2024 New Outdoor Advertising Trends in Hong Kong

01/03/2024 Optimize your media budgets

In the heart of Asia, Hong Kong stands as one of the leading cities in advertising innovation. This city, a melting pot of cultures, showcases a fascinating duet of traditional and modern advertising techniques. With its energetic and dense urban landscape, Hong Kong offers a uniquely beautiful canvas for great outdoor advertising. You can't turn a corner in the streets of Hong Kong without seeing any billboards, transit advertising, and other creative outdoor advertising. With technology advancing rapidly every day and with generative AI's growing presence, advertisers must learn to adapt quickly and stay agile to keep up with current outdoor advertising trends.

The Evolution of Outdoor Advertising

Traditional outdoor advertising, although still prevalent in Hong Kong, has been going through a transformation. It is increasingly infused with the innovations brought by the internet and emerging technologies. Advertisers are now integrating interactive elements and real-time data into their displays, making advertisements not only a visual but a dynamic and engaging experience. This, of course, is also in response to the changing consumer habits and media consumption trends. In this new era, marketing and advertising are no longer just - "Hey, my product is cool. Buy it!". It is extremely important to create a brand experience that resonates and lingers.

The emergence of new technologies like the metaverse and NFTs, coupled with concerns over customer loyalty and personalization at scale, have been highlighted as key outdoor advertising trends. These developments suggest a shift in outdoor advertising, including event advertising which has a significant presence in Hong Kong and other parts of Asia. The shift emphasizes hybrid in-person and digital experiences. This aligns with the global movement towards more immersive and digitally integrated brand experiences that traditional outdoor advertising formats do not provide.

Why Outdoor Advertising? Still?

In this digital day and age, screens dominate our attention. But great outdoor advertising in Hong Kong continues to thrive and maintain its relevance. Its physical presence and real-world context in Hong Kong is still undeniable. In the city's busy streets, with a dense population and high foot traffic, create an ideal backdrop for outdoor advertisements, ensuring maximum visibility and engagement. Unlike online ads, which are often dismissed or blocked, outdoor advertisements in Hong Kong are seamlessly integrated into the daily lives of commuters and pedestrians, commanding attention without the need for a click or a swipe. Moreover, the ability to engage with audiences in specific geographical locations allows for targeted marketing strategies, making outdoor advertising exceptionally potent. The enduring relevance is further supported by innovative outdoor advertising trends like digital billboards and interactive installations, blending the physical with the digital, and ensuring that outdoor advertising in Hong Kong continues to evolve and captivate in an age dominated by digital media.

How Do We Stay Ahead?

So what's the key to keeping up? It's about being curious, always learning, and keenly observing as an advertiser. We need to keep our ears to the ground, study market trends, learn from the best outdoor advertising campaigns, and most importantly, listen to what our consumers are saying. This blend of constant learning, market awareness, and genuine consumer engagement can help us stay ahead.

And with that said, let's discuss some of the outdoor advertising trends we see currently and predict to come! Here are 5 key 2024 advertising trends:

Digital Transformation
Embracing Sustainability
Immersive Experiences through Technology
Leveraging Data Analytics
Event Advertising

1. Digital Transformation

Source: Adintime - Sogo Billboard

It goes without saying that digital billboards are now a staple in Hong Kong's advertising world. It offers a kind of flexibility and a creative canvas that is unavailable in traditional media. Outdoor LED display screens decorate the city's skyscrapers and busy intersections, providing a platform for more engaging and timely content. For instance, the famous LED screen at Causeway Bay's Sogo is an excellent landmark that brands fight to be placed on. The 19.2m x 71.7m LED billboard accommodates different types of visually striking media including broadcasts with or without audio. This gives brands a lot of room for creativity as they are not only restricted to static visuals.

This form of outdoor advertising brings several key advantages. Besides the high-definition and dynamic content, it also allows for diverse messaging and real-time updates which are crucial for time-sensitive promotions. They engage the audience more actively through interactive features and are strategically used for targeted advertising, adapting to different audience demographics. Additionally, these digital billboards are environmentally friendlier, reducing paper and ink usage, which is an important topic that all brands should consider now in this day and age.

Mongkok New Town Mall: L-Shaped LED

Yau Shing Commercial Centre: LED Display

2. Embracing Sustainability

Going off of our last point, sustainability and environmental friendliness in outdoor advertising trends is no longer just a topic of discussion; it is a "must-do" in response to growing environmental concerns. HK outdoor advertisement is seeing a shift towards eco-friendly practices. We can see that with the LED lights that are replacing traditional neon to reduce energy consumption and biodegradable materials in place of plastics. These changes reflect a broader commitment to sustainability that resonates with a global audience.

