BSW agency ranking: 2011 will be better
BSW Leading Swiss Agencies, the association of Switzerland’s leading advertising and communications agencies, has published its annual agency ranking. Publicis continues to top the list of the most profitable advertising agencies. Following a weak 2009, the agencies are also forecasting a strong 2011.
Ranking advertising and specialty agencies
1 Publicis Communications Schweiz AG, Zurich
2 Saatchi & Saatchi, Geneva / Zurich
3 Spillmann/Felser/Leo Burnett AG, Zurich
4 Jung von Matt / Limmat AG, Zurich
5 Wirz Werbung AG, Zurich
6 Contexta AG, Berne
7 Euro RSCG, Zurich / Geneva
8 Advico Young & Rubicam AG incl. Exxtra Kommunikation, Zurich
9 Futurecom AG, Zurich
10 Ogilvy & Mather AG, Zurich
> To the complete ranking
> To the 2009 ranking
The 54 advertising and specialty agencies in the BSW 2009 generated a total of around CHF 307 million in gross operating income (GOP), 8% less than the 2008 figure of CHF 334 million. In 2009, they were responsible for advertising money amounting to around CHF 2 billion for their clients. This corresponds to around 2/3 of all advertising investments made via agencies in Switzerland.
Ranking media agencies
Media agencies have published their own ranking in the BSW since 2008. Media agencies have a different business model to advertising agencies and are therefore not directly comparable with them. The eleven media agencies generated gross operating income of CHF 46.3 million in 2009. They invested media funds worth around CHF 1.1 billion on behalf of their clients.
1 OMD Schweiz AG, Zurich
2 Zenithoptimedia AG, Zurich
3 MediaCom AG, Zurich
4 Mediaedge:cia Switzerland AG, Zurich / Lausanne
5 mediaschneider AG, Zurich
6 Mediaxis-MPG AG, Schlieren
7 Mediabrands AG, Wallisellen
8 MindShare AG, Zurich
9 mediatonic SA, Geneva
10 The whole Media AG, Basel
> To the complete ranking
> To the 2009 ranking
The ranking of BSW agencies, in which all but a few of the association's members took part, is based on gross operating income (GOP) for 2009. Overall, the members of the largest advertising agency association recorded an 8.1% drop in income in 2009 compared to 2008, while the top 10 agencies recorded a 5.8% drop. By way of comparison, total advertising expenditure in Switzerland fell by 11.4% in 2009 compared to 2008 (source: Swiss Advertising Statistics Foundation).
Sales growth expected for 2010
BSW agencies are optimistic about the future. Based on a survey conducted in October, the association assumes that the majority of BSW agencies will close the 2010 financial year with significant revenue growth. At the end of 2009, the majority of agency bosses were still forecasting stagnation or even another slight decline in income for 2010. Around two thirds of advertising and specialist agencies expect fee income to increase by an average of 7.2% compared to 2009. Media agencies are expecting an increase of 9 percent.
The BSW agencies expect further growth in 2011. A majority of advertising agency bosses expect a 10 percent better result than in 2010 (all participating agencies: + 5.7 percent), while the expectation among media agencies is 6.6 percent.
