienced an uptick over the same period (+8.3%). This makes the food industry one of eight sectors to report lower figures in July compared to the same month in the previous year.

Only the energy (-67.9%), tobacco (-49.1%) and media (-28.0%) sectors, home to low advertising pressure, saw double-digit percentage decreases. The decline was kept in check for the events (-4.5%), fashion & sport (-3.1%) and public transport (-2.5%) sectors.

An increase in 13 sectors

All told, 13 sectors saw an increase in July compared to the previous year. This was especially visible in the cosmetics & toiletries (+33.7%), pharmaceuticals & health (+28.6%) and leisure, gastronomy & tourism (+25.8%) industries. However, other sectors also made clear headway, including beverages at 21.0 percent, initiatives & campaigns at 17.2 percent and cleaning at 12.2 percent.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking in July.

Top advertisers and products

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

Media Mix

Media mix for July.


Advertising pressure in the digital market

Advertising pressure development up to July 2024 in CHF million gross.

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

Leisure, gastronomy & tourism takes third place YTD in both markets. The food sector tops the table in the traditional market, followed by retail in second place. Retail even takes the lead in the digital sphere – but finance comes in second, with the food sector pushed down to 11th place. In the “traditional” market, initiatives & campaigns and construction, industry, furnishings come in fourth and fifth, taking 13th and 6th place respectively in the digital space. The services and fashion & sport sectors finish in fourth and fifth place, while these two sectors are to be found in the lower half of the leaderboard in the “traditional” market (12th & 13th place).

The tobacco sector is at the bottom of the table in both markets. It ranks last in the “traditional” market and second to last in the digital market, where the cleaning sector brings up the rear. This sector takes 16th place in the “traditional” market. Energy is in the penultimate spot here and third from last in the digital market.

Pharmaceuticals & health, cosmetics & toiletries and telecommunications are in the middle of the table in both markets.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking in July.

Top digital products

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

The #WIRSINDZUKUNFT campaign leads the pack in the display space, while the TikTok mobile app takes pole position for YouTube. Temu.com comes in second in both markets: this Chinese retail platform has maintained a spot in the top three for display and YouTube since May. In terms of search, booking.com takes the lead, followed by sunrise.ch.

Media Mix

Media mix for July.

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

Annual review 2023 Advertising Market Trend June 2024 Factsheet Media

Highlights in June 2024

The “traditional” advertising market closed June with gross advertising pressure of CHF 315 million, in the red for the third time this year (-2.8%). At CHF 1.9 billion gross, the Swiss advertising market in the first half of 2024 was roughly on par with the previous year (+0.2%).


With the exception of print (-5.8%), all media groups grew, led by cinema (+14.6%), out-of-home (+6.3%) (once again including live systems for 2023 and 2024 since the half-year results), radio (+4.2%) and TV (+1.3%). The latter media group benefited last month from the European Football Championship (June: +7.1%). However, this could not stop the decline in June (-2.8%), mainly due to print media, which posted a deficit of 12%, and out-of-home, which was in the red for the first time this year (-2.7%). While cinema (0.5%) remained stable compared to last year, radio (+2.9%) and TV (+7.1%) increased.

A comparison with the previous month clearly shows the beginning of the summer slump (-10.5%). Nevertheless, advertising pressure in the second quarter was CHF 1.014 billion, up from CHF 885.5 million in the first quarter.

In digital media, there was a positive trend in all categories. While display and YouTube grew by only six and twelve percent respectively, search engine advertising grew by 51 percent (more keywords).

From 2024, we will be reporting the traditional advertising market and digital channels (search, YouTube, display) separately to ensure better comparability to the previous year. Volatility in recording in the online sector, due to external influences such as adjustments made by Google, can lead to larger fluctuations throughout the year. In the search sector in particular there were numerous adjustments and changes made by Google in the last half of the year, which made comparing gross advertising spending with the previous year difficult.

Advertising pressure in the market as a whole

Advertising pressure development up to June 2024 in CHF million gross.

