Ad spending reaches record high
Spending on advertising in Hong Kong reached a record high over the past two months, boosted by increased marketing campaigns for cosmetics and electronics brands popular with mainland shoppers.
Media-monitoring firm admanGo yesterday reported combined advertising expenditure in January and last month rose 12 per cent to HK$5.5 billion from last year.
The firm earlier estimated that advertising campaigns during the Lunar New Year break from January 16 to February 5 climbed 12 per cent from the previous year to HK$1.86 billion, also a record high.
'Mainland travellers are well known for being willing and able to spend on luxury products, which has influenced how retailers spend on advertising,' admanGo sales and marketing director Jennifer Ma said.
About 90 per cent of advertisers' campaigns in the past two months went to television, newspapers, magazines and outdoor media.
Data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board show total visitor arrivals from the mainland in January and February grew 20 per cent from a year ago to 5.4 million, accounting for the bulk of the city's total 7.5 million visitors during that period. The board estimates that average per capita spending of mainland tourists staying overnight in the city reached HK$8,220 last year.
French make-up, skin care and fragrances brand Lancome was Hong Kong's No 1 advertiser in January and February, according to admanGo. The L'Oreal unit advanced from No 37 the previous year after raising spending 195 per cent to HK$52.8 million.
New York cosmetics company Estee Lauder - the leading advertiser during this year's Lunar New Year break - came a close second, with its total campaigns in the two months rising 59 per cent to HK$52.5 million from the previous year.
Ma said Korean electronics titans Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics invested heavily in campaigns for high-definition television products. Samsung jumped to No 7 from No 46 last year with 151 per cent growth in spending to HK$42.7 million, while LG rocketed to No 10 from No 134 with a 397 per cent increase to HK$36.3 million.
Digital camera brand Canon reached No 9 from No 23 with a 72 per cent increase to HK$36.9 million, half of which was for promoting its new PowerShot S100 camera.
