Focus Media

Focus Media Information Technology, commonly known as Focus Media and formerly branded Focus Media Holding, is a Chinese out-of-home advertising and digital media company. Founded in 2003 by advertising executive Jason Jiang, the company developed an advertising model centered on digital screens in elevators and residential apartment buildings. Its network places commercial messages in semi-enclosed, repeatedly visited environments, allowing advertisers to reach office workers, residents, shoppers, and other urban audiences during routine daily journeys. The company’s principal business is the sale of advertising inventory across digital signage networks. Its formats have historically included screens in office-building elevators, residential elevators, community spaces, and other locations with recurring foot traffic. The elevator environment is central to Focus Media’s positioning: audiences typically spend a short but repeated period in a confined space, while the screen is designed to provide a relatively concentrated point of attention. Alongside screen-based advertising, the company has developed broader community and location-based media offerings. Focus Media describes itself as an international out-of-home media operator. Its operating footprint has included China and overseas markets across Asia, Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Oceania. The company’s international presence has included local operations or market sites in countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. China remains the core market associated with the company and its principal elevator-media network. The business underwent a major ownership and listing transition during the 2010s. In May 2013, Focus Media was taken private and delisted from Nasdaq by a consortium that included FountainVest Partners, The Carlyle Group, China Everbright, and CITIC Capital. In June 2015, it reached an agreement to return to the public market in China through a reverse merger and subsequently began trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in December 2015 under stock code 002027. The company’s market value was reported to have exceeded 100 billion yuan around the relisting period. It was included in the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index in 2016, the MSCI China A-share Index in 2017, and the CSI A50 Index in 2024. Focus Media’s brand proposition combines broad urban reach with repeated exposure and standardized digital delivery. Its customers are advertisers seeking mass awareness, brand-building, and geographically targeted exposure rather than one-to-one digital performance marketing alone. The model also gives the company access to shared residential and commercial spaces, a feature that supports network scale but can create questions about residents’ consent, noise, and the commercial use of common areas. In 2025, a protest at Shanghai University involving the shutdown of more than 100 elevator advertising screens generated public discussion about intrusive advertising and the governance of elevator media. The incident highlighted the tension between the company’s high-attention advertising proposition and the experience of people who encounter the screens in spaces they do not directly control.

Focus Media was founded in China in 2003 by advertising executive Jason Jiang. From its early development, the company concentrated on a distinctive out-of-home advertising format: digital screens placed in elevators and other shared urban environments. Rather than relying only on roadside billboards or conventional broadcast media, the model used routine movement through office buildings and residential compounds as an advertising distribution channel. Elevators offered a particularly standardized setting, with repeated audiences and limited competing visual space during each ride. The company expanded its network beyond individual screens into a broader digital media platform. Its inventory came to include office-building elevators, residential elevators, community spaces, and related location-based environments. This structure enabled advertisers to purchase campaigns by building type, city, audience context, or geographic reach. Focus Media’s proposition emphasized repetition and concentrated attention: people encountered the same type of screen frequently while commuting, working, or returning home. The model helped establish elevator advertising as a recognizable category within modern Chinese out-of-home media. Focus Media also pursued international expansion. Its referenced operating markets span more than 15 countries across five continents, with local market sites or activities in Asia, Europe, North America, South America, the Middle East, and Oceania. The company’s overseas footprint has included Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam, in addition to China and Hong Kong. The international business extended the company’s elevator-screen and digital-signage concept into other urban property and community environments. A major corporate transition occurred in 2013. In May of that year, Focus Media was taken private by a consortium that included FountainVest Partners, The Carlyle Group, China Everbright, and CITIC Capital. The transaction resulted in the company’s delisting from Nasdaq. This period placed the company outside the public U.S. equity market while its advertising network and operating business continued to develop. Focus Media later returned to public trading in China. In June 2015, it reached a reported 7.4 billion U.S. dollar deal to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange through a reverse merger