July remains stable

After a positive June, the traditional advertising market remained stable in July. With advertising pressure of CHF 255.8 million, July was even 0.7 percent higher than the previous year. The traditional advertising market achieved a cumulative advertising pressure of CHF 2’133.8 million, 1.1 percent higher than the previous year’s level.

The media groups presented a mixed picture in July. Print (-10.9%) and radio (-20.3%) recorded declines compared to the previous year. In contrast, TV (+8.1%) and out-of-home (+7.5%) showed significant growth. Cinema (+52.5%) showed particularly strong growth, which is likely due in part to the blockbuster The Odyssey.

The two media groups out-of-home and TV were the only groups to post a positive result YTD (16.8% and 0.3%).

In the digital market, gross advertising pressure amounted to CHF 163.8 million in July, slightly higher than in the previous year at +3.9%.* A comparison to the previous year – especially for search and YouTube – remains limited. Search dominated with a share of 64.6 percent, followed by display with 25.8 percent and YouTube with 9.6 percent.

*Google implemented a security update at the beginning of July, which led to higher volatility in data collection. The situation improved again over the course of the month. We are working on stabilizing data collection in the long term.

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Advertising pressure in the market as a whole

Advertising pressure development up to July 2026 in CHF million gross.

Positive performance in eleven sectors

As in the previous month, the telecommunications industry once again posted the strongest percentage growth in July at 32.4%, which was partly attributable to the Swisscom mobile campaign. This was followed by energy (+27.3%), leisure, gastronomy, tourism (+27.2%), cleaning (+23.3%) and media (+22.0%). With growth of 10.9 percent, the food industry is also well above the previous year’s figure and at the same time tops the rankings due to total advertising spend in the current month and YTD.

Tobacco products, finance, beverages, fashion & sport and building, industry, furnishings also show percentage increases compared to the previous year.

Decline in ten sectors

On the other hand, ten sectors recorded significant year-on-year declines. Public transport companies (-49.8%), digital & household (-32.3%), cosmetics & toiletries (-26.1%) and personal care (-24.6%) were particularly affected. Despite a percentage decline of 5.6%, the retail sector remained in second place.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking for July 2026.

Top advertisers and products

The top advertisers and most advertised products and services (excluding range, image and other advertising) in July 2026.

Media Mix

Media mix for July.

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Advertising pressure in the digital market

Development of advertising pressure up to July 2026 in CHF million gross.

*The traditional advertising market and the digital channels (search, YouTube, display) are shown separately to enable better comparability with the previous year. Fluctuations in online recording can be exacerbated by external influences – in particular, by technical updates undertaken by major platforms such as Google or YouTube. This applies in particular to search, which sees regular changes that may affect the ability to compare gross advertising pressure with the previous year.

Sector ranking YTD: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

As of July, the food industry continued to lead the traditional advertising market, followed by retail trade and finance in second and third place. This means that the ranking remained unchanged compared to the previous month of June. In the digital advertising market, however, the picture was significantly different: the food sector ranked only twelfth, while the retail trade sector came in fourth place. The financial sector was also in the top three in the digital market and occupied second place – behind leisure, gastronomy and tourism in first place and ahead of services in third. Leisure, gastronomy & tourism’s top position is due in particular to the high advertising investment of Trivago.ch. In the digital market, too, the composition of the top three remained unchanged compared to June.

In both rankings, the vehicles sector was in seventh place; pharmaceuticals & health and fashion & sport took the middle third; and media, energy, cleaning and tobacco products the bottom third.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking for July 2026.

Top digital products

The most advertised products and services (excluding range, image and other advertising) in July 2026.

Search continues to dominate the digital media mix with a share of 64.6 percent. The advertising environment is dominated especially by travel, comparison and financial offers. Booking.com was again at the top in July, followed by Comparis.ch and Trivago.ch. Comparis.ch moved up from third to second position compared to the previous month.

Display and YouTube showed a broader mix of telecommunications, consumer goods, entertainment and tourism. As in the previous month, the mobile provider Spusu.ch led the ranking in display, followed by Swiss Casinos Pfäffikon Zürichsee in second place and Schweizer Obstverband in third. Energy Schweiz solar energy ranked first on YouTube, followed by McDonald’s Restaurants and the e-commerce company Digitec.ch.

Disney+ was the only product to be in the top 10 in multiple channels: 10th in display and 7th on YouTube. It’s also striking that two current feature films – The Odyssey in display and Toy Story 5 on YouTube – are in the top 10.

With the IQOS tobacco heating system and Ploom EVO tobacco sticks, two tobacco heating brands have made it into the display advertising top 10 at the same time.

Media Mix

Media mix for July 2026.

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