Profits remain the exception
Advertising Expenditures: Advertising revenue declined in 2003. TV, direct mail, and movie theater advertising all saw increases.
Advertising expenditure Advertising sales dipped in 2003. TV, directories and cinema were in the black, and the survey by the Advertising Statistics Foundation now shows in unsparing detail just how difficult 2003 was for many media. With a drop of five percent or CHF 267 million, the downward slide in net advertising sales continued unabated last year. In total, they amounted to CHF 5.123 billion, only slightly more than in 1998, but even in a market characterized by negative developments, there are winners. Address books were once again in full swing. After having already stood out in previous years with high growth rates, they again achieved a proud plus of 13 million francs (+7.3%) in 2003. However, the advertising market crisis has also left its mark on the high-flyer. Growth in 2002 had been twice as high.
In addition to directories, only two other media categories recorded rising sales: television and cinema advertising. At just 0.8 percent, the increase in the latter is in the rounding range. Television, on the other hand, posted a significant gain of CHF 6 million (+1%).
However, this growth is solely attributable to advertising windows, which increased their revenues by nine million (+7.2%). SRG broadcasters remained just at the previous year's level with a drop of one million francs (-0.5TP3T). By contrast, private Swiss TV stations suffered more, with revenues falling by 4.8% to CHF 31 million.
Teletext, whose advertising revenues have been stagnating for many years, fared very similarly. With a drop of 7.9 percent, it has now fallen back to the level of 1999. Among the electronic media, radio advertising also suffered a small loss of two million francs (-1.8%). The fat years are also over for direct advertising for the time being. After lush growth rates in previous years, the trend has now reversed, even if the loss of 2.5 percent was comparatively moderate.
Business press in the basement
The press accounted for the largest share of the total loss of all media, namely CHF 245 million (-9.6%). The financial and business press was by far the hardest hit, with sales plummeting by CHF 19 million (-23.3%). However, the daily press also had an extraordinarily difficult time with a drop of CHF 177 million (-12.6%). This was particularly true of the major titles, where losses were above average (see box). Business was also tough for the regional weekly press, which lost CHF 54 million (-8.7%). The Sunday press, which was one of the rare winners in the previous year, was also on the losing side. It lost CHF 14 million (-7.6%). By contrast, consumer magazines fared comparatively well, "only" losing CHF 8 million (-3.4%).
The only positive result among the press titles was reported by the category of specialty and hobby magazines, whose sales rose by three million francs (+1.1%). However, the increase is exclusively attributable to various scene, party and youth magazines launched in previous years, which have only now started to report their advertising revenues to the Advertising Statistics Foundation. The delay in reporting is the main reason for the unusually high increase of 59.7 percent or four million francs for these titles.
Net advertising revenue does not yet provide any information on the development of the Internet. This gap could be closed as early as next year. "The final decision has not yet been made, but the Internet market is now structured to such an extent that integration is within sight," explains Rolf Blum, project manager at the Advertising Statistics Foundation.
Address books were the top-selling advertising product in 2003.
In addition to directories, only two other media categories recorded rising sales: television and cinema advertising. At just 0.8 percent, the increase in the latter is in the rounding range. Television, on the other hand, posted a significant gain of CHF 6 million (+1%).
However, this growth is solely attributable to advertising windows, which increased their revenues by nine million (+7.2%). SRG broadcasters remained just at the previous year's level with a drop of one million francs (-0.5TP3T). By contrast, private Swiss TV stations suffered more, with revenues falling by 4.8% to CHF 31 million.
Teletext, whose advertising revenues have been stagnating for many years, fared very similarly. With a drop of 7.9 percent, it has now fallen back to the level of 1999. Among the electronic media, radio advertising also suffered a small loss of two million francs (-1.8%). The fat years are also over for direct advertising for the time being. After lush growth rates in previous years, the trend has now reversed, even if the loss of 2.5 percent was comparatively moderate.
Business press in the basement
The press accounted for the largest share of the total loss of all media, namely CHF 245 million (-9.6%). The financial and business press was by far the hardest hit, with sales plummeting by CHF 19 million (-23.3%). However, the daily press also had an extraordinarily difficult time with a drop of CHF 177 million (-12.6%). This was particularly true of the major titles, where losses were above average (see box). Business was also tough for the regional weekly press, which lost CHF 54 million (-8.7%). The Sunday press, which was one of the rare winners in the previous year, was also on the losing side. It lost CHF 14 million (-7.6%). By contrast, consumer magazines fared comparatively well, "only" losing CHF 8 million (-3.4%).
The only positive result among the press titles was reported by the category of specialty and hobby magazines, whose sales rose by three million francs (+1.1%). However, the increase is exclusively attributable to various scene, party and youth magazines launched in previous years, which have only now started to report their advertising revenues to the Advertising Statistics Foundation. The delay in reporting is the main reason for the unusually high increase of 59.7 percent or four million francs for these titles.
Net advertising revenue does not yet provide any information on the development of the Internet. This gap could be closed as early as next year. "The final decision has not yet been made, but the Internet market is now structured to such an extent that integration is within sight," explains Rolf Blum, project manager at the Advertising Statistics Foundation.
Address books were the top-selling advertising product in 2003.
Losses with job advertisementsAmong the daily press, the major newspapers suffered above-average losses. Category I titles (circulation over 50,000) were down by 13.9 percent or 138 million francs. The daily newspapers in category II (circulations between 10,000 and 50,000) fell by 9.4 percent or 29 million francs. The smallest category (circulation under 10,000) lost 10.1 percent or eight million francs. Job advertisements contributed significantly to the marked losses: these shrank by no less than 34.3 percent or 109 million francs across Switzerland as a whole. (dse)
Daniel Schifferle
