Media Focus: Advertising pressure fell by 4.3 percent in 2009

Advertising pressure in April (-13.3%) and May (-17%) was particularly low compared to the previous year. The fact that advertising pressure for the year as a whole was "only" 4.3% lower than in 2008 is partly due to the slight increase of 2.2% in December. A small increase was also recorded in March (+1.6%) and August (+1.4%). Otherwise, advertising pressure declined in all other months.

Development of advertising pressure in the key markets
Of all the key markets, the following five product markets recorded the most significant percentage growth in 2009: the "Energy" sector increased its gross value added by a whopping 16.3% (+4.2 million Swiss francs) compared to the previous year, putting it in first place. The "Household articles/appliances" product market in turn recorded growth of 10.0% (+14.0 million Swiss francs). The "cosmetics/personal care" and "food" sectors, with year-on-year growth of 9.5% (+27.1 million Swiss francs) and 8.5% (+31.4 million Swiss francs) respectively, underline the crisis resistance of fast-moving consumer goods in the advertising market in 2009. The key "pharmaceuticals/health" market, with growth of 5.3% (+5.9 million Swiss francs), completes the top 5 in 2009.
The following five key markets appear at the other end of the ranking: advertising for "tobacco products" continues to lose ground and importance in traditional advertising media and recorded the most significant percentage decline compared to 2008 (-41.4%; -6.1 million francs). Bonuses in the "financial sector" recovered faster than gross advertising pressure, which fell by 18.8% (-68.3 million francs) in 2009 compared to the previous year. The key market of "watches/jewelry" also closed the year well down (-18.8%; -15.0 million francs). Other losers include the "Services" (-13.9%; -27.0 million francs) and "Telecommunications" (-11.6%; -26.0 million francs) sectors. Of the top 3, which will soon be down to just two, only Sunrise increased its gross advertising revenue compared to the previous year. Although this gave them the top position in the sector, they were unable to make up for the decline of Swisscom and Orange.

(Graphics: Media Focus)