3. Immersive Experiences through Technology

Source: Teleport

As we've mentioned before, many Hong Kong brands are moving towards integrating immersive experiences in their media plans to cater to the changing palette of consumers and new outdoor advertising trends. The effort can range from 3D digital displays on LED screens to interactive event experiences to digital immersive experiences with AR & AI technology, giving creative room for innovative outdoor advertising. Take for example, Cyberport Hong Kong recently partnered with Teleport for an AI-powered Christmas installation, Santa AI Station, where the audience can interact with a virtual Santa, answer questions, and have a unique Christmas artwork generated based on the interaction. Here's why this kind of outdoor advertising innovation is advantageous:

Enhanced Engagement & Personalization: When you can personalize an experience or have your audience actively participate in an activity, that is when you can stand out from the tens of thousands of advertising messages and capture a space in their mind. A great outdoor advertising activity such as the Cyberport and Teleport collaboration allows the audience to participate in the personalization of something they can keep - in this case, a customized digital postcard. It is a fun and unique way of distributing marketing content that can strengthen the audience's connection with the brand.

Source: Teleport - "Santa AI Station" personalized AI-generated digital postcards
Data Collection and Insights: Besides being an excellent engagement tool, immersive technologies are also powerful data collection platforms. Interactions with these installations provide valuable insights into consumer preferences and behaviours, which can be used to refine marketing strategies. This is one of the most important driving force behind these AI related outdoor advertising trends.
Brand Differentiation: In a crowded market like Hong Kong, standing out is crucial. Immersive advertising experiences differentiate a brand, making it more noticeable and talked about. This helps in building a unique brand identity and positions the brand as innovative and forward-thinking.
Increased Virality Potential: Unique and engaging experiences are more likely to be shared on social media, increasing the brand's reach. The novelty factor of AI and AR experiences and these new outdoor advertising trends, like interactive installations, encourages users to share their experiences online, acting as organic marketing.

Source: Teleport
Long-term Brand Recall: Experiences that are interactive and unique tend to have a longer-lasting impact on consumers’ minds. The association of a brand with an innovative and enjoyable experience can enhance brand recall and loyalty.
Cross-Channel Marketing Opportunities: Last but not least, these immersive advertising experiences can be linked with other marketing channels. For example, an interactive installation could encourage users to visit or engage with the brand's website or social media page, creating a seamless multi-channel marketing experience.

4. Leveraging Data Analytics

Source: Adintime Client

Staying on the topic of technology, another wonderful thing it provides is detail and in-depth data like never before. Data analytics is revolutionizing how outdoor advertising is targeted and measured. An advertiser must analyze consumer data and tailor their messages to specific demographics and even individual preferences. While data is not a new thing that just came with this new wave of outdoor advertising trends, the ways of collecting them are always innovating which allows for more contextual and detailed datasets. For example, the trend of many outdoor advertising in Hong Kong now include QR codes which the audience can scan for more information or app downloads. This simple scan system provides valuable data that measures, for example, what portion of the audience is coming from a specific billboard ad. You can also use the QR code system to break the data collection down to location, specific creatives, and engagement rates. These are data that a traditional "visual only" billboard cannot offer and it is hard to measure.

5. Event Advertising

Event marketing in Hong Kong is rapidly emerging as one of the key outdoor advertising trends and is set to remain a valuable asset for brands in the foreseeable future. The success of various large-scale events, such as the "Hello Hong Kong" campaign which featured a 500,000 flight ticket giveaway, and the notable and tech-forward ad campaign involving metaverse by Shiseido highlight the massive impact of event marketing. Events, ranging from cultural festivals to international trade shows, offer brands a platform to engage with diverse audiences in a dynamic and interactive manner. This approach not only enhances brand visibility but also fosters deeper connections with consumers through memorable experiences. The continued popularity and success of such digital outdoor advertising trends indicate that event marketing will remain a crucial strategy for brands looking to make a significant impact in the competitive Hong Kong market.

So What Does This Mean For Us Moving Forward?

If it sounds like technology in outdoor advertising is taking over, you're not wrong. However, it does not mean that traditional advertising still doesn't have an important place in the media landscape of Hong Kong. The city is special because it is where old meets new. Population aged 40 and above take up 61.8% of the total headcount in Hong Kong. A lot of consumers in this age group are still not as tech-savvy as the younger generation. Therefore, traditional outdoor advertising is still relevant in order to reach these age groups. Furthermore, in densely populated cities such as Hong Kong, foot and transit traffic are extremely high which means outdoor billboards, digital or not, are still being seen by the millions. The important thing is a clever strategy in place to capture eyes and inspire actions.

But now you have one more thing to consider, how do you incorporate elements of technological advancement and outdoor advertising trends in your media mix? That is where your creativity can shine even brighter and where the fun begins as we step further into the future!

References:

https://production.marketing-interactive.com/marketing-events-awards-hong-kong-2023-winners-revealed

https://weteleport.com/

https://cyberport.hk/en