Decline in a slight majority of sector

Slightly more than half of all sectors posted decline in June compared to the previous year. The media sector experienced the largest percentage decline at -39.3%. This was followed by transportation (-27.3%) and initiatives & campaigns (-22.9%). Construction, industry, furnishings (-4.4%) recorded the smallest decline, followed by food (-5.5%).

An increase in 10 sectors

In total, ten sectors recorded positive growth in June compared to the previous year. The strongest increase was recorded by the energy sector, which is subject to little advertising pressure, with a rise of 129.8%. Cosmetics & toiletries (+45.3%) and leisure, gastronomy, tourism (+27.8%) followed at a considerable distance. While digital & household (+1.6%), automotive (+3.6%) and beverages (+8.3%) recorded a slight increase, pharmaceuticals & health remained at the same level as the previous year.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking in June.

Top advertisers and products

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

Media Mix

Media mix for June.


Advertising pressure in the digital market

Advertising pressure development up to June 2024 in CHF million gross.

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

In the “traditional” market, the food sector is in first place, while in the digital market it is in eleventh place. Retail is first in the digital market and second in the “traditional” market, meaning that this sector is very strong in both markets. The leisure, gastronomy, tourism sector ranks third in the digital market and fourth in the “traditional” market. In third place is construction, industry, furnishings, which ranks sixth in the digital market.

The tobacco sector is at the bottom of the table in both markets. It ranks at the bottom in the “traditional” market and second to last in the digital market. There, the cleaning sector is at the bottom of the table. Energy is second to last in the “traditional” market and 19th in the digital market.

Digital & household, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals & health are in the middle of the table in both markets.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking in June.

Top digital products

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

In the display sector, UBS Sponsoring and the Swisslos Euromillions lottery lead the way. These products are not in the top ten for the other two channels. On YouTube, the TikTok mobile app and the Audi Q6 e-tron eletric SUV are at the top. Neither of these products can be found on the other channels. In search, hostpoint.ch and sunrise.ch top the list. As with the display and YouTube channels, these products are not in the top ten of the other channels.

TEMU.com was the only product that made it onto two channels. It ranks third on both the display and YouTube channels.

Media Mix

Media mix for June.

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

Annual review 2023 Advertising Market Trend May 2024 Factsheet Media

Highlights in May 2024

The “traditional” advertising market has been sitting around the CHF 350 million mark since March. The Swiss advertising market rose by a further 1.4% compared to April, and closed the month at CHF 352.0 million in advertising pressure. The advertising pressure for the first five months of the year was CHF 1,589.0 million. Although the advertising market in May was a little down on the previous year’s figure (-2.4%), it is slightly up YTD (+2.4%).

This boost in the media mix is primarily being driven by out-of-home advertising. Please note that the data from the marketer Livesystems is currently only available for 2024 (2023 is planned to be reintegrated along with the June data). Without taking Livesystems into account, the advertising market dropped by -4.2% in May and grew by +0.1% over the year as a whole.

It is clear that, apart from out-of-home advertising, all the other “traditional” media categories saw a decline in gross advertising revenue compared to the previous year. As in April, cinema fared the worst (-22%), closely followed by print with a drop of -11%. Radio (-4%) and TV (-2%) saw losses in the low single digits compared to the previous year.

In May, all media groups were left facing a decline in comparison to last year’s figures. In percentage terms, cinema fell the most (-22.4%), followed by print (-11.0%), radio (-3.7%) and TV (-2.5%). Out-of-home was the sole category in the black – both with (+11.0%) and without (+3.3%) Livesystems.

Search engine advertising took a bigger piece of the digital advertising pie, growing by 5 percentage points to reach 70%. At 23%, display advertising managed to hold on to second place, despite a slight decrease compared with last year (-4%), while YouTube was in close pursuit with a 9% jump.

From 2024, we will be reporting the traditional advertising market and digital channels (search, YouTube, display) separately to ensure better comparability to the previous year. Volatility in recording in the online sector, due to external influences such as adjustments made by Google, can lead to larger fluctuations throughout the year. In the search sector in particular there were numerous adjustments and changes made by Google in the last half of the year, which made comparing gross advertising spending with the previous year difficult.

