Mid-year figures: a subdued start to 2025

The “traditional” Swiss advertising market achieved gross advertising pressure of CHF 1.9 billion in the first half of 2025. This represents a decline of 3.6 percent compared to the same period in the previous year, continuing the slight downturn observed for several months now.

The advertising market also remained below the previous year’s level in June: with gross advertising pressure of CHF 308.9 million, the traditional advertising market recorded a drop of 3.4 percent. However, this is not surprising in June, given the seasonal summer slump. In comparison, the figure fell just 0.7 percent in May.

The different trends within the media groups are striking. While all the traditional channels – with the exception of TV – recorded growth in May, June painted a more nuanced picture. Only out-of-home advertising resisted the downward trend, increasing by 10.0 percent.

In the first half of the year (YTD), out-of-home (+2.7%) and cinema (+5.9%) notched up positive growth.

The digital advertising market also closed the first half of the year significantly down: gross advertising pressure amounted to CHF 708.4 million, which corresponds to a decline of 32.5 percent.

The ranking within the “digital” advertising market remains stable: search is the leader of the pack with a market share of 44.0 percent, followed by display (40.2%) and YouTube (15.8%). Although YouTube grew by 7.7 percent in June, the channel lags significantly behind the two leading digital formats.

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.

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Advertising pressure in the market as a whole

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

Media experiencing strongest growth – retail takes the top spot again

9 out of 21 sectors in the traditional advertising market performed positively in June 2025. Retail continued to be the industry with the strongest advertising performance in 2025, with cumulative gross advertising pressure of CHF 210.6 million. In June, CHF 34.3 million was again sufficient for it to secure the top spot. It posted a sizable increase of 24.9 percent compared to the same month in the previous year.

However, the media sector recorded the highest percentage increase in June: with advertising pressure of CHF 3.4 million, this represents a marked uptick of 30.6 percent compared with the same month in the previous year. This was driven by factors including a campaign by the NZZ, as well as advertising for movies and pay-TV services.

Other sectors experiencing significant growth included services (+11.8%), personal care (+10.9%), digital & household (+10.3%) and food (+9.7%). The financial sector grew by 3.6 percent, while construction, industry & furnishings (+2.1%) and public transport (+3.4%) also performed positively.

Clear downturn for energy, tobacco and cosmetics

In June, 12 sectors recorded declines. The energy sector was the hardest hit, with a drop of 63.6 percent, followed by the tobacco sector (-48.3%). Both sectors are at the bottom end of the table, with advertising pressure of CHF 1.4 million and CHF 1.3 million respectively.

Cosmetics & toiletries (-34.7%) and pharmaceuticals & health (-16.2%) also experienced a clear decline. Further significant reductions were recorded by beverages (-11.6%), cleaning (-9.2%) and fashion & sport (-6.8%). The leisure, gastronomy & tourism sector recorded a downturn of 6.4 percent, while telecommunications dropped by 6.0 percent in June despite the positive annual trend. Vehicles (-26.4%) and events (-2.1%) round off the group of sectors that saw a decline.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking for 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.

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Advertising pressure in the digital market

Development of advertising pressure up to June 2025 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

Retail remains in the top three in both markets. With a share of CHF 210.6 million, it takes first place in the traditional advertising market, while a market share of 17.7% YTD puts it in second place in the digital advertising market.

The food (CHF 206.4 million) and finance (CHF 143.1 million) sectors round out the top three in the traditional market.
In the digital market, by contrast, the leisure, gastronomy & tourism sector leads the way with 18.5 percent, followed by retail (17.7%) and then finance (12.1%).

In both the digital and traditional markets, the beverage, cosmetics & toiletries, pharmaceuticals & health and fashion & sports sectors are positioned in the middle of the ranking.

In the digital market, the cleaning (0.2%) and tobacco (0.6%) sectors are at the bottom of the leaderboard despite stable figures.

In the traditional market, the tobacco (-51.8%), energy (-24.2%) and media (+8.0%) sectors are bringing up the rear in terms of gross advertising pressure.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking for June.

Top digital products

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

Activ Fitness’s campaign takes first place in June in the field of display. booking.com remains the undisputed leader in search – a stable trend since the beginning of the year – while Tchibo ladies’ clothing is now at the helm for YouTube.

Temu.com, the Chinese online marketplace, only makes it into the top 10 on YouTube in June, but has remained on a strong footing there at number seven. The tour operator TUI is once again among the top 10 in the search category, but has slipped behind in the display ranking.

Nivea also fell behind compared to May: while the brand was previously among the top products in terms of display and YouTube, it has now only made it into the top 10 on YouTube with its Nivea Skin Glow Micellar Water product – in display, by contrast, it no longer makes the cut.

Switzerland Tourism, which was still in the top 10 in May, is no longer among the leading products in display or YouTube in June.

Media Mix

Media mix for June.

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