IAB Europe just released a finding of advertising expenditure survey said the growth in digital advertising significantly slowed down in 2008 especially in more mature markets, and the outlook for 2009 is even worse. The same study finds that growth in the new developing market like Poland has experienced a 60% growth rate and Slovenia a 77% growth rate. What about Hong Kong?

In just 6-month time, Hong Kong digital advertising market drops dramatically to a stage which I will describe it pathetic. The market has been greatly marginalized due to the shift of the market landscape no matter it is B2B or B2C sector.

My observation is that the B2B advertisers in Hong Kong have no imminent need to do international advertising. Why I will say so? It is because the B2B marketing here in Asia mainly purports to target buyers in the overseas, the advertisers are mostly the companies with the need for export.  But the base of the export economy is not in HK. It is in Mainland China where most of the manufacturing bases are located. Hence the PRC exporters have comparably more incentives to look for overseas buyers.

In the B2C sector where products selling in Hong Kong are very localized. They are either the commodities imported from the overseas or the local made merchandises targeting the Hong Kong domestic consumers. So I don’t see it is practical for the local merchants who will gain better opportunity to do international business. Or, I put it in this way, Hong Kong local merchants have better opportunity to do PRC business instead of selling to the overseas market.

I believe Hong Kong digital advertising market will continue to suffer from the downturn for the next 9 to 12 more months. We will have a lot of challenges ahead.

Popularity: 18% [?]

 Subscribe my feed