A subdued start to the year: only out-of-home and cinema withstood the decline in the advertising market

While 2024 started with growth, 2025 started down 6.1% in the traditional advertising market, with a gross advertising pressure of CHF 261.0 million. This decline is due to a reduction in gross advertising pressure in more than half of all sectors.

Of the traditional media groups, only out-of-home (+5.9%) and cinema (+9.9%) experienced growth compared to the previous year. All other traditional media groups saw losses, with radio suffering the biggest decline at -20.8%, followed by print (-17.3%) and TV (-2.3%). In terms of the media mix, however, TV remains the strongest media group by percentage at 35.6% (PY: 34.2%). Print and out-of-home are now equal (29.5%). However, out-of-home grew 3.3 percentage points compared to the previous year, while print dropped a full 4 percentage points in the traditional advertising market. Radio came in fourth with a share of 4.6% (PY: 5.5%). Cinema is currently at 0.6% (PY: 0.5%). If advertising from the cinema environment (foyer) were allocated to the cinema media group and not D-OOH, the share would be 0.7%. From 2025 onward, this allocation will be possible for the current year via the advertising medium dimension or the marketer dimension.

In the digital advertising market, search (69.8%) continued to come in above display (17.9%) and YouTube (12.3%). But while display and search have declined year-on-year, YouTube remained on a growth trajectory.

The data collection methodology for the search media group has been thoroughly revised in consultation with experts from media agencies. Data quality and market analysis have been improved through optimized keyword selection and a new evaluation method.

Unfortunately, Google’s latest security updates led to a temporary worldwide restriction in the tracking of search ads, which slightly reduced gross advertising pressure in the second half of January.

The decline in display is partly down to a technical update by 20 Minuten, which meant that the data for “20 Minuten Online” was not provided in time. These figures will be retroactively adjusted when the February data is finalized.

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Advertising pressure in the market as a whole

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

Retail leads the pack while energy sees the biggest growth

The retail sector (+14.3%) is leading the current monthly rankings. Migros, Denner and Aldi have been much more active in the first month of 2025 than in the previous year, and are fueling the growth in advertising pressure in the sector. The food sector and leisure, gastronomy and tourism came in second and third respectively, but despite making the top three, these two sectors saw a decline compared to the previous year (-9.4% and -3.2%).

The energy sector experienced particularly strong growth, with the highest percentage increase of 51.1% compared to the previous year – although it remains in the bottom third of the rankings, along with personal care (+22.7%) and cleaning (+2.4%). The beverages (+27.1%), services (+12.8%) and events (+2.4%) sectors also performed positively, sitting in the middle of the pack.

Downward trends in 14 sectors

In January, 14 out of 21 sectors recorded a decline compared to the previous year. The hardest-hit sector was tobacco (-58.4%), followed by construction, industry and furnishings (-27.6%) and digital and household goods (-26.7%).

Initiatives and campaigns (-18.1%), cosmetics and toiletries (-17.3%), vehicles (-17.0%), fashion and sport (-13.6%) and public transport (-13.0%) also experienced significant decline.Media (-7.3%), telecommunications (-7.1%), finance (-6.1%), pharmaceuticals and health (-4.3%) and leisure, gastronomy and tourism (-3.2%) also showed a downward trend compared to the previous year.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking for January.

Top advertisers and products

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

Media Mix

Media mix for January.

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Advertising pressure in the digital market

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

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

The finance sector led the digital advertising market, with retail coming in fourth – the exact opposite of their rankings in the traditional market. Leisure, gastronomy and tourism (second) and services (third) completed the top three in the digital market. In the traditional market, on the other hand, the food sector ranked second and leisure, gastronomy and tourism ranked third.

In both rankings, the construction, industry and furnishings sector remained in the top third. On the other end of the scale, the tobacco sector came in last place in both markets. Media and energy both sit in the bottom third, while telecommunications and pharmaceuticals and health sit in the middle of both advertising markets.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking for January.

Top digital products

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

In the display sector, Active Fitness took first place, while booking.com was top of the search rankings and Chinese low-price retail giant Temu.com was at the top of the YouTube list. No product or service managed to break into the top 10 for more than one channel.

Media Mix

Media mix for January.

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