What Swiss advertising clients expect for 2016
ADVERTISING MARKET How do Swiss advertising clients see sales and profits developing in 2016? What are the biggest challenges and which media are they focusing on? A broad-based study provides the answers. For the third time, the Research Center for Customer Insights at the University of St. Gallen, on behalf of Leading Swiss Agencies in collaboration with the Swiss Advertising Clients Association (SWA), wrote to over 1,700 communication managers and asked them about their expectations for the current year. 110 managers responded, which corresponds to a response rate of 6.4%. Due to the high level of industry diversity and expertise of the participants, it can be assumed that the data is highly generalizable and of high quality.Despite subdued expectations for the Swiss economy over the next 1-2 years, clients are positive about their sales and profit trends
Despite the strong Swiss franc and the difficult competitive situation, the majority of companies are well positioned and are confident about 2016. 54% of those surveyed expect a slight increase in sales and 39% expect a similar increase in profits.The biggest challenge in communication is still the complexity of the communication channels
The complexity and the targeted use of communication channels continue to cause problems for around 60% advertising clients: How can I coordinate all of this? How can I reach my target audience most effectively? Over 50% of respondents see keeping pace with technical developments, defying the strong franc and the indifference of customers as the biggest challenge for 2016.Over 50% of media assets in traditional channels in 2015
According to advertising clients, 24% of total media investments went into print media last year, 16% into TV, 9% into outdoor and 1% into cinema. Despite the trend towards digital media, 52% of media investments were still made in traditional channels, with digital media continuing to grow: 35% of media funds (including own websites) were invested in digital media. The most was invested in online advertising with 11%, search engine 6%, social media 5% and email marketing 4%.No budget cuts for 2016
For 75% of respondents, the communication and media budget is not subject to any cuts in 2016. Around half of the clients report no change and just under a quarter of respondents even forecast an increase in their media budgets.a management summary of the study results will be published on leadingswissagencies.ch and swa-asa.ch in February 2016.
