Advertising Market Trend

March 2025

The Swiss advertising market for “traditional” media closed March 2025 down 4.0 percent on the same month the previous year, at a total of CHF 340.7 million gross. The drop in March was even steeper than it had been the month before (-3.2%).

No media group was able to escape the negative trend and exceed the figure for the same month the previous year. Nevertheless, the ranking within the media mix remains unchanged: TV first, followed by print, then out-of-home, radio and cinema.

After the first quarter, advertising pressure in the traditional advertising market thus stands at CHF 859.5 million gross, equivalent to a 4.3 percent drop already on 2024.

Despite the significant Google adjustments, search still leads the way in the digital advertising market, accounting for a 52.3 percent share. It is followed by display advertising at 33.1 percent, then YouTube at 14.6 percent.While the results for search and display are lower than in the previous year, YouTube continues to grow.

Advertising pressure in the market as a whole

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

Retail continues to dominate

Only 8 out of 21 sectors in the traditional advertising market bucked the general downward trend by reporting positive figures.

Retail significantly outperformed the other sectors in terms of gross advertising pressure both in March (CHF 36.2 million) and YTD. It only recorded modest growth of 5.8 percent compared with the same month the previous year, however. Other sectors posted much greater increases, such as media (+18.2%), cleaning (+17.6%) and digital & household (+17.0%).

Leisure, gastronomy and tourism (6.4%), pharmaceuticals & health (+4.4%), public transport (+13.7%) and personal care (+2.1%) also reported positive figures.

Downward trend in 13 sectors

In spite of their higher placing, many of the sectors in the top third in the ranking are in the red. These include food, which retains second spot despite a drop of 6.9 percent. The top third is rounded out by construction, industry and furnishings (-9.6%), initiatives & campaigns (-3.7%), automotive (-9.1%) and finance (-1.1%).

At the bottom of the table, energy and tobacco posted the largest percentage drops of -58.8 percent and -29.1 percent, respectively.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking for March.

Top advertisers and products

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

Media Mix

Media mix for March.

Advertising pressure in the digital market

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

Sector ranking: traditional vs. digital channels in comparison

In both markets, the leisure, gastronomy and tourism and retail sectors remained in the top 3.

In the digital market, leisure, gastronomy and tourism leads the way both YTD and in the current month. In the traditional market, on the other hand, retail occupies the top spot.

The beverages sector lies in 14th place in both the digital and the traditional market. Pharmaceuticals & health and cosmetics & toiletries likewise hover around the middle of the ranking in both markets.

The tobacco sector brings up the rear in the traditional market, while it is third from bottom in the digital market. By contrast, cleaning is bottom of the ranking in the digital market but occupies 16th spot in the traditional market.

Sector ranking

Sector ranking for March.

Top digital products

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

The wireless carrier spusu.ch again took first place in the display sector, while booking.com was top of the search rankings, as it was the previous month, and ZYN tobacco-free nicotine pouches were at the top of the YouTube list. Swiss Airlines flights and swiss.com each occupy ninth place in the display and search sectors, respectively.