Declining Swiss advertising market in 2015 despite growth in TV, online and mobile
By mid-2015, advertising budgets in the Swiss market will decline by 2.5 percent. Traditional media will be hardest hit, with a 3.5 percent decline. The decline will be somewhat less severe for other forms of communication, which will see a 1.2 percent drop.
Twice a year, the Media Research Group surveys the top 750 advertisers about their communication plans for the coming twelve months. The data collected at the beginning of the year applies to the current year, while the data collected mid-year applies to the second half of the current year and the first half of the following year. In the first survey, 411 advertisers disclosed their communication plans, while 424 did so in the second survey, which has just been completed. In addition to the size of their available communication budgets, respondents were also asked how those budgets were allocated across the various media and communication channels.
The total communications budget for the period from July 2014 to June 2015 amounts to 5.75 billion francs. This is 145 million francs less than at the beginning of the year. When viewed at the level of individual clients, this decline is somewhat put into perspective. In the most recent survey, just under three in ten clients (28.6 percent) expressed the intention to increase their communications budget over the next twelve months. In January, only one in six (16.3 percent) said this. Conversely, only 15.4 percent intend to cut their budget. This is a clear indication that the decline in advertising spending is primarily attributable to advertisers with larger communication budgets.
For the period from July '14 to June '15, the top 750 advertisers forecast a decline in media volume of 110 million francs to 2.96 billion francs. The breakdown of this figure across the various media categories continues to be subject to fairly significant changes:
| 2nd semester of 2014 through 1st semester of 2015 | 2014 | Difference | |
| Newspapers | 18,7% | 20,1% | -1,4 |
| Magazines | 16,1% | 16,6% | -0,5 |
| Television | 29,0% | 28,0% | +1,0 |
| Radio | 2,5% | 2,4% | +0,1 |
| Cinema | 1,0% | 0,9% | +0,1 |
| Outdoor advertising | 11,8% | 11,8% | +/-0 |
| Online Media | 18,1% | 17,7% | +0,4 |
| Mobile Media | 2.9% | 2.5% | +0.4 |
The decline in advertising spending on print media shows no signs of stopping. Its share of the market shrinks by another two percent, with newspapers losing 1.4 percent and magazines 0.5 percent. Outdoor advertising has managed to maintain its share. All other sectors are growing, with television leading the way, increasing its share by a full one percent. Online and mobile media are also expanding their shares by 0.4 percent each.
The rest of the communications sector is losing just 35 million francs. It is also subject to fewer major changes:
| 2nd semester of 2014 through 1st semester of 2015 | 2014 | Difference | |
| traditional media | 51,7% | 52,3% | -0,6 |
| Direct mail | 13,6% | 12,9% | +0,7 |
| Sponsoring | 11,7% | 11,7% | +/-0 |
| Sales Promotion | 13,2% | 13,1% | +0,1 |
| Trade fairs | 4,7% | 4,8% | -0,1 |
| PR | 5,1% | 5,3% | -0,2 |
The decline in advertising spending on print media is responsible for the drop in traditional media’s share of total communications. At the beginning of the year, advertisers planned to invest 52.3 percent of their communications budget in traditional media. By mid-year, this share had fallen to 51.7 percent. Direct marketing stands to benefit most from this decline, increasing its share by 0.7 percent to 13.6 percent. All other communication channels remain unchanged (sponsorship) or show only minor changes.
