April sees fresh signs of life in Chinese ad market

Ad market spending showed signs of recovery in April with the gradual resumption of business operations and loosened quarantine measures. 

China's CTR Research said traditional ad spending (excluding digital ad budgets) improved 8.9 percent from a month earlier in April. Spending was still down 29.8 percent from a year earlier, but this was an improvement from the 34.6 percent decline seen in March.

Most commercial services and leisure and entertainment businesses remained weak, while personal hygiene, home appliances, IT products and services increased ad expenditure. 

Elevator LCD screens were the only channel to see an annual increase in April, with a 5.4 percent pickup. Magazines suffered the biggest loss of 56.2 percent. 

Online services have become essential under strict quarantine measures, with demand for remote working and learning picking up.

Top brands such as Dingtalk, Boss Zhipin, Kugou are the fastest growers in terms of spending on elevator LCD ads. 

Online recruiting sites, online education and co-working platforms significantly increased spending through outdoor channels as they fight for web users' attention. 

Automakers are bottoming out and also hope to catch potential buyers' attention through radio and outdoor ads. 

FAW VW Audi and Shanghai General Motors Chevrolet are among the fastest-rising brands for radio advertising in April.