2024 Guide: Outdoor Advertising (OOH) Costs in Hong Kong

01/24/2024 Optimize your media budgets

The landscape of advertising in Hong Kong is constantly changing. As an advertiser, it's important to keep yourself updated on the latest information and advertising costs. Now that we are fresh into 2024 with big plans ahead, let's look at what the average costs of advertising are like so that you can stay the most informed when planning your next media campaign!

But first, what is OOH? If you're not familiar already, outdoor advertising - OOH are all advertisements that are ONLY accessible through being outside in public...away from home! Meaning your phone, TV, radio, and devices alike do not count because they can be used anywhere, including at home. So OOH are advertising formats such as billboards, digital billboard displays, MTR ads, and transit ads.

Billboard Advertising Cost

Source: Adintime HK

We might have mentioned in a previous article about new outdoor advertising trends that things are changing for traditional OOH billboard advertising but it will still remain highly relevant in Hong Kong. Let our numbers be the proof you need! According to our historical data, an advertiser spends on average HK$447,750 on traditional billboards, making it our highest-budget media! Now, the actual range of how much outdoor billboard advertising costs will depend on the length of the campaign, the location, seasons, number of spots bought per campaign, and such. Based on our experience, you can expect an average outdoor advertising campaign will cost anywhere from HK$150,000 up to HK$1,000,000+.

Digital Billboards/LED Screen Display Advertising Cost

Source: Adintime HK

In the place of "Adintime's Rising Star" is digital billboards (DOOH) which include LED display, LED TV wall, and any other digital screens. These are becoming more prominent and common in the city as they provide flexibility for both media providers and advertisers. There are constantly new ones being built in busy areas of the city. For example, Mongkok New Town Mall will get a brand new L-shaped LED screen this year that will become a hot pick for advertisers alike. At Adintime, we are also seeing an increase in DOOH inquiries which is the reason we deem this as the rising star in 2024. According to our data, advertisers were spending on average HK$43,000 in DOOH campaigns in 2023. We expect this to rise significantly as there are more DOOH options available and we are seeing an upward trend in demand. In our experience, these digital billboard advertising campaigns cost anywhere between HK$30,000 to $1,000,000+. It drastically varies depending on location, size, complexity, and seasons.

Bus Advertising Cost

Source: Adintime HK

In a transit-busy city like Hong Kong, a lot of advertisers opt for bus advertising. These "mobile billboards" give brands the flexibility to advertise in different locations in one ad buy. The cost of bus advertising remains low to medium, making it a cost-effective advertising medium. A bus advertising campaign costs around HK$83,000 with a range of HK$40,000 to HK$120,000+. And of course, the actual cost will vary based on routes, number of buses bought per campaign, seasons, and type of bus ad formats.

Tram Advertising Cost

Source: Adintime HK

Tram advertising, one of the truest to Hong Kong culture ways to advertise and also Adintime's second highest ad spend. In 2023, an average of HK$271,667 was spent per tramcar advertising campaign. This medium generally comes with a higher price tag but it is also one of advertisers' favourites and among the most cost-effective. You can expect to spend anywhere from HK$130,000 to $500,000+ on a tram ad campaign, varying based on number of trains bought, duration, and seasons. Advertisers can maximize impact by buying both tramcar and tram shelter advertising spaces so that more eyes can land on the advertisements!

MTR Advertising Cost

Source: Adintime HK

MTR, being the top transportation for Hong Kongers, is one of the most popular advertising options for brands across different industries. MTR advertising provides many formats within the MTR stations, trains, and even the Airport Express. According to our analysis, our clients spent an average of HK$118,690 per MTR ad campaign. Again, the actual MTR advertising price range differs based on factors such as size and length of the campaign, meaning how many spaces you're buying and for how long. Generally, you can expect the starting point for MTR advertising rates to be about HK$100,000 for 2 weeks. But then again, you have to factor in location and time of year in the equation as well. If we were to give you a rough estimate of MTR advertising cost, it would be around HK$100,000 to HK$500,000+. At Adintime, our advertising experts can help you figure that out and get the best rate so you can leverage your budget to the best ability! We helped one of our clients in 2023 to combine MTR ads and tram ads for the best exposure and campaign results, meanwhile getting them professional discounts and remaining most cost-effective. For your next campaign, you may want to think about a strategic mix of media that makes the most sense for your overall strategy and budget!

2023 Year End Adintime Snapshot

We started this article off with the specifics, now let's zoom out and look at the data we've gathered in 2023 and what the implications are for this year!

Source: Adintime HK

Throughout 2023, we have dealt with various advertising budgets from our clients. We have seen big campaigns that are well into the high 6-figures and even 7-figures. We have also seen smaller campaigns that hover around the 5-figures. We put all those numbers together and the intell is that advertisers spend an average of HK$163,000 per campaign. It is 17.27% higher than in 2022 as a result of the market and the economy becoming more active again after the pandemic.

We also see that billboards (digital and print) and tramcar advertising is the most bought in 2023. We believe that this will continue to be the trend with more DOOH (LED display etc.) buys, especially. We predict that MTR ads will be on the rise with DOOH for Adintime clients. With MTR's multiple ad formats and locations, it continues to be a smart choice for advertisers.

Types of Advertising Campaigns

Here's a quick look of the ratio of the different types of campaigns we did in 2023:

Source: Adintime HK

Billboards and DOOH make up the most campaigns at 12.1% and 21.2%, respectively (33.3% combined). 3% of total campaigns are a mix of traditional OOH and digital OOH.

The next highest category is bus advertising at 18.2%. 3% of campaigns are a mix of bus and bus shelters. 9.1% is bus shelter advertising only.

Next, we have our rising star MTR and tramcar. Both are 9.1% of the total campaigns we did last year. We are seeing increased popularity with these advertising formats and we think they're here to stay!

Last but not least, we have minibus advertising and taxi advertising at 6.1% and 2.6%. Although they don't come at the same volume as other media, minibuses and taxis are still an important part of the media mix for a lot of companies. Because of their more local focus nature, we see that they are a perfect and affordable advertising solution for smaller and more local companies.

Advertising Location

Source: Adintime HK

The trend that we see at Adintime is that most brands choose to advertise on Hong Kong Island, probably due to how dense the area of Hong Kong is. 61.9% of our total campaigns were done on Hong Kong Island, followed by 32% in Kowloon, and 6.2% in New Territories.