Banks conduct string concert
Miserable third quarter 2001: The largest advertising clients cut their budgets, in some cases massively
After nine months analyzed by Media Focus, it is clear that advertising expenditure is stalling, clients are exercising restraint and budget cuts are a reality.
The good news first: of the 50 largest advertising clients in Switzerland, no fewer than 32 invested more in their commercial advertising. Only 16 reduced their budgets. However, what is decisive for the overall result is how the big spenders behave. Here the picture is far less positive. Of the top ten, only four showed positive results - six companies reduced their advertising efforts, in some cases massively. The bottom line is that the ten largest clients in Switzerland invested 2.6% less in commercial advertising.
However, a breakdown by sector shows that despite the stuttering economy, the majority still increased their commitment. As many as ten of the 18 sectors reported
higher advertising expenditure in the third quarter of 2000. The media themselves increased the most, investing an additional 18.3 million (plus 4.8 percent) in advertising. Here it is above all the newspaper publishers who - when the advertising business is no longer running so smoothly - are increasingly producing their own advertising and filler ads. The increase compared to the previous year was 10.1%.
The upward trend in retail was also pleasing, with an increase of CHF 17.1 million or 10%. The high increase in advertising investments in the hypermarket/cash & carry sub-segment of no less than 19.6% is striking. Frimago, Interdiscount and Aldi Markt also massively increased their advertising expenditure.
Services slumped by a whole quarter
On the negative side, the services sector recorded a decline in advertising investments of CHF 57.6 million, which corresponds to a fall of 25.6%. The IT/office sector is also well down on the previous year with a fall of CHF 51.2 million or 18.3%. The main reason for the slump is the massive budget cuts by telecom companies, which reduced their advertising expenditure by a total of 29.2%. The biggest slumpers are Orange with a drop of 43.8%, but TDC (formerly Sunrise and Diax) also significantly reduced its advertising expenditure. Swisscom, on the other hand, has massively made up for this year's shortfall in advertising expenditure. In the third quarter, it was only 7.2% below the previous year's level.
There were slight shifts in rankings among the top 50 in the third quarter. At the top, the previous "eternal runner-up", Coop, was able to further extend its lead over Migros and is now the largest advertising client in Switzerland for the first time. This was made possible by Migros' cost-cutting measures, with gross advertising expenditure down CHF 19 million on the previous year. There was also an exchange of places between Amag and Swisscom, which drove the car seller out of third place.
The companies with the highest percentage growth are Interdiscount with an increase of 127.1 percent and Zürcher Kantonalbank, which invested 124.2 percent more in its advertising than in 2000. However, this was an exception, as the advertising franc is no longer as loose as it used to be for the banks.
Manor (up 39.3 percent), Frimago (up 26.1 percent), Henkel (up 46.7 percent) and Epa (up 54.5 percent) also made big leaps in terms of advertising power. Not to be forgotten, however, is Möbel Pfister, whose advertising expenditure is no less than 83.8% higher than last year's result. The positive advertising growth of Toyota, Honda and Bluewin stands out in the lower ranks.
