LSA ranking 2015: No surprises
There has been little change at the top of the ranking of Switzerland's largest communications and media agencies. As in the previous year, the top three spots are held by Publicis Communications Switzerland, the Wirz Group, and the Y&R Group.
Havas Group Switzerland was able to make up one place and is ahead of Leo Burnett Switzerland, Jung von Matt/Limmat and the Bern-based agency Contexta. The ranking of LSA agencies is primarily for transparency, but also as a guide for clients when choosing an agency, according to a statement. Less than 10 percent of all advertising agencies based in Switzerland meet the association's quality requirements and have been accepted as members of Leading Swiss Agencies. Currently, the association counts a total of 72 individual agencies.
Communications Agencies
The 2015 ranking of the leading communications agencies in Switzerland is based on the gross operating revenues (BBE) of 2014 (see "Explanations on the ranking"). With few exceptions, all members of the association participated in the ranking. LSA's 56 communications agencies generated a total of around CHF 313 million in gross operating revenues in 2014, a slight increase on 2013.
Cat. = Category (in millions)
VZS = Number of employees (full-time positions)
| Agency | Cat. | VZS | |
| 1 | Publicis Communications Switzerland, Zurich (incl. ZenithOptimedia AG, Zurich / Nyon) | 25.0 - 30.0 | 154 |
| 2 | Wirz Group, Zurich (Wirz Advertising, Wirz Corporate AG, Wirz Wietlisbach) | 20.0 - 25.0 | 120 |
| 3 | Y&R Group Switzerland, Zurich (Advico Y&R, Futurecom, Wunderman) | 17.5 - 20.0 | n/a |
| 4 | Havas Group Switzerland (Havas Worldwide, Zurich/Genève and Havas Media, Schlieren) | 85 | |
| 5 | Leo Burnett Switzerland, Zurich | 92 | |
| 6 | Jung von Matt/Limmat, Zurich | 15.0 - 17.5 | 78 |
| 7 | Contexta, Bern | 12.5 - 15.0 | 58 |
| 8 | Goldbach Interactive (Switzerland), Zurich | 10.0 - 12.5 | 71 |
| 9 | Ogilvy & Mather, Zurich | n/a | |
| 10 | Saatchi & Saatchi, Carouge | 7.5 - 10.0 | 29 |
| 11 | Valencia Communication, Basel | 50 | |
| 12 | Dachcom Group, Rheineck/Winterthur (Dachcom.ch and Dachcom.Digital) | 51 | |
| 13 | KSP Krieg Schlupp Partner Advertising Agency, Zurich | 47 | |
| 14 | TBWA Switzerland, Zurich | 6.0 - 7.5 | 37 |
| 15 | Namics 13, Zurich | 52 | |
| 16 | Content&Form, Zurich | 36 | |
| 17 | Maxomedia, Bern | 42 | |
| 18 | Serranetga, Zurich | 30 | |
| 19 | Serviceplan Suisse, Zurich | 5.0 - 6.0 | 41 |
| 20 | FCB Zurich, Zurich | 4.0 - 5.0 | 28 |
| 21 | Mainland, St. Gallen / Zurich | 28 | |
| 22 | Scholz & Friends Switzerland, Zurich | 35 | |
| 23 | In Flagranti Communication, Lyss | 27 | |
| 24 | Republica, Bern | 27 | |
| 25 | One Marketing Services, Zurich | 18 | |
| 26 | Rufener Events Ltd, Zurich | 3.0 - 4.0 | 28 |
| 27 | Polyconsult, Bern | 19 | |
| 28 | Koch Marketing Communication, Frauenfeld | 16 | |
| 29 | Komet Advertising Agency, Bern | 20 | |
| 30 | Process, Zurich | 17 | |
| 31 | Blue Spirit Communications, Schlieren | 27 | |
| 32 | Gaultier Collette, Genève | 17 | |
| 33 | cR advertising agency, Basel | 2.0 - 3.0 | 18 |
| 34 | Agency at the airport, Altenrhein | 9 | |
| 35 | Renzen & Partner, Aarau | 17 | |
| 36 | Agence Trio, Lausanne / Zurich | 19 | |
| 37 | E,T&H Advertising Agency, Rorschach | 17 | |
| 38 | Metzger Rottmann Bürge Partner, Erlenbach | 16 | |
| 39 | BSSM Advertising Agency, Basel | 13 | |
| 40 | Customer & Co, Zurich | 6 | |
| 41 | Freicom Communications, St. Gallen / Zurich / Chur | 12 | |
| 42 | Erdmannpeisker, Biel | 8 | |
| 43 | Prime Communications, Zurich | 12 | |
| 44 | S&W Advertising Agency, Baden | 1.5 - 2.0 | 9 |
| 45 | Weber Harbeke Partners Advertising Agency, Zurich |
Agencies that do not participate in the LSA ranking:
Ander Group, Agno / DD Com, Zurich / Hofer, Berne / JWT/Fabrikant Werbeagentur, Zurich / Marti Communications, Zurich / Netvertising, Zurich / Ottiger & Partner, Lucerne / Synthèse Stratégie et communication d'entreprise, Lausanne
Media agencies
Since 2008, LSA's media agencies have published their own ranking. Media agencies have a different business model from advertising agencies and are therefore not directly comparable with them. The 16 LSA media agencies generated CHF 77.9 million in gross operating revenues in 2014, 9.5 percent more than in the previous year.
The ranking was established on the basis of the effective BBE (gross operating income) and is published without figures - but with information on the employees.
| 1 | Mediacom, Zurich | over 7.5 | 75 |
| 2 | Omnicom Media Group Switzerland, Zurich (OMD Switzerland, PHD Switzerland) | 103 | |
| 3 | Zenith Optimedia, Zurich / Nyon (part of Publicis Communications Switzerland) | 48 | |
| 4 | Mediaschneider, Zurich | 41 | |
| 5 | Havas Media, Schlieren (part of the Havas Group Switzerland) | 5.0 - 7.5 | 25 |
| 6 | MEC Switzerland, Zurich / Lausanne | 37 | |
| 7 | Mediatonic, Genève | 21 | |
| 8 | Dentsu Aegis Network Switzerland, Zurich (Carat, iProspect, Vizeum) | 2.5 - 5.0 | 18 |
| 9 | Mindshare, Zurich | 22 | |
| 10 | TWmedia The whole Media, Basel | up to 2.5 | 9 |
| 11 | Mediabrands, Zurich | 16 | |
| 12 | Konnex Agency for Media Communication, Winterthur | 5 | |
| 13 | MMB Media Agency, Glattbrugg | 20 | |
| 14 | JBW Media, Kilchberg | 6 |
Explanations about the ranking
After an interruption of five years - due to the effects of the US stock exchange law "Sarbanes-Oxley Act" - the LSA ranking (formerly bsw ranking) was resumed in 2007. This means that comparisons with previous years are also possible again. Since 2014, companies have been combined as a group that are listed under the same brand in the
market or have subsidiaries that are also LSA members. The 2015 ranking is based on gross operating income in 2014.
Gross operating income:
Agency's own services charged to clients, including freelancers: fees from consulting of all kinds, compensation for textual, graphic and other work according to the income statement, excluding VAT and transitory items or income of other kinds.
Categories:
Agencies are listed within their respective categories by actual gross operating revenue generated.
