Swiss Advertising Market: Out-of-Home Drives August Growth

The Swiss advertising market continues its recovery following the summer break. In August, traditional advertising spend reached 262.0 million Swiss francs, up 1 percent from the previous year. Year-to-date (YTD), total advertising spending amounts to 2,395.9 million Swiss francs, representing a 1.1 percent increase compared to the previous year. This is according to the latest figures from Media Focus.

A Mixed Picture Among Traditional Media Groups

Among traditional media groups, the picture in August was mixed. Print saw a decline of 12.5 percent, while TV was down 8.5 percent from the previous year. In contrast, radio (up 6.4 percent) and movie theaters (up 5.8 percent) posted gains. Out-of-home advertising showed particularly strong growth, up 22.0 percent. According to Media Focus, in addition to the neutrality campaign by Pro Schweiz, campaigns by Galaxus, IKEA, and McDonald’s also contributed to significantly higher out-of-home advertising volume compared to August 2025.

Looking at the performance of media groups since the beginning of the year, all media groups are showing a decline, with the exception of out-of-home (up 17.5 percent). Out-of-home is thus a major driver of overall growth in the Swiss advertising market.

Digital Market Experiences a Decline Due to Technical Factors

In the digital market, gross advertising spending in August totaled just 114.5 million Swiss francs, marking the first time this year that it has fallen below the previous year’s figure—down 33.9 percent. According to Media Focus, however, this decline should not be interpreted as an organic market trend but is largely attributable to external technical factors affecting data collection. In early July, Google implemented a security update, which led to greater volatility in data collection. The report adds that the situation improved again as the month progressed. Year-over-year comparisons remain limited, particularly for Search and YouTube.

Search dominates the digital media mix with a 50.1 percent share, followed by display at 36.4 percent and YouTube at 13.5 percent.

Eleven sectors are growing, ten are in decline

In August, the Personal Care sector posted the strongest percentage growth at 32.2 percent, primarily due to the out-of-home campaign by Fielmann Optik Image and the TV campaign for Purina Pro Plan pet food and care products by Nestlé. Nevertheless, the sector ranks in the bottom third of the table. Construction, Industry, and Home Furnishings recorded the second-highest growth at 30.1 percent and ranks in the top third of the list. These are followed by Digital & Household (up 28.7 percent), Initiatives & Campaigns (up 25.2 percent), and Telecommunications (up 22.9 percent).

Despite a negative year-to-date performance, the food industry is at the top of the rankings this month with a 13.1 percent increase. The finance sector (up 18.6 percent) rounds out the top three. Transportation, fashion & sports, and services are also showing year-over-year increases.

In contrast, ten sectors have seen significant declines. The tobacco products sector has been particularly hard hit, with a 63.8 percent drop, followed by vehicles (down 35.1 percent), cosmetics and personal care (down 28.6 percent), energy (down 28.1 percent), and cleaning supplies (down 21.8 percent). Despite a 20.6 percent decline, the retail sector, as in the previous month, remains in second place in the table.

Food Industry Leads YTD Rankings in the Swiss Advertising Market

As of August, the food industry continues to lead the rankings in the traditional advertising market, followed by retail and finance in second and third place. This ranking has remained unchanged since June. The digital advertising market presents a similar picture: the financial sector and retail also hold second and third place, while the food industry ranks only twelfth here. Leisure, food service, and tourism clearly lead the digital ranking year-to-date (YTD); in August, the sector ranked second behind retail. In the traditional market, the sector grew by 17.5 percent, placing it in fourth position.

In both markets, the automotive industry ranks seventh. Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Fashion & Sports, and Beverages are in the middle third in both markets, while the Media, Energy, Cleaning, and Tobacco industries are in the bottom third.

Booking.com Remains at the Top in Search

Despite the technical difficulties mentioned in the survey, search continues to dominate the digital media mix with a 50.1 percent share. As in previous months, the advertising landscape is primarily shaped by travel, comparison, and financial services. Booking.com has remained at the top since the beginning of the year, followed by Trivago.ch and Swisscom.ch. Trivago.ch moved up from third to second place compared to the previous month.

Display and YouTube show a broader mix of telecommunications, consumer goods, entertainment, and tourism. The mobile carrier Spusu.ch tops the Display ranking, as it has since February, followed by Pet Recycling Schweiz in second place and Ricola herbal candies in third. On YouTube, the e-commerce company Digitec.ch ranks first, followed by Disney+ and the YouTube Music mobile app. Neither a product nor a service managed to stay in the top ten across multiple channels.

Further information on advertising market trends is provided by Media Focus.