Advertising pressure in the market as a whole

Advertising pressure development up to May 2024 in CHF million gross.

Low growth in individual sectors

Thirteen sectors saw growth in April – but just 8 out of 21 sectors enjoyed positive development in May compared to the previous year. The biggest upswing was generated by the cleaning (+73.8%) and cosmetics & toiletries (+60.5%) sectors, followed by construction, industry & furnishings (+14.9%), beverages (+10.9%), and leisure, gastronomy & tourism (+10.1%). The other three sectors recorded growth in the low single-digit range.

A decline in 13 sectors

All told, 13 sectors experienced negative growth compared to the previous year. Tobacco (-25.4%) and initiatives & campaigns (-24.0%) were the hardest hit. The remaining 11 sectors shrank by between -2.6% (energy) and -17.5% (retail and media).

Sector ranking

Sector ranking in May.

Top advertisers and products

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

Media Mix

Media mix for May.


Advertising pressure in the digital market

Advertising pressure development up to May 2024 in CHF million gross.

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

The retail sector did very well in the “traditional” and digital markets alike during April and May, taking second place in both. It even tops the leaderboard for the digital market YTD. The finance and leisure, gastronomy & tourism sectors are hot on its heels, taking second and third place in the digital market. These two sectors were also on a strong footing in the “traditional” market, occupying positions six and four respectively.

The food sector took first place in the “traditional” market, while the construction, industry & furnishings sector is in third place YTD. The pair have each fallen one place in the digital market rankings since April and are now 11th and 6th respectively.

The cleaning sector is similarly performing better in the “traditional” market: it holds 16th place here, but is bringing up the rear in the digital space.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking in May.

Top digital products

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

The products “taten-statt-worte.ch” and “temu.com” took the top two spots for display advertising. As in April, “TikTok mobile app” topped the table for YouTube, followed by “temu.com”. For search, “sunrise.ch” was in the lead (as in April), then “zurich.ch”.

The only product to make it into the top ten across all three media groups was the Chinese e-commerce heavyweight “temu.com”. “temu.com” took second place for display and YouTube, and eighth place for search.

Media Mix

Media mix for May.

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

Annual review 2023 Advertising Market Trend April 2024 Factsheet Media

Highlights in April 2024

In April, the “traditional” advertising market recorded gross advertising pressure of CHF 346.5 million, a decline of 1.1 percent on the strong figures for March.  Compared to last year, however, it rose by 5.2 percent.

This increase can mainly be explained by the out-of-home media group, which recorded significant growth of 20 percent compared to last year. Please note that the data for Livesystems is currently only available for 2024. The increase in out-of-home advertising without Livesystems was +6.0 percent. The “traditional” advertising market without Livesystems rose by just 2.3 percent.

Figures for the TV (+2%) and print markets (+1%) were stable, with only a marginal increase on last year. Cinema, however, recorded a sharp fall of 13 percent compared with last year. Radio (-4%) also declined.

Display and YouTube both recorded a 7 percent increase in April compared to last year. The display figure was 27 percent, with YouTube accounting for 7.8 percent of the digital advertising market. Although search engine advertising fell by 7 percent compared to last year, it continued to lead the pack, with 65.2 percent.

From 2024, we will be reporting the traditional advertising market and digital channels (search, YouTube, display) separately to ensure better comparability to the previous year. Volatility in recording in the online sector, due to external influences such as adjustments made by Google, can lead to larger fluctuations throughout the year. In the search sector in particular there were numerous adjustments and changes made by Google in the last half of the year, which made comparing gross advertising spending with the previous year difficult.

Advertising pressure in the traditional market

Advertising pressure development in the traditional market in April 2024 in CHF million gross.

Tobacco products rose sharply

The tobacco products and cleaning sectors achieved the biggest increases in April, recording growth of 200.1 percent and 133.4 percent respectively. Other sectors such as personal care (+68.0%), cosmetics and toiletries (+48.3%) leisure, gastronomy and tourism (+46.8%) and transport (+32.1%) also rose compared to last year.

