Swiss advertising market: online advertising on the rise

Online advertising is included in the Swiss advertising statistics for the first time. This increased significantly compared to the previous year.The Advertising Statistics Foundation has once again compiled net sales from the Swiss advertising market. Advertising sales totaling CHF 5210 million were reported for 2015. This result is just below the previous year's level (-3%).Since 2016, the advertising statistics now include figures on the development of online advertising. With an increase of 7%, sales in this area have grown significantly compared to the previous year. Online display advertising recorded the strongest growth, with +8% to CHF 215 million. Revenues from online directories were also up on the previous year (+5%).Cinema and out-of-home advertising with positive development There were also positive developments in out-of-home advertising compared to 2014 (+4%). Digital advertising in particular grew here, with a growth rate of 9%. Cinema advertising recorded an increase in sales from CHF 28 million to CHF 34 million last year. In contrast to online directories, business with printed address and telephone directories declined (-12%). The TV (-3%) and radio (-5%) categories also recorded declining advertising sales, and advertising and promotional articles have been included in the advertising statistics for the first time this year. Its turnover fell by 6% to 692 million Swiss francs.

Advertising pie remains stably distributedAdvertising income from the press fell compared to the previous year (-6%). However, with sales of over CHF 1.4 billion, it remains the most important advertising category ahead of TV and direct marketing (see chart).Expansion to include new advertising mediaIn recent years, the Swiss Advertising Statistics Foundation has tried unsuccessfully to collect comparable sales figures for display advertising. Thanks to an improved response rate from the market, the figures for online advertising can finally be reported in 2016. With the inclusion of Promoswiss, sales for advertising and promotional items are now also reported. This means that even more relevant advertising media are represented in the statistics. As the previous year's figures were also collected for both newly included advertising categories, comparisons with 2014 are possible.Search engine advertising is still missingThe Swiss Advertising Clients Association (SWA) has actively supported the work of the Swiss Advertising Statistics Foundation as a foundation member for many years. Accordingly, Director Roland Ehrler is delighted that precise figures on online and promotional products have been published for the first time this year. Nevertheless, Ehrler still sees room for improvement: "Unfortunately, the significant turnover for search engine advertising is still missing from online. In other countries, detailed figures are also published on promotions, trade fairs, public relations and direct marketing." In general, commercial communication today is becoming increasingly targeted. "This is putting pressure on the previously measured media," says Ehrler. "This is also reflected in the latest figures, which show a slight decline in advertising expenditure. However, this does not mean that advertisers have actually invested less across all media and communication disciplines. We simply don't have the full picture today."