Career Prospect for Outdoor Media Sales in Mainland China
Q: I've been an outdoor media sales manager for over six years in Hong Kong. Recently, my company underwent an internal re-structuring and I find quite a lot of job openings for outdoor media sales in mainland China.
How's the outdoor market in mainland China going? Will my career prospect be better in China? Will they provide accommodation for me if I work there? How's the salary level in China compared to Hong Kong? I'm now earning around HK$400,000 per annum. Look forward to your prompt reply.
Million thanks!
A: Irey Lau, managing consultant, MRI Worldwide (China), advised: "The OOH (out of home) media are coming up in these few years in China. There are more and more different OOH media in the market. And most advertisers are willing to use OOH as a supporting medium to build up their product or company image to reach consumers out of their homes.
"In terms of career prospects, mainland China is definitely better than Hong Kong because the market is booming and most of the advertisers do allocate a large portion of their total budget to China amongst other countries in the Asia Pacific region.
"For candidates like you who are interested to move to China, there are a few key questions I recommend you think through before you plan to move:
- Where will you see your competitive edge compared with local advertising directors in terms of market understanding and network?
- If you can't see your competitive edge at this moment, how confident are you to build up your knowledge in those areas rapidly?
"In terms of the package for the advertising director level, most of the local talents have taken up in this position, especially in the OOH area. The average basic salary range is from RMB8,000 to RMB15,000 plus commission. At your current package, if the OOH companies need to hire an expatriate at the director level, the range will be from RMB25,000 to RMB40,000 (including housing allowance), plus bonus (achieve the KPI).
"Moving your career forward to China is absolutely the right decision. If you are ready to take this commitment, start to talk to experts in the market. And understand the market knowledge, media scene, consumer habits, and what areas you can improve to make yourself be competitive with the local talents. 'Open-minded' is the key attitude for you to prepare your mind for facing the cultural shock and differences that might make you frustrated, but this is a process all expatriates have gone through. If you would like to know more about the opportunity in China, please feel free to contact me. Good luck!"
Email: helpline@media.com.hk. (Next issue: Singapore).