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