Advertising bans & co.: The topics of the KS/CS general meeting
The 99th General Meeting of KS/CS Kommunikation Schweiz focused on advertising bans—and on the issues that most significantly shaped the association’s work over the past year.
KS/CS Communication Switzerland, the umbrella organization of the Swiss advertising industry, held its 99th general meeting in Bern today. In his speech, Jürg Bachmann, President of KS/CS Communication Switzerland, summarized the political work for the advertising industry.
In addition to the speech by National Councillor Gregor Rutz, National Councillors Nicolò Paganini and Greta Gysin discussed advertising bans in depth during the panel discussion.
Helping to shape politics
KS/CS Communication Switzerland represents the interests of the Swiss advertising industry in politics, whether at national, cantonal or municipal level. Jürg Bachmann, President of KS/CS, gave the members present an insight into this core business. Four main topics have shaped the association's political work over the past year: The implementation of the tobacco advertising ban initiative ("Yes to protecting children and young people from tobacco advertising"; referendum on February 13, 2022), the restrictions and bans on outdoor advertising, the upcoming revision of the Foodstuffs Act and the Gambling Act.
In addition to these larger dossiers, KS/CS also deals with numerous individual proposals. A free and creative advertising regulation is only possible if these are fought against. "Only if we as an industry put forward our interests can we also play a role in shaping policy," says Jürg Bachmann. In his speech, Gregor Rutz, National Councillor and President of the Parliamentary Group "Market and Advertising", outlined the details of the political process and the issues that the advertising industry is dealing with in the current legislative period.
At the panel discussion, National Councillor Greta Gysin (Greens, TI) and her fellow Councillor and member of the parliamentary group "Market and Advertising" Nicolò Paganini (Die Mitte, SG), led by moderator Yves Schott, discussed the topic of "Advertising bans: Symbolic policy or protective measure?" on various political issues.
New board members
The meeting also bid farewell to three Board members who are no longer standing for election. Natasja Sommer-Feldbrugge (Public Affairs Director at The Coca-Cola Company and board member of the IAA Swiss Chapter), Beat Krebs (Chief Activation Officer at Omnicom Media Group Schweiz AG and President of Leading Swiss Agencies) and Vera Katz (Managing Director of Cliens Dentsu International, member of the KS/CS Regional Commission for French-speaking Switzerland) were newly elected as replacements.
The latest figures from the Swiss Advertising Statistics Foundation were presented by Roland Ehrler, Vice-President of the Foundation for Advertising Statistics: "What strikes me as remarkable about the last advertising year is that we are seeing an overall stagnation in net advertising expenditure. We would much rather announce an increase every year. But at least some media categories were able to increase their sales, such as out-of-home advertising, online and radio."
