Advertising expenditure clearly up in the first quarter

Market research Gross advertising investment in Switzerland increased by 8.7% in March compared to the same month last year, showing a clear upward trend for the first quarter of 2005, according to figures from market researcher Media Focus. In January, an increase of 1.3% was measured and in February an increase of 6.2%. For the quarter as a whole, the increase amounted to 5.7%, which corresponds to CHF 47.9 million. The transport (64.6%), watches and jewelry (63.7%) and household goods and appliances (31%) sectors invested significantly more in advertising in these three months. By contrast, the vehicle market, by far the largest reported sector with a volume of CHF 92.8 million, declined slightly (-1%). There was even significantly less advertising than in the previous year in the consumer electronics (-19%) and tobacco products (-18%) sectors.