New | Sluggish economy hits Hong Kong advertising market as spending declines in first quarter

Advertising spending in Hong Kong fell for the third consecutive month in March, hurt by a significant decline in campaigns by the cosmetics, household and banking sectors as the local economy slowed down.

Data from media-monitoring company admanGo showed that total advertising expenditure in the city reached HK$3.3 billion in March, down from HK$3.8 billion in the same period last year.

“Following the first double-digit drop in advertising spending recorded in 16 years in the first two months of this year, the advertising market continued to shrink last month,” admanGo director Jennifer Ma said in a report.

“All media, except radio, experienced a year on year decrease in advertising spending in March.”

That led to a 13 per cent fall in total advertising expenditure during the first quarter to HK$9.4 billion, down from HK$10.8 billion in the same period last year.

The local advertising industry’s performance seems a far cry from earlier predictions of modest growth this year as marketers conducted more digital and mobile campaigns.

An industry study published in February by the Hong Kong Advertisers Association and market measurement firm Nielsen showed 29 per cent of the 100 major marketers in the city they surveyed would increase their advertising expenditure this year, 35 per cent would keep it unchanged and 36 per cent would cut their spending.