How South China Morning Post is helping brands re-engage with Hong Kong
South China Morning Post (SCMP) is on a mission to help brands to reengage with Hong Kong consumers as the market bounces back. The Drum spoke to Kevin Huang, chief operating officer at SCMP about the brand’s latest campaign.
The readers of SCMP featured prominently in a new campaign
The South China Morning Post is an institution in Hong Kong; however, it is something of a conundrum. The 120-year-old publication, which reports on Hong Kong, mainland China and Asia, is based in Hong Kong, a predominantly Chinese-speaking city, but reports in English.
"The question I get asked a lot is who reads the South China Morning Post?" says Kevin Huang, chief operating officer at SCMP. "We have data around that, surveys, everything under the sun, but we thought, why don't we just answer that question with different personas rather than explain the readers."
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The personas are brought to life with the campaign, which features different people from Hong Kong who represent the readership of the iconic publication.
"The creative really tells the international nature of Hong Kong, and our Hong Kong and Asia readers, who come from different walks of lives, different cultures, they grew up in different places, but everyone ends up in Hong Kong. The Post is their go-to read, and these are affluent, sophisticated, influential readers."
The aim of the campaign is to re-engage with the market and spread the message that Hong Kong is back! Targeting senior executives and decision-makers, the activity is running across digital channels including LinkedIn, Google Display and YouTube, as well as out-of-home in strategic locations. There are also activations aimed at generating awareness and engagement with media and advertising agencies in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The campaign has delivered a lift in traffic - with SCMP reporting a x3 increase in traffic to its dedicated campaign page. The company can also attribute "several" deals to the activity.
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"In general, it's been very, very positive," continues Huang. "In terms of overall general feedback from people who have seen the campaign are generally very positive about it with not seeing anything negative. Also, in terms of KPIs for the website, traffic, inquiries, and deals done - it's all delivering slightly above our expectations," says Huang.
Huang says the market is in comeback mode - particularly in recent months - with strong returns from travel brands, retail, FMCG, luxury and automotive.