Publisher SCMP eyes expanded outdoor advertising business
Publisher has struck deals for billboards at prime sites, including Macau ferry terminal
SCMP Group, publisher of the , plans to ratchet up the expansion of its outdoor advertising business after striking major deals to operate at multiple premium sites in Hong Kong.
"We expect our pace of prime site acquisition to continue," said Fiona Ching, the business development director responsible for SCMP Outdoor Media, which was formed by the group in July last year.
The unit is best known for managing the "One Leighton Road" wraparound billboard in Causeway Bay, one of the city's most in-demand and visible outdoor billboards, which has served such high-end advertisers as Cartier, Chanel and Louis Vuitton.
SCMP chief operating officer Elsie Cheung said: "The outdoor media segment has enjoyed steady year-on-year growth over the past five years, and the introduction of this new business unit is consistent with our group's growth strategy."
Data from media watcher admanGo showed that spending on outdoor media comprised 13 per cent of the record-high HK$43.1 billion spent on advertising in Hong Kong last year.
Without disclosing financial terms, SCMP Outdoor Media was recently named the exclusive billboard agent for both the Top Glory Tower site in Causeway Bay and the rebuilt Jumbo Court car-park site overlooking the Aberdeen Marina Club.
More significantly, it also won the government tender to exclusively manage all media space in the restricted area of the Macau ferry terminal in Central. The unit signed up Macau casino operator Sands China as its inaugural advertiser for the terminal.
"We now provide the region's strongest Macau destination-advertising solution for top-tier brands," Cheung said.
In a survey by the Hong Kong Advertising Association and market-measuring firm Nielsen on this year's advertising spending projections, television received an average share of 18 per cent, while free and paid newspapers combined for 19 per cent. Outdoor advertising had 10 per cent and magazines 7 per cent.
