These are the findings of the second edition of the Advertising Barometer Switzerland, an initiative of SWA and Publicitas. After the first Advertising Barometer survey in January 2013 had forecast stable investment sentiment for the first half of 2013, the sentiment indicator determined in July for the second half of the year lost two percentage points, indicating a slight decline in advertising investment (above the line).

Notwithstanding this trend for the market as a whole, four of the seven media categories surveyed separately report positive investment sentiment (> 50), with online media in particular - as in the previous survey - continuing to be able to count on an increasing willingness to invest. Negative (< 50), by contrast, are the prospects for print media and outdoor advertising. Compared with the January figures for the different categories, it is noticeable that the two categories with the lowest index values (print and radio) show the highest rates of increase. This reduces the gap between the categories with the highest and lowest sentiment indicators from 30 to 21 index points. In addition to spending on the media types mentioned, the Advertising Barometer Switzerland also records advertising investment "below the line". With an index value of 57, the positive investment sentiment already observed for this area in January has continued through the middle of the year.

The advertising barometer

The findings of the Advertising Barometer are based on a survey of a standing panel of a total of 40 advertising clients, who together account for around a quarter of gross advertising spending in Switzerland. The survey covers the actual net advertising spend in the previous semester and the forecast net values for the following semester. The current survey was conducted in July 2013. To calculate investment sentiment, the Advertising Barometer Switzerland uses a diffusion index, which expresses the ratio of advertising clients increasing, decreasing or leaving their advertising budgets unchanged, and thus indicates the direction of an expected change. Index values above 50 indicate a positive development, index values below 50 a negative development. Neither the SWA nor Publicitas have insight into the detailed figures.

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Around one-third of Swiss advertisers plan to increase their advertising investments (above the line) in the first half of 2013 compared with the second half of 2012. Likewise, one-third expect to reduce their media spending. At the same time, the results point to continuing budget shifts between the individual media types. However, the stabilization is being driven by very different investment trends within the individual media types. While the online advertising channel (display, search, classified) with 67 index points and cinema with 59 points can expect a positive investment mood, print media with 39 points and radio with 37 points have to reckon with a negative mood. However, the dynamics behind these trends can only be assessed in a time comparison with the second wave of the "Advertising Barometer Switzerland," which will go into the field in summer 2013.

In addition to spending on the media types mentioned, the "Advertising Barometer Switzerland" also records advertising investment below the line. With an index value of 54, positive investment sentiment can also be observed for this advertising area at the beginning of 2013.

The "Advertising Barometer Switzerland" is a joint initiative of the Swiss Advertising Clients Association SWA and Publicitas. The barometer is intended to serve as an instrument for the industry to be able to continuously record investment sentiment among advertising clients in Switzerland. "The results of the "Advertising Barometer Switzerland" supplement the existing data on the Swiss advertising market with prognostic information that allows advertising-financed media in particular to reduce planning uncertainty," says Mirko Marr, project manager of "Advertising Barometer Switzerland" Publicitas. The "Advertising Barometer Switzerland" adds value to the advertising market, says Roland Ehrler, Director of SWA.

The findings of the "Advertising Barometer Switzerland" are based on a survey of a standing panel of a total of 40 advertising clients, who together account for around a quarter of gross advertising spending in Switzerland. The survey covers the actual net advertising spend in the previous semester and the forecast net figures for the following semester. The current and first survey was conducted in December 2012. The "Advertising Barometer Switzerland" uses a diffusion index to calculate investment sentiment. This index expresses the ratio of advertising clients increasing, decreasing or leaving their advertising budgets unchanged, and thus indicates the direction of an expected change. Index values above 50 indicate a positive development, index values below 50 a negative development.