TOP-50-ADVERTISERS:
RESULTS JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2001 AND 2000
Company Gross advertising expenditure in CHF million +/- in %
01 - 09 2001 01 - 09 2000 2001/2000
1. Coop Switzerland, Basel 140.4 128.5 + 9.2
2 Migros, Zurich 126.3 145.3 - 13.0
3. Swisscom, Berne 51.1 55.0 - 7.2
4th Amag, Schinznach 33.1 30.2 + 9.7
5. Nestlé Suisse SA, Vevey 26.1 26.8 - 2.9
6. Procter + Gamble SA, Geneva 25.8 23.5 + 9.4
7. UBS Zurich/Basel 24.6 28.2 - 12.7
8. Effems AG, Zug 22.8 26.1 - 12.5
9. Philip Morris SA, Lausanne 21.9 21.0 + 4.1
10. Fust AG, Oberbüren 21.0 21.4 - 1.8
11. Unilever Schweiz AG, Zug 20.8 18.0 + 15.3
12. TDC Switzerland AG, Zurich 20.5 no comparison possible
13th Manor, Basel 19.7 14.1 + 39.3
14 Frimago AG, Volketswil 19.2 15.3 + 26.1
15. Media Markt AG, Geroldswil 19.2 18.4 + 4.4
16. CS Group, Zurich 19.3 23.5 - 17.7
17th Renault, Regensdorf 18.2 16.1 + 12.8
18 Opel (Suisse) SA, Biel 17.6 20.5 - 13.9
19. Orange Communicat. SA, Lausanne 17.4 30.9 - 43.8
20th BAT, Les Acacias 17.1 21.7 - 21.4
21 Denner AG, Zurich 17.0 17.8 - 4.5
22nd Ch. Vögele, Pfäffikon 15.5 13.5 + 14.1
23rd Peugeot (Suisse) SA, Berne 15.3 15.1 + 1.7
24 Beiersdorf AG, Münchenstein 14.4 11.9 + 20.4
25 L'Oréal Suisse SA, Geneva 14.1 no comparison possible
26. Henkel + Cie AG, Pratteln 13.3 9.1 + 46.7
27th EPO/UNIP, Zurich 13.1 8.5 + 54.5
28 Mercuri Urval AG, Zollikon 13.0 15.6 - 16.9
29th Ford Motor Comp., Zurich 12.8 11.0 + 16.2
30 Swiss Post, Berne 12.6 17.6 + 17.3
31st Möbel Pfister, Suhr 12.3 6.7 + 83.8
32nd Toyota, Safenwil 12.1 8.8 + 38.6
33rd Fiat Auto (Suisse) SA, Geneva 11.3 9.7 + 16.4
34 Coca-Cola AG, Zurich 11.2 10.2 + 9.7
35. Zürcher Kantonalbank, Zurich 10.8 4.9 + 124.2
36. McDonald's, Crissier 10.8 10.2 + 6.2
37th JT International, Dagmersellen 10.5 10.8 - 2.2
38 MMC Automobile AG, Winterthur 10.4 10.6 - 2.4
39th Interdiscount, Jegenstorf 10.2 4.5 + 127.1
40th Chrysler Jeep Import, Zurich 10.0 8.8 + 14.0
41st Mercedes Benz, Schlieren 9.8 9.2 + 6.8
42 Citroën (Suisse) SA, Geneva 9.8 8.2 + 19.0
43rd Feldschlösschen, Rheinfelden 9.7 8.8 + 10.3
44th BMW (Switzerland) AG, Dielsdorf 9.3 8.3 + 11.8
45th Corcar Automobile, Winterthur 9.1 9.0 + 1.0
46. Honda (Suisse) SA, Satigny 8.7 6.4 + 34.7
47 Feldschl. Getränke AG, Rheinfelden 8.5 7.9 + 7.9
48 TSC Assurances, Geneva 8.2 8.3 - 0.8
49 Compaq Comp. AG, Bassersdorf 8.1 8.7 - 6.8
50. Bluewin AG, Zurich 8.0 5.3 + 42.3
Source: Media Focus
GROSS EXPENDITURE ON COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING BY SECTOR - JANUARY TO SEPTEMBER 2001 AND 2000
Sector Gross advertising expenditure in CHF million +/- in %
01 - 09 2001 01 - 09 2000 2001/2000
1. media* 401.4 383.1 + 4.8
2. traffic 325.8 316.2 + 3.0
3. food 255.3 253.5 + 0.7
4. finance/insurance 236.6 231.6 + 2.2
5. IT/office 228.2 279.4 - 18.3
6. trade** 188.0 170.9 + 10.0
7. services 167.4 225.0 - 25.6
8. house/garden 153.0 152.0 + 0.7
9. cosmetics/body care 143.0 132.6 + 7.8
10. clothing/personal 128.8 123.3 + 4.4
11. leisure/tourism 111.2 115.1 - 3.4
12. beverages 110.4 105.3 + 4.8
13. investments/industry 101.7 113.5 - 10.4
14. pharma/health 58.1 59.6 - 2.6
15. tobacco products 52.2 56.1 - 7.0
16. household, cleaning and care products 41.7 38.0 + 9.9
17. consumer electronics/photography 41.7 46.0 - 9.3
18. household goods/appliances 37.2 39.4 - 5.5
* incl. filler and self-promotion of the publishers
** without individual product advertising from Coop/Denner/Migros Source: Media Focus
