The “traditional” advertising market closed out November with gross advertising pressure of CHF 412.8 million, putting it 4.0 percent down on the previous year’s figure. However, this was a minimal increase of 1.0 percent compared to the month prior.
As a result, the Christmas peak was unable to halt the downward trend which started in August 2024. All told, annual advertising pressure YTD is sitting at CHF 3,639.1 million gross, now just under the previous year’s level by 0.4 percent.
Out-of-home (once again including Livesystems for 2023 and 2024 since the half-year results) is the only one of the traditional media groups in the black compared to last year, with an increase of 2 percent. All other media groups recorded declines, the biggest of which was experienced by radio, with a drop of 14 percent. TV and print both fell by 5 percent, followed by cinema, which declined by 2 percent.
Trends across digital media are mixed. Display has declined compared to the previous year, while YouTube and search have increased.
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 November 2024 in CHF million gross.
Fewer than half of sectors saw improvements
The food sector tops the table YTD, but comes in second in November, overtaken by retail. The cleaning sector (+33.3%) is in the bottom third of the leaderboard but has seen the strongest percentage growth compared to the previous year. It is closely followed by initiatives & campaigns, with an uptick of 29.2 percent. Apart from the sectors mentioned above, leisure, gastronomy & tourism, fashion & sport, media and energy recorded positive growth compared to the previous year.
Decline in 13 sectors
In November, a total of 13 sectors posted declines on the previous year. This is particularly noticeable in the tobacco industry in the wake of the implementation of stricter restrictions on tobacco advertising in October of this year. Personal care (-35.4%) and beverages (-21.3%) also plummeted. Other sectors similarly experienced a decline, albeit to a lesser extent; they include digital & household (-17.9%) and pharmaceuticals & health (-17.7%).
Sector ranking
Sector ranking in November.
Top advertisers and products
The top advertisers and most advertised products and services (excluding range, image and other advertising) in November.
Media Mix
Media mix for November.
Advertising pressure in the digital market
Advertising pressure development up to November 2024 in CHF million gross.
Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison
In the digital market, the finance sector occupies the top spot both YTD and in November. As was the case last month, retail and leisure, gastronomy & tourism make up the rest of the top three, again both in terms of YTD ranking and in November. The food, retail and initiatives & campaigns sectors represent the top three in the “traditional” market for this month. As a result, retail takes second place in both channels. In the digital market, food and initiatives & campaigns only managed to achieve middling positions (10th 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 bottom, tobacco one below and cleaning in last place. In the “traditional” market, tobacco is rock bottom, while energy is one place higher and media third from bottom. Just like in the digital market, the same sectors as in the last two months find themselves at the bottom of the table.
Sector ranking
Sector ranking in November.
Top digital products
The most advertised products and services (excluding range, image and other advertising) in November.
alao.ch tops the table for display, while Chinese discount phenomenon TEMU.com takes the lead for YouTube and booking.com for search. No product or service managed to break into the top 10 for more than one channel.
Media Mix
Media mix for November.
Contact: mediafocus@mediafocus.ch, Tel.: +41 43 322 27 50
