|
May 15 2009
Hong Kong
While the first quarter saw a decline in advertising expenditure across traditional media, Internet advertising has held its ground, registering spending of HK$172 million in the first quarter of 2009, equal to the same period in 2008. The Finance sector was the most advertised category online, accounting for one-fifth of all spending. Yet it’s worth noting that Fashion advertisers are now increasingly turning to the Internet as an advertising platform driving a significant increase in online advertising value for the category, according to The Nielsen Company.
As Nielsen’s AdRelevance Online report reveals, more than 1,000 advertisers in Hong Kong advertised online from January to March 2009. The number of advertising campaigns increased to 3,283 in 2009 from 2,896 in the first quarter 2008, indicating an increase in the number of online campaigns per advertiser amidst a slowing economy.
No. of advertisers |
1,057 |
No. of campaigns |
3,283 |
Average no. of campaigns / advertiser |
3.1 |
Total ad impressions |
Over 5.5 billion |
Total ad expenditure |
Over HK$172 million |
“Despite a slow down in the economy, it is good to see online advertising holding its ground with continued investment by advertisers. The Internet is becoming a more competitive platform for advertisers to reach their target audience in a cost-effective way,” said Mr Joseph Kam, Commercial Director, Nielsen Online, Hong Kong & Taiwan.
By category, Finance was the most advertised sector on the Internet, with a total value of HK$33 million in the first quarter of 2009, accounting for 20 percent of the total Online advertising pie. Education & Learning (14%), with a total online advertising value of HK$24 million ranked the second most advertised category. Taking the third position was Computers & Electrical (12%).
It’s worth mentioning that Fashion related advertisers have also turned online as they look at expanding their footprint from high street, the online advertising value in the first quarter of 2009 has increased substantially by 163 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008 from $2.2million to $5.8 million. The large increase in online advertising value is mainly driven by the three famous brands, namely H&M, Cartier and Nike, which are found to advertise online quite actively over the latest quarter.
Among the top 10 categories Sundry Services (88%) and Health & Pharmaceutical (41%) also registered a major increase in their online advertising in the first quarter.
|
Advertising Value (HKD$’000) |
|
Sector |
Q1 2008 |
Q1 2009 |
% Change |
Finance |
25,576 |
33,204 |
30% |
Education & Learning |
19,937 |
23,798 |
19% |
Computers & Electrical |
29,850 |
21,285 |
-29% |
Health / Pharmaceuticals |
11,208 |
15,826 |
41% |
Retail |
12,370 |
13,221 |
7% |
Entertainment |
16,059 |
12,270 |
-24% |
Sundry Services |
4,664 |
8,767 |
88% |
FMCG |
6,575 |
8,285 |
26% |
Travel & Accommodation |
7,363 |
7,714 |
5% |
Fashion |
2,200 |
5,795 |
163% |
At brand level, Citicorp remains the largest online advertiser in terms of ad impression in the fourth quarter of 2008 as well as the top spender in the Finance category with 273 million ad impressions across its campaigns. Hong Kong Government emerged as the second largest online advertiser in the first quarter. Meanwhile, the first quarter report has also noted some new players on the top 10 brands list namely Sa Sa International Holdings Limited, Toyota, Octopus Holdings, HSBC and Sony, indicating that these brands have become more active in using the Online platform in their marketing mix to promote their brands amidst the economic downturn.
Ranking |
Advertisers
(*new to the top 10) |
By Ad impressions
(in 000’s) |
1 |
Citicorp |
273,292 |
2 |
Hong Kong Government |
252,213 |
3 |
Global Beauty International Limited |
224,015 |
4 |
Sa Sa International Holdings Limited* |
218,257 |
5 |
Wall Street Institute |
194,732 |
6 |
Toyota* |
161,895 |
7 |
Octopus Holdings* |
161,511 |
8 |
Hong Kong Management Association |
134,405 |
9 |
HSBC* |
129,831 |
10 |
Sony* |
122,462 |
About The Nielsen Company
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing information, media information, online intelligence, mobile measurement, trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com
Back to Top
|
