Study: COVID-19 triggers HK$1.9 billion YoY ad spend drop for Hong Kong's Q1 2020

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Hong Kong's ad spend in Q1 2020 has dropped by 28% year-on-year due to the COVID-19 pandemic as several industries have been severely hit by the current crisis, according to a study conducted by admanGo.

In its Adspend Report for Q1 2020, admanGo said Hong Kong's ad spending in January decreased by 23% YoY, while it further declined in February and March by 31% and 32% YoY respectively, leading to an overall 28% YoY drop from HK$6.6 billion to HK$4.7 billion in Q1 2020. Overall ad spend saw a bigger drop after mid-March.when the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases increased.

The sharp drop was mainly accounted for by hits to the travel and tourism industry as in March its ad spend recorded a staggering 91% year-on-year decrease. This industry had been the third biggest spender a year ago in March 2019 and accounted for 8% of total ad spend.

TVCs (26%) topped the list of media share in Q1 2020 with mobile (21%) coming second, which was the only medium with a double-digit YoY increase in adspend (+15%). Banking and investment services, insurance, and games and hobbies were the top three industries in the category of mobile ad spend.

media share
Banking and investment services saw a 26% YoY rise in mobile ad spend, where investment products such as asset management, mutual funds and ETFs (+120%) and callable bull/bear contracts and warrants (+143%) marked a significant YoY growth as well. Insurance (+155%) and games and hobbies (+54%) has increased significantly too.

When it comes to the top 10 industries that spent the most on ads in Q1 2020, pharmaceuticals and healthcare surpassed banking and investment services to take the top spot. Property and real estate, which was ranked seventh in the list last year, took third place this year.

top 10 industries
As for the top 10 advertiser groups, Dairy Farm Group was ranked first in the list. The HSBC Group came second while GlaxoSmithKline took the third place.