Just 8 sectors decline

The digital & household (-21.3%) sector performed the worst compared to last year, followed by the retail (-15.0%), food (-13.6%) vehicles (-11.8%) and fashion & sport (-8.4%) sectors. Services (-7.9%), construction, industry and furnishings (-2.0%) and events (-1.3%) declined the least.

Sector ranking in the traditional market

Top of the month

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

Media Mix Traditional

Media mix for April 2024.


Advertising pressure in the digital market

From 2024, we will be reporting the traditional advertising market and digital channels (search, YouTube, display) separately to ensure better comparability to the previous year. Volatility in recording in the online sector, due to external influences such as adjustments made by Google, can lead to larger fluctuations throughout the year. In the search sector in particular there were numerous adjustments and changes made by Google in the last half of the year, which made comparing gross advertising spending with the previous year difficult.

Advertising pressure development in the digital market in April 2024 in CHF million gross.

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

The retail sector achieved an excellent ranking in both the “traditional” and digital market, taking second place in the “traditional” advertising market and topping the digital ranking, followed by finance and leisure, gastronomy and tourism in second and third place. These two sectors were also relatively well placed in the “traditional” market, occupying positions seven and four respectively. In the “traditional” market, food finished first and construction, industry and furnishings in third, but only took tenth and fifth place respectively in the digital market.

The vehicles and pharmaceuticals & health sectors were in sixth and ninth place in the “traditional” market, while finishing ninth and 11th in the digital market, and thus both occupying the center ground.

The energy and cleaning sectors finished bottom in the “traditional” and digital markets respectively, although cleaning maintained 16th place in the “traditional” market. Tobacco products finished second to last in both sector rankings.

Industry ranking in the digital market

Industry ranking by share of advertising (SoA) as at April 2024.

Top products

The most advertised products in the Search, Display and YouTube segments in April.

In the display channel, Temu.com and Tex Mex Snacks claimed the first two spots, while TikTok Mobile App and Disney+ achieved this ranking in the YouTube channel, as did sunrise.ch and booking.com in the search channel.

Three digital products appeared in more than one media group. Disney+ finished bottom in display, but took second place in YouTube as mentioned above. The display front runner, Temu.com, claimed ninth place in search. Meanwhile, Migros Cumulus Card finished seventh in display and ninth in YouTube.

Media Mix Digital

Media mix for the month of April.

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

Annual review 2023 Advertising Market Trend March 2024 Factsheet Media

Highlights in March 2024

In March, the “traditional” advertising market recorded gross advertising pressure of CHF 350.4 million, an increase of 33.9 percent on the figures for February. Compared to the previous year, however, it recorded a slight decline of 1.2 percent.

The advertising market was in its usual strong shape in March, not least thanks to Easter sales.

A look at the first quarter of 2024 also shows positive trends in the traditional advertising market, which closed at CHF 885.5 million gross – a rise of 2.8 percent.

Cinema rose by 31 percent compared to the previous year, while print recorded a fall of 11 percent. The TV market remained largely stable, with growth of 1 percent. Radio (+4%) and out-of-home advertising (+10%) also saw increases compared to the previous year.

Please note that the data for Livesystems is currently only available for 2024. The increase in out-of-home advertising without Livesystems was +1.1 percent, while the traditional advertising market without Livesystems fell by 2.9 percent.

In March, search engine advertising again took the lead in online advertising, with a share of 64.6 percent. Compared to last year, however, this represents a decline of 28 percent, which can be explained by a core update from Google in March. Display ads took the second largest share at 27.3 percent, followed by YouTube at 8.3 percent.

From 2024, we will be reporting the traditional advertising market and digital channels (search, YouTube, display) separately to ensure better comparability to the previous year. Volatility in recording in the online sector, due to external influences such as adjustments made by Google, can lead to larger fluctuations throughout the year. In the search sector in particular there were numerous adjustments and changes made by Google in the last half of the year, which made comparing gross advertising spending with the previous year difficult.

Advertising pressure in the traditional market

Advertising pressure development in the traditional market in March 2024 in CHF million gross.

