How can HK players optimise their media spend amid growth in online media ad spending?

We’ve seen a gradual digital migration happening within the Hong Kong media industry in recent years, and this trend is going to become more prominent in the upcoming year.

In fact, online media ad spending in Hong Kong has seen a steady increase from 2018 to 2023, whereas offline media ad spending in the city has dropped significantly over the past five years, according to the latest Online and Offline Media Trends Report by admanGo.

The survey showed that the proportion of online media ad spend, which includes desktop, mobile and social media, in Hong Kong to total ad spend has been steadily increasing, rising from 23% in 2018 to 55% between January and September 2023.

Since 2018, the online media share of voice (SOV) for the local cosmetics and skincare industry has consistently increased annually, reaching a recent high of 86% from January to September 2023. The local retail industry comes in second in terms of online media SOV, reaching 70% between January and September 2023. It represents a 5.8-fold increase from 2018.

Which industries are still relying on offline media?

Despite online media gradually taking up more and more of advertising spending across various industries in Hong Kong, David Chan, head of trading and partnership, dentsu said he saw some clients particularly luxury, banking and finance clients have been using more OOH and TV in 2023 and this trend shall expect to continue into 2024.

Some of the advertisers within sectors that have moved online, are still using offline media extensively. Caterina Camerata, client lead Asia Pacific, Publicis Media, said TV remains the most cost-effective medium for advertisers in the food, pharmaceutical, healthcare, and beauty and health industries, as well as other sectors that need to create or preserve widespread awareness.

“We must also take the purchasing journey into account. Since some of these advertisers heavily rely on offline retail, this impacts their willingness to leverage digital media as a conversion engine, again pushing them to lean into offline media,” she added.

For some industries such as property and real estate, which have more complex products that require detailed explanations and longer consideration periods, building brand reputation and credibility matters the most, said Cathy Cheng, general manager, Mindshare HK.

“Leveraging offline media allows for more detailed and nuanced messaging which is crucial for building trust and consideration for the brand,” she added.

Optimising media spend

With the change in media consumption behaviour, advertisers should plan both offline and online media holistically in a world of shrinking budgets. Offline media will likely perform better in awareness awareness-building stage and digital will perform better at the conversion stage, said dentsu’s Chan.

“But again, all media touch points should be considered when we play and buy media,” he added.

Most clients have been very focused on eCommerce and digital advertising in the past few years and fewer advertising dollars are spent on brand awareness/favourability and it has started to affect the performance of their lower funnel performance, he said.

“It is always crucial to strike the right balance between upper and lower funnel activities and also the right mix of offline and online spend to maximise the reach and desired outcomes,” he added.

True enough, it's important for advertisers to continuously adapt their strategies based on data-driven insights, industry trends, and consumer behaviour to ensure they are maximising the effectiveness of their media spend across both offline and online channels, said Mindshare’s Cheng.

Leveraging proprietary tools and approaches is also a way to enable advertisers to precisely map out the role of media for particular audiences and tasks, and make sure they can plan and execute campaigns that help customers achieve their objectives, said Publicis’ Camerata.

Related articles:

Survey: HK's tourism-related industry ad spend surges by 263% YOY in Q3 2023
Survey: Ad spend for mooncakes in HK reaches HK$115m between July and September
Survey: Ad spend of Macau hotels and resorts in HK sees impressive growth from March to May