Hong Kong’s Newspaper of the Year 2014

Each year Marketing magazine undertakes a significant research project to discover the media preferences of Hong Kong’s top marketers. The aim of the Media Benchmarking Survey is pretty simple: to understand which media platforms marketers look to for advertising solutions across digital, outdoor, TV, radio and print platforms.

We ask respondents to name the magazine, newspaper, TV station, digital platform or OOH groups they would use to target consumers across key industry verticals – luxury, local business and finance, news and current affairs, property, travel and consumer electronics.

Here we highlight the top performing newspaper groups in Hong Kong, including a look at marketers most preferred regional titles.

《Marketing》雜誌每年進行其中一項最重要的調查研究項目，以了解香港高級市場推廣人員的意向。媒體支出基準調查的目的很簡單﹕了解市場推廣
人員選擇哪一個數碼、戶外、電視、電台及印刷媒體平台進行廣告宣傳。我們請受訪者選出他們會選擇哪一家雜誌、電視台、數碼平台或戶外廣告集團來接觸奢侈品、本地商業財經、時事新聞、地產、旅遊及消費電子產品等主要行業的消費者。今期雜誌選出雜誌及報紙行業每個組別的優秀媒體平台，恭喜所有得主。

Wondering about our methodology? Click here.

LOCAL NEWSPAPERS

1. SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST

In its 112th year, South China Morning Post has once again been crowned champion. Armed with a circulation of 104,148 (HKABC, 1 July to 31 December 2013), the English-language daily paper comes with a set of lifestyle supplements throughout the week, including Post Magazine, 48 Hours and Style. Implementing an easy to read design, SCMP.com enjoys 2.1 million monthly unique visitors and nine million monthly page views out of its 23,200 subscription base (SCMP.com Google Analytics fi gures). It is also fully integrated with social media.

踏入112周年，《南華早報》再次登上冠軍寶座。發行量104,148份(HKABC 2013 年7月1日至12月31日)，該英文日報每周隨報附送一系列時尚生活副刊，包括《Post Magazine》、《48 Hours》及《Style》。採用簡潔的設計，SCMP.com網站每月 獨立訪客人數達210萬，訂閱人數23,200，每月網頁瀏覽率達900萬(SCMP.com Google Analytics數據)，並充分結合社交媒體。

2. APPLE DAILY

Published by Next Media, Apple Daily is arguably the biggest Chinese language newspaper, with an audited circulation of 190,123 (HKABC, 1 January to 30 June 2014). Its pro-democracy stance has earned Apple Daily a claimed average daily readership of 1,411,000 between January and December 2013. According to its annual report, its advertising income last year totalled HK$500.6 million, a big portion of which was ads from the personal care, car, clothing, travel and pharmaceutical industries.

壹傳媒出版的《蘋果日報》可算是最具規模的中文報紙，發行量達190,123份 (HKABC 2014年1月1日至6月30日)。其親民主立場為《蘋果日報》於2013年贏得
平均每日讀者人數1,411,000。根據其年報表示，去年的廣告總收入達5.006億港元，主要來自個人護理、汽車、服裝、旅遊及醫藥等行業。

3. HONG KONG ECONOMIC TIMES

Hong Kong Economic Times, the flagship paid newspaper of the HKET group, continues to rank third despite declining advertising and circulation income. According to its annual 2014 report, circulation income of the paid newspaper declined by 5% as of 31 March 2014, but the decrease in advertising income was compensated by the significant growth from its free newspaper Sky Post.

儘管面對廣告收入及發行量下跌，香港經濟日報集團的旗艦收費報紙《香港經濟日報》仍然穩佔第三位。根據其2014年報表示，該報截至2014年3月31日的發行量減少5%，但其免費報紙《晴報》的顯著增長彌補了廣告收入的減少。

4. HEADLINE DAILY

Headline Daily, owned by Sing Tao News Corp Limited, has rebounded slightly to land fourth this year. With an audited circulation of 861,737 from Monday to Friday (HKABC, 1 April and 30 June 2014) and an average readership of 1.32 million (Ipsos Media Atlas), the free paper reported revenue growth across categories, including travel, banking and food.

星島新聞集團旗下的《頭條日報》今年微升一級至第四位。周一至周五的發行量達861,737份(HKABC 2014年4月1日至6月30日)，平均讀者人數達132萬(益普索媒體地圖)，該免費報紙表示來自旅遊、銀行及飲食行業的收入錄得增長。

5. HONG KONG ECONOMIC JOURNAL

Owned by Shun Po Co., Ltd, the Hong Kong Economic Journal claims to have a circulation of 83,000. It targets business decision-makers and fi nancial professionals. The fi nancial and business daily is also active in the digital space, running digital titles, including an English-language online news platform EJ Insight, lifestyle website LifeStyle Journal, and liberal education website iknow.hkej.

信報有限公司旗下的《信報》表示其發行量達83,000份，以企業決策者及財經專業人士為目標。該商業財經報紙亦活躍於數碼領域，推出網上英文新聞平台EJ Insight、時尚生活網站《LifeStyle Journal優雅生活》、以及通識網站iknow.hkej。

6. MING PAO

As a member of Media Chinese International Group, Ming Pao focuses on political and economic news across Hong Kong, Mainland China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia and North America, with a claimed readership of more than 400,000 people, mostly from the middle-class. The newspaper ranked third in the Hong Kong news organisations’ credibility 2014 report, conducted by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, tightly following SCMP and HKET.

作為世界華文媒體有限公司的一員，《明報》專注報導香港、中國內地、馬來西亞、印尼、柬埔寨及北美的政治及經濟新聞，該報表示讀者人數超過400,000，主要是中產階層。根據香港中文大學進行的調查表示，《明報》在2014年香港新聞機構誠信度調查中排名第三，僅次於《南華早報》及《香港經濟日報》。

7. ORIENTAL DAILY NEWS

Oriental Daily News, the print Chinese-language fl agship publication of Oriental Press Group, goes hand-in-hand with its on.cc web portal. Among the topics it covers are local news, China and international news, fi nance, entertainment and sport. The group also distributes the free print monthly
magazine FLASHoN featuring fashion, beauty, lifestyle and arts and culture news in high-end residential and commercial areas.

東方報業集團旗下的中文旗艦報刊《東方日報》與其網站on.cc並駕齊驅，內容涵蓋本地新聞、兩岸國際新聞、財經、娛樂及體育，該集團亦在特定高尚住宅及商業區派發集時裝、美容、生活潮流、藝術文化資訊於一身的免費月刊《FLASHoN》。

8. SING TAO DAILY

Sing Tao Daily drops from sixth spot in 2013 to eighth place this year. Owned by Sing Tao News Corporation, it launched a branding campaign in April featuring Lady Justice to promote itself as an impartial news publication that caters to the middle-class way of life. On Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, it offers a special Luxe Style features section printed on a glossy paper sleeve.

《星島日報》從2013的第六位下滑至今年第八位。屬星島新聞集團旗下，該報於四月推出品牌推廣活動，以正義女神來塑造其不偏不倚的形象，以迎合中產階層的生活態度。該報逢周四、周五及周日出版印刷精美的特刊《LUXE STYLE名牌時尚》。

9. AM730

The free daily newspaper am730 comes ninth in this year’s Local Newspaper of the Year awards. It was founded and is currently owned by Centaline Holdings chairman Shih Wing-ching in 2005. In addition to its regular daily newspaper, it publishes a special Friday edition covering entertainment, sport, health, travel and fashion news in a separate book of pages.

免費報紙《am730》排名本年度最佳報紙第九位。由中原集團主席施永青於2005年創辦及擁有，除日報外，亦出版周五特刊，內容涵蓋娛樂、體育、健康、旅遊及時尚新聞。

10. METRO DAILY

Metro Daily, formerly a subsidiary of the Swedish publication group, was acquired by businessman Kenny Wee last year. In Hong Kong, Metro Daily is mainly distributed in MTR stations, with special recycling bins situated in the same stations for re-collecting newspapers read by passengers before they exit the stations.

