Swiss advertising market struggles with long-term consequences of the Corona crisis
While the Swiss advertising market has always been significantly weaker in February than in January over the past two years, it has recovered slightly in February 2021 following the significant slump in January. This is shown by the advertising market trend from Media Focus.
Compared to the previous month of January, the Swiss advertising market recorded an increase of 7.4% in February. However, at 313.2 million gross advertising francs, the month is still well down on the previous year at 20.1%. Cumulative advertising pressure amounted to 604.7 million gross advertising francs, around 28% below the previous year's figure.
Among the sectors, six out of 21 sectors reported higher advertising pressure in February, while only radio saw a slight increase among the media groups. However, this increase in advertising pressure is not organic, but can be attributed to the integration of three new stations in French-speaking Switzerland at the beginning of the year.
Cleaning further increases advertising pressure
The cleaning industry also significantly increased its advertising pressure in February (+76.6%). The winning sectors also include tobacco products (+43.6%), energy (+24.4%) and retail (+23.3%), which recorded double-digit year-on-year growth. The retail trade is thus less than one percent behind its previous year's result YTD. The food sector (+2.5%) increased slightly again in February and is thus only just (-2.3%) behind the previous year's YTD figure. Digital and household (+1.2%) also saw a slight increase after the significant decline in January.
Lockdown leaves its mark
The list of sectors that are more defensive in terms of advertising in February 2021 than in the previous year is long. Events (-76.7%) and leisure, gastronomy, tourism (-59.6%) are - unsurprisingly - the sectors with the highest percentage decline in advertising pressure. They are directly followed by transport companies (-59%), the media industry (-53.8%), fashion & sport (-48%) and the beverage industry (-36.6%), which was even more stable in January 2021 at "only" -8.1%. Vehicles (-28.7%), services (-27%) and finance (-22.4%) also saw declines of over 20 percent.
Top product: Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
The Apple iPhone 12 Pro, which ranked third in the previous month, dropped out of the top 10 products in February. Instead, another smartphone from the competition shot to the top of the rankings - the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G. In 2nd place is the Caddy Cargo Transporter from VW. Credit Suisse in 3rd place with its management consultancy campaign. Knorr Stocki (4th place) and McDonald's Restaurant (6th place) provide food during the lockdown.
UPC Giga Internet (5th place) and the Sunrise We Mobile subscription (7th place) ensure that the online order is received and you can shop at Home24.ch (8th place). If you want to escape the daily grind with a little luck and a lot of cash, you can bet on Swisslos Euromillions tickets (rank 9). Those who dream more realistically can escape into the world of Disney+ (ranked 10th). The streaming service is back in the top 10 for the first time since July 2020 with new star content.
There is no major movement among advertisers. Coop, Migros and Procter & Gamble secure the podium places.
