Advertising money: Is Swissness "the key"?

The figures from the latest Swiss advertising statistics speak for themselves: Swiss advertising providers' net advertising revenue is still far below that of the pre-coronavirus year 2019. It is particularly striking that online advertising revenue for domestic providers has also fallen for the first time. By contrast, global tech platforms earned seven percent more from advertising by Swiss companies on search engines, social media and YouTube than in the previous year - namely around two billion Swiss francs.

Promise of high visibility

What has accelerated this outflow of Swiss advertising money towards the USA and China in recent years? Google, Meta and Co. have succeeded in anchoring a strong promise in the minds of many advertisers: only with us can you reach your target groups in a personalized, measurable and efficient way.

This promise is effective - not least because many marketing managers are under increasing pressure to perform. Advertising decisions today are often based more on short-term KPIs than on long-term impact. At the same time, many digital agencies have specialized in the systems of international platforms and consistently recommend them to others. This creates a market in which supposed reach has become the dominant argument - often more an illusion of visibility than real contact.

A new look at Swissness

What is striking is that even brands that focus on Swissness in their positioning invest a large proportion of their budgets on foreign platforms. This is understandable; content diversification remains important. However, Swissness should not be a label, but part of a holistic communication strategy. It is less about avoiding global channels and more about using Swiss environments more consciously. And where they can create trust and have a local impact. The strength of this trust in Swiss solutions was recently demonstrated by the adoption of the e-ID proposal: the population has spoken out in favor of Swissness and sovereignty in the digital space. Many advertisers - and we ourselves - feel the same need for reliability. We are also part of this system, consciously relying on international platforms, but combining them with Swiss channels, where proximity and credibility are crucial.

So instead of just lamenting the outflow of advertising money, we should take it as an opportunity to readjust the balance. Swissness is not a demarcation, but an invitation to once again seek greater impact where trust is created.

Five reasons for Swiss advertising solutions:

1. eye level

Due to their lack of transparency and standardized offerings, there is no question of a customer relationship at eye level with the big tech companies. Swiss advertising providers are completely different: they offer access to a transparent advertising ecosystem with reliable data on actual performance. Of course, we as a provider are also required to further expand this transparency and simplify processes - but this is precisely where our strength lies: personal dialog and proximity to our customers.

2. data partnerships

Many advertisers have valuable first-party data at their disposal. With data partnerships with Swiss advertising providers, they can make even more of it: The partners' first-party data is linked and compared in a secure environment and in compliance with data protection regulations. As a result, advertisers receive helpful insights into how they can best reach the relevant target group via a cross-media inventory. More and more advertising providers also have access to zero-party data - information that customers consciously and voluntarily provide to them, for example about their personal interests. If this data is also included, highly relevant advertising can be displayed.

3. positive image transfer

The advertising environment has an impact on how trustworthy advertising content is perceived. This has been shown time and again in studies, such as the recent "Advertising impact and trust" study by gfs-zürich. The tried-and-tested Swiss channels in particular stand for Swissness among the population - and therefore for quality, reliability and trustworthiness. These include posters in train stations, display ads on Swiss media portals and addressed mailings in people's letterboxes. If advertisers choose these channels, they transfer their positive image to their own advertising.

4th Brand Safety

In times of fake news and content without fact-checking, your own advertising can suddenly appear alongside problematic content - a risk of damage to the brand. Unlike on international platforms, this risk is low in Switzerland, as the regularly published figures from the Digital Ad Trust Switzerland initiative show: The proportion of companies whose ads are delivered in a potentially critical environment is minimal.

5 Domestic value added

Domestic advertising providers create jobs, expertise and a tax base. Choosing their inventories helps to ensure that this added value remains in the country. This may not be an emotional argument, but it is a sustainable one. After all, a functioning Swiss advertising industry ultimately strengthens everyone who works in it.

Providers also have a duty

Where does the ball lie for a new balance between global efficiency and local impact? Certainly with the advertisers and agencies, but also with the Swiss providers themselves. They must show that they can keep up in terms of content and technology and are prepared to invest more in innovation again. Initiatives such as OneDSP, which create a common programmatic infrastructure for Swiss advertising inventories, show where the journey can take us: towards solutions that are technologically competitive and at the same time utilize the strengths of local environments. In order to get there, two points are paramount: firstly, it must become easier to combine different channels and book cross-media. Secondly, more use should be made of existing data in order to address target groups more precisely and more relevantly. Because when the context, message and moment are right, advertising is not perceived as a disruption, but as a contribution that creates added value.

Swissness is not a label, but an attitude that brings reliability to a dynamic market environment. When global reach and local relevance come together, the result is communication that works because it is understood. This is precisely our task: to create impact where it is needed - through relevance, not reach.

About the author

Raphael Bratschi is Head of Business and Product Development at Swiss Post Advertising. He is responsible for the strategic development of advertising solutions and positioning in the Swiss advertising market. Swiss Post Advertising is the cross-media advertising provider of Swiss Post. With exclusive advertising environments, high-quality first-party data and many years of dialog expertise, the company ensures advertising impact with repercussions.