Swiss print media are existentially dependent on Migros

The Republic has been involved in the two-part series of articles on "The systematic company" Migros also deals with the advertising expenditure of the orange giant with the capital M.

The online magazine has analyzed figures from Media Focus and comes to the conclusion that many Swiss media titles depend on the two retailers Migros and Coop for their existence. Depending on the publication, 20 to 50 percent of the total gross advertising pressure comes from the two major distributors.

Migros' importance is steadily increasing - not because the company is increasing its advertising expenditure, but because others are cutting back. Since 2019, for example, the print titles have had to make do without the advertisements of top 5 advertiser Swisscom because the company decided last year to almost completely dispense with this channel. The decision has caused harsh criticism in the media world.

This development increases the Swiss media's dependence on Migros. According to Republik, there is just one half-page advertisement in the Tages-Anzeiger edition of 12 December - from Migros. In 2018, almost every second advertisement in Blick came from the retailer, while the proportion in SonntagsZeitung has increased by 7% since 2016 (9%) (2018: 16%) (see chart).

Migros' share of newspaper advertising volume (graphic: Republik, data source: Media Focus): The figures do not show the actual income, which is not known, but a total according to the media rates for individual advertisements. Volume discounts and special conditions from which Migros benefits are not included (as they are unknown).

The question naturally arises as to what extent the media are still willing to write critically about Migros in view of this direct financial dependence. When the then editor-in-chief of the Basler Zeitung, Markus Somm, stated all too bluntly in 2016 that such advertisers should "not be made to look stupid" in the editorial section, there was a storm of indignation across the Swiss media landscape - knowing full well that Somm had raised a questionable but not entirely unrealized issue. The only backing Somm received at the time was from Hanspeter Lebrument, the then president of the publishing house, who showed understanding for the practice of not upsetting major customers.

In contrast to other major print advertisers, Migros has never imposed an advertising boycott on a certain title. Nevertheless, the company seems to be keen not to let go of the reins of what is written about its own company. According to Republik, the company is "increasingly scrutinizing what employees say about Migros and what journalists write".