商人黃浩去年收購前瑞典出版集團旗下的《都市日報》。《都市日報》主要在各港鐵站派發，各站設有特別回收箱，乘客可在離開港鐵站前回收報紙。

REGIONAL NEWSPAPERS

1. FINANCIAL TIMES

The Financial Times is crowned fi rst in the Regional Newspaper of the Year awards once again. More than a century old, the publication, with its iconic pink paper, redesigned its print newspaper to give it a look more consistent with its digital version. The publication also launched a global ad campaign to promote its weekend edition, FT Weekend, in February.

2. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL ASIA

Taking second place is The Wall Street Journal Asia. Owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, the newspaper launched the #WSJbe regional branding campaign in May, appealing to readers through the personal stories and aspirations of four journalists and editors. In March, the publication’s global advertising department jumped on the native advertising bandwagon by creating the branded content division, WSJ. Custom Studios.

奪得第二位的是《亞洲華爾街日報》。屬梅鐸的新聞集團旗下，該報於五月推出#WSJbe區域品牌推廣活動，透過四名記者及編輯的個人故事及感想吸引讀者。該報的全球廣告部門於三月加入本地廣告戰，成立品牌內容部門WSJ.Custom Studios。

3. INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES

Owned by The New York Times Company, the daily newspaper was previously known as the International Herald Tribune before being renamed as the International New York Times last year. It bundles its subscriptions with access to its international and local editions online, as well as to its smartphone and tablet apps, usually placed behind a pay wall.

屬紐約時報公司旗下，該日報原名為《國際先驅論壇報》，去年更名為《國際紐約時報》。訂戶可瀏覽其國際及本地網上收費內容，以及使用收費智能手機及平板電腦應用程式。

METHODOLOGY

HOW DID WE ACHIEVE THIS?

The media rankings were derived from questions in Marketing Research’s annual Media Spend Benchmarking Survey. Marketing Research employed an online questionnaire and surveyed its database of client advertisers and marketing services agency professionals. All answers given by respondents were considered by Marketing when finalising the rankings.

結果如何產生？

「年度最佳媒體」排名是根據Marketing Research年度媒體支出基準調查的結果而定。Marketing Research邀請其數據庫內的市場人員(廣告客戶) 及市場推廣服務公司人員回答一份網上問卷，然後《Marketing》根據他們的答案敲定最佳媒體名單。

QUALITY RECIPIENTS AND RESPONDENTS

A total of 415 respondents participated in the Media Spend Benchmarking Survey. Genuine advertising decision-makers and influencers across key agency-using industries were well represented as were agency professionals from various marketing services. More than 80% of client advertiser-side respondents were manager-level decision-makers and above, with 10% from the most senior ranks of client advertisers – CEOs, MDs or GMs – and another 34% were VPs or director-level marketers.

Twenty per cent of the respondents from the agency side were CEOs, MDs or GMs, 35% were marketing personnel, while 25% were sales personnel. The remaining 20% were operations, creative and media personnel. Advertisers from major and local international banks, FMCG companies, property and construction, IT and telecommunication firms, as well as those from travel and tourism companies participated in the survey. Agency professionals across the marketing services spectrum were also well represented.

高質素的受訪者

本次「媒體支出基準調查」共有415人參與，調查結果充分反映了廣告客戶的真正決策人、以及來自各類市場推廣服務的從業員意向。回答問卷的廣告客戶中有超過80%屬經理級或以上決策人，10%屬最高級別的廣告客戶領導層，包括行政總裁、執行董事或總經理，另有34%是市場部副總裁或總監。

在回答問卷的廣告代理中，20%是行政總裁，35%是市場推廣人員，25%是銷售人員，餘下的20%是執行人員、創作人及媒體人員。受訪廣告客戶來自各個主要行業，涵蓋本地與國際銀行、快速消費品公司、地產發展及承建商、資訊科技與電訊公司、以及旅遊業界等，結果也反映了各類別市場推廣服務的從業員意見。

[Image]: iStockphoto