Campaigns for cosmetics and skin-care products highly prized by mainland shoppers helped drive advertising spending in Hong Kong to a record high this Lunar New Year holiday.
The media monitoring firm AdmanGo estimated that total advertising expenditure in the city from January 16 to February 5 this year grew 12 per cent to reach HK$1.86 billion, up from the HK$1.66 billion total in the previous Lunar New Year break, from January 27 to February 16, 2011.
AdmanGo's sales and marketing director, Jennifer Ma, said: 'Demand from mainland travellers who visited Hong Kong had prompted many retailers, especially those from the cosmetics and skin care products industry, to increase their ad spending during the Chinese New Year [holiday] period.'
Data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board show that total visitor arrivals from the mainland rose by almost a quarter year-on-year to 3.1 million in January, making up the majority of the city's total of 4.14 million visitors over the month. Nine tenths of advertising spending during the Lunar New Year holiday went to campaigns on television, newspapers, magazines and outdoor media, according to AdmanGo.
The city's banking and investment services industry remained at the top of the league table during the period, with campaigns totalling HK$153.97 million, down 1 per cent year-on-year.
Close behind was the cosmetics and skin care products industry, which registered the biggest jump in expenditure during the period. Total advertising campaigns by the sector climbed 72 per cent year-on-year to HK$148.51 million.
Hong Kong's No 1 top-spending advertiser during the holiday was the New York-based cosmetics giant Estee Lauder, which boosted its campaigns 146 per cent year-on-year to HK$19.27 million.