Hong Kong's adspend rises 23 per cent for first half of 2010

June saw a YOY increase of 28 per cent, driven by the banking and investment sector (increased 64 per cent) and property and real estate (increased 75 per cent).

TVC is still dominating the media ad pie. However, the growth of ad revenue for Pay TV is 64 per cent, compared to 9 per cent growth for free-to-air TV channels.

i-Cable obviously benefited from the World Cup broadcasting rights, gaining 59 per cent in ad revenue, while Now TV accelerated by 93 per cent, largely thanks to HSBC's 12-fold increase in YOY spending.

One of the surprising factors is ATV World, which saw the largest increase of 66 per cent among free-to-air TV channels. The entertainment industry was the biggest spender, with a big chunk coming from music companies and retailers.

On the other hand, free-to-air ad spend declined by over 30 per cent for TVB Jade and Pearl, due to the station's problem with a huge copyright issue involving the four main record companies last year.

Among the top 10 industries, banking and investment remains on top, similar to the first half of 2009, recording a total ad spend of US$187 million.

Property and real estate was the top growing sector, jumping from 14th position in 2009 to number seven this year. The main reason for the rise was three major property agencies large increase in ad spend (Midland Realty at 183 per cent, Centaline Property Agency at 133 per cent and Ricacopr Properties at 1,796 per cent).

With US$77 million, beverage ranks in second place in term of its YOY growth, mainly due to the baby boom last year. Another reason is mainland tourists who travelled to Hong Kong to buy milk powder after the milk scandal in China.

As for advertisers, GSK remains the top spender, increasing spend by 32 per cent, followed by HSBC with a 154 per cent rise.

Canon, which allocated nearly one quarter of its advertising budget to Pixma MX876 All-in-one Photo Printer, saw the second largest increase after HSBC.