Cleaning and energy saw significant increases

The traditional advertising market recorded a decline of 1.2 percent in March, though sectors such as cleaning (+200.3%), energy (+141.6%), tobacco products (+52.5%), leisure, gastronomy, tourism (+31.7%) and pharmaceuticals & health (+22.1%) saw significant increases compared to the previous year.

11 sectors showed a decline

The decline of 1.2 percent is due to the reduction in advertising pressure in 11 sectors, including public transport (-30.9%), digital & household (-28.0%), events (-15.8%) and finance (-15.5%).

Sector ranking in the traditional market

Top of the month

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

Media Mix Traditional

Media mix for March 2024.


Advertising pressure in the digital market

Advertising pressure development in the digital market in March 2024 in CHF million gross.

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

The top 3 sectors in the traditional advertising market were food, retail and leisure, gastronomy and tourism. When it came to online channels, finance was in the top three rather than food, which only managed eleventh place in the digital advertising market.

Construction, industry, furnishings and initiatives & campaigns took fourth and fifth place on the traditional channels, while these sectors took fifth and fourteenth place in the digital ranking. Pharmaceuticals & health was in the middle of the field both in the traditional advertising market (eighth place) and in the digital advertising market (tenth place).

The digital & household sector was heavily skewed towards digital channels, coming in seventh place in the digital advertising market and only fifteenth in the traditional advertising market. Cleaning ranked last among digital channels and seventeenth among traditional channels. The tobacco products and energy sectors performed more weakly in both the traditional and digital advertising markets.

Industry ranking in the digital market

Top products

The most advertised products in the Search, Display and YouTube segments in March.

In search, the products “ab-in-den-urlaub.ch” and “booking.com” from the leisure, gastronomy and tourism sector took the first two places. On YouTube the front-runners were “TikTok Mobile App” and “Nespresso coffee pods”, while in Display “google.ch” and “IQOS tobacco heating system” came top.

“Temu.com” took fourth place for display and fifth for search. Other products that were present in the top ten across several digital channels included “Kinder Bueno” and “Kinder Schoko Bons”. “Kinder Bueno” managed seventh place on the Display and YouTube channels, while “Kinder Schoko Bons” took eighth place on Display and ninth on YouTube.

Media Mix Digital

Media mix for the month of March.

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

Annual review 2023 Advertising Market Trend February 2024

Highlights in February 2024

In February, the “traditional” advertising market recorded gross advertising pressure of CHF 260.4 million, an increase of 3.0 percent compared to the previous year. However, this also marked a drop of 4.7 percent compared to the month prior, January.

Out-of-home (+13%) and radio (+10%) grew in comparison to the previous year, while print and TV remained stable. Cinema fell by 30 percent, according to current data. However, this number is not definitive, as we have not yet received information for every week in February.

Please note that the data for Livesystems is currently only available for 2024. The increase in out-of-home advertising without Livesystems is +3.8 percent. Growth in the traditional advertising market without Livesystems is at 1.1 percent.

Once again, search engine advertising took the lion’s share in the field of online media this month, making up 72 percent, followed by display (21%) and YouTube (7%).

From 2024, we will be reporting the traditional advertising market and digital channels (search, YouTube, display) separately to ensure better comparability to the previous year. Volatility in recording in the online sector, due to external influences such as adjustments made by Google, can lead to larger fluctuations throughout the year. In the search sector in particular there were numerous adjustments and changes made by Google in the last half of the year, which made comparing gross advertising spending with the previous year difficult.

Advertising pressure in the traditional market

Advertising pressure development in the traditional market in February 2024 in CHF million gross

Positive trends in 11 sectors

The “traditional” advertising market recorded an increase of 3.0 percent in February, which can be attributed to the positive trend in 11 sectors. With 103.4 percent, public transport notched up the biggest percentage upswing in comparison to the previous year. Cleaning (+68.4%), tobacco (+63.3%), media (+44.7%), pharmaceuticals and health (+37.8%) and leisure, gastronomy and tourism (+36.5) all grew more than 30 percent.

Ten sectors performed more weakly than the previous year

A total of ten sectors showed a decrease in comparison to the previous year. The largest percentage downturns were in finance (-28.7%), closely followed by digital & household (-27.5%) and personal care (-21.7%).

Other areas experiencing reductions included retail (-13.5%), fashion & sport (-9.0%), initiatives & campaigns (-8.1%), services (-7.6%), cosmetics & toiletries (-3.3%), telecommunications (-2.6%) and beverages (-0.9%).

Sector ranking in the traditional market

Top of the month

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

Media Mix Traditional

Media mix for February 2024


Advertising pressure in the digital market

Advertising pressure development in the digital market in February 2024 in CHF million gross

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

The top three sectors for digital channels were retail, leisure, gastronomy and tourism, and finance.

While retail and leisure, gastronomy and tourism were strongly represented in traditional channels, the food sector sat head and shoulders above the rest. Interestingly, this industry was only ranked 11th with respect to digital channels.

Services took fourth place in digital channels, while initiatives & campaigns took this spot for traditional channels. The construction, industry and furnishings sector ranked fifth on the traditional and digital leaderboards alike.

Despite having products in the top 10, tobacco sat in the bottom three of the sector rankings for both the traditional and digital spheres. Media, tobacco and energy brought up the rear for traditional channels, while energy, tobacco and cleaning did so for their digital counterparts.

Industry ranking in the digital market

Top products

The most advertised products in the Search, Display and YouTube segments in February

The most advertised products differed substantially in parts for digital channels. None of the products were in the top 10 across all three channels.

Only Temu.com and Disney+ were to be found on two of the three channels, with Temu taking third place in display and tenth place in search. Disney+, meanwhile, was ninth in display and seventh in YouTube.

While the online retailer amazon.de took first place in search, it was otherwise predominantly providers from the leisure, gastronomy and tourism sector – namely ab-in-den-urlaub.ch, booking.com and migros-ferien.ch – that featured.

Media Mix Digital

Media mix for the month of February

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

Annual review 2023 Advertising Market Trend January 2024

Highlights in January 2024

The “traditional” advertising market started 2024 with CHF 273.7 million of gross advertising pressure and an increase of 7.7 percent.

This positive trend can be seen in all traditional media groups. The largest percentage increase was recorded in cinema (+71%).

Please note that the data for Livesystems is currently only available for 2024. The increase in out-of-home advertising without Livesystems is +11.1 percent, not +23.1 percent. Growth in the traditional market without Livesystems is at 5.0 percent.

The Livesystems data for 2023 is expected to be available again with the half-year financial statements (July 2024).

In the field of online media, search engine advertising (68%) had the largest share, followed by display (24%) and YouTube (8%). In total, gross advertising pressure in digital media amounted to CHF 164.4 million.

From 2024, we will be reporting the traditional advertising market and digital channels (search, YouTube, display) separately to ensure better comparability to the previous year. Volatility in recording in the online sector, due to external influences such as adjustments made by Google, can lead to larger fluctuations throughout the year. In the search sector in particular there were numerous adjustments and changes made by Google in the last half of the year, which made comparing gross advertising spending with the previous year difficult.

Advertising pressure in the traditional market

Advertising pressure development in the traditional market in January 2024 in CHF million gross

Tobacco products had the largest percentage increase

Der «klassische» Werbemarkt verzeichnete 2024 im Vergleich zum Vorjahr einen Anstieg um 7.7 Prozent. Diese Steigerung ist auf die positive Entwicklung in 14 Branchen zurückzuführen. Die deutlichste prozentuale Steigerung verzeichnen die Tabakwaren, welche mit einem Plus von 73.7 Prozent ins neue Jahr starten.  Auch Freizeit, Gastronomie, Tourismus (-39.2%), Fahrzeuge (+37.5%), Verkehrsbetriebe (+34.7%) und Finanzen (+33.6%) steigern den Werbedruck um über ein Drittel.

Nahrungsmittel und Detailhandel standen bereits im Gesamtjahr 2023 auf dem Podest. Initiativen und Kampagnen muss jedoch den dritten Rang im Januar an Freizeit, Gastronomie und Tourismus abtreten.

Seven sectors performed more weakly than the previous year

A total of seven sectors showed a decrease in comparison to the previous year. The sectors with the lowest advertising pressure for January were tobacco products, energy and media, despite the positive trends.

The largest percentage drop can be seen in the personal care sector (-44.4%). Further decreases, although significantly smaller, were recorded in the services (-16.5%), food (-16.5%), telecommunications (-10.8%), beverages (-10.5%), digital & household (-7.7%) and fashion & sports (-0.6%) sectors.

Sector ranking in the traditional market

Top of the month

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

Media Mix Traditional

Media mix for January 2024


Advertising pressure in the digital market

Advertising pressure development in the digital market in January 2024 in CHF million gross

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

The top three sectors for digital channels were retail, leisure, gastronomy and tourism, and finance.

The sector ranking for traditional channels differed significantly from digital channels in parts. While the food sector placed very highly in traditional media, it only managed tenth place in digital channels. Initiatives & campaigns also performed better in traditional channels (6th) than in digital channels (14th).

The beverages and digital & household sectors placed much better in the digital field (5th and 7th) than in the traditional advertising market (14th and 13th).

Cleaning took last place in the digital ranking. Tobacco products, bringing up the rear in the traditional sector ranking, moved up one place.

Industry ranking in the digital market

Top products

The most advertised products in the Search, Display and YouTube segments in January

Media Mix Digital

Media mix for the month of January

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

Annual review 2023

2023 Annual summary –
the Swiss advertising market

written by CAO Tina Fixle

The “traditional” advertising market generated CHF 3.95 billion in gross advertising pressure in 2023. This represents a modest drop of -1.1%. Outdoor advertising once more enjoyed increased popularity (+16.3%), cushioning falls in TV (-8.3%) and print (-3.6%) advertising. Radio and cinema advertising also experienced growth (5.1% and 9.0% respectively), albeit to a much lower level in absolute terms. The order in Media Mix remained unchanged, although media did draw closer together: TV (36%; -3 percentage points) and print (35%, -1 percentage point) led the way, with out-of-home (22%; +3 percentage points), radio (6%, +1 percentage point) and cinema (0.8%) bringing up the rear.

Looking at the world of online marketing, display and YouTube ads (CHF 536 m (+4.7%) and CHF 305 m (+8.8%) respectively) saw strong upward trends, although no longer in the two-figure percentage range as in previous years. The figures make it clear that digital advertising formats are continuing to grow in importance, even though the rate of growth has slowed slightly compared to previous years.

In terms of search ads, a direct comparison with the previous year is problematic as a result of the ongoing changes and updates that Google carried out in the second half of 2023 in particular. These continuous changes, which were also documented in detail in the media, led to significant fluctuations in the search results. This means that a direct comparison with 2022 would not be meaningful. That said, 2023 itself does provide a basis for internal comparisons and analyses despite its momentum.

Coop, Migros and P&G set the course – not everyone follows

Coop (1) continues to hold the top position (SoA% top 20: 28%) with a slight year-on-year decrease (-2%). In second place is Migros (2) with 16% (also with a slight decrease of -5%). In percentage terms, Procter & Gamble (3) and Swisscom (6) also significantly reduced traditional advertising pressure (-19% and -17% respectively) but have kept their places. Ferrero (4) and L’Oréal (5) also remain in the same positions despite slightly higher advertising pressure than in 2022 (+3% and +6% respectively).

On the other hand, the following four companies increased their investments in this area and have reaped the rewards in the ranking. Henkel (10) and Beiersdorf (8) have both risen 8 places compared to the previous year, while IKEA has jumped from 13th to 7th place and Galaxus has risen 3 places to make it into the top 10.

Jumbo has the largest percentage increase in the top 20 after its merger with Coop Bau+Hobby (+93%); this has catapulted the DIY company from 41st to 15th place. With increases nearing 40%, Unilever (16) and Nestlé (19) have both returned to the top 20. McDonald’s (11), Lidl (12), Denner (13), Interdiscount (14), Sunrise (17) and Aldi (20) reduced their traditional advertising pressure in 2023, with the first 5 losing their places in the top 10 and Aldi falling from 15th to 20th place. In percentage terms, Sunrise made the largest reduction (-36%).

Retailers – especially Migros and Coop – are also the forerunners when it comes to display ads. Along with Lidl and Denner, there are 4 retailers in the top 10. Swisslos, Philipp Morris and Google are among the new companies to make it onto the list, alongside the Swiss “institutions” Swisscom, UBS and Post.

On YouTube, entertainment companies dominate the rankings, with TikTok taking the top spot and Nintendo, Disney and Universal featuring in the top 10. Putting in a surprisingly strong showing was Smile Direct, which comes in at 2nd place, ahead of Beiersdorf. Migros, Lindt & Sprüngli and Coop also made it into the top 10.

As more of a pull form of marketing than a push one, search offers ideal insights into the needs of the average Swiss citizen. What do we actually do online? We book trips: Ab-in-den-Urlaub.ch (1), booking.com (3), ab-ins-blaue.ch (9). We shop: ottos.ch (2), galaxus (4), brack.ch (8), home24.ch (10). And we compare prices: comparis (6). The brands Sunrise.ch and Axa.ch come in at places 5 and 7 respectively and are almost the odd ones out here.

Automotive sector gathers pace again in 2023

2023 was a year of celebration for the automotive sector. Embattled by the COVID-19 pandemic and supply bottlenecks, the sector grew by 21.2%, climbing 3 places to number 5. Jeep and Škoda each have a product in the top 10 of newly advertised products for 2023 – both products being electric SUVs.

The only sectors to outperform the automotive sector in percentage terms were transport operators (+22.8%) and tobacco products (+82.1%), with the latter also having a product in the top 10, namely the IQOS heated tobacco system. However, this did not lead to any changes in the pecking order, other than among events (+3.3%), pharmaceuticals and health (+1.5%), and cleaning (+14.2%). Fashion and sport profited from the traditionally defensive advertising behavior of the telecommunications sector (-18.1%) and climbed one place in spite of a minimal reduction (-0.8%).

The right-hand side of the table shows the online orientation of the sectors. The telecommunications sector, which came in at just position 15 in the traditional market, shone through when it came to display, YouTube and search ads (in turquoise); coming in at 8th, 5th and 9th respectively, they are more than 4 places higher than in the rankings for traditional channels.

There are no changes in the order of the top 4 sectors in the traditional sector ranking, although there are deviations in advertising pressure (-3.9% to 3.3%). Food stayed ahead of retail, initiatives and campaigns, and the finance sector, the latter enjoying high online rankings, with 2nd place for display and search ads and coming top for YouTube.

Summary and outlook

2023 marked a phase of consolidation and gradual change in the Swiss advertising market. Despite the slight decline in the traditional advertising market, the rise in specific areas, such as outdoor advertising, radio and cinema, reveals a diverse and adaptive market structure. The ongoing strengthening of online marketing channels, such as display and YouTube ads, emphasizes the growing significance of digital advertising strategies, even if the rate of growth flattened out compared to previous years.

Changes in search engine marketing – especially with Google – reflect the ever-changing nature of technologies and user behavior patterns. This prompts companies to continually adjust and optimize their online presence and their search engine strategies.

Major players such as Coop, Migros and P&G continue to dominate the traditional advertising market while other brands are moving up the rankings, showing how dynamic and competitive the market is. The strong presence of retailers when it comes to display ads and the dominance of entertainment companies in the YouTube ads rankings emphasize the varying strategic orientations across the different advertising channels.

The automotive sector is experiencing a comeback, which suggests that it is recovering from the blows dealt to it by the pandemic. The telecommunications sector’s presence in traditional and online media is an interesting discrepancy.

All in all, 2023 offers important insights into the changing priorities and strategies in play on the Swiss advertising market. If sectors want to succeed in what is a fast-changing digital ecosystem, adaptability and a willingness to innovate will continue to be of major importance going forward. It will be exciting to see whether they all manage it in 2024. Certainly, one positive aspect is that the advertising market in 2024 will, according to various market leaders, likely remain at around the same level as 2023.

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

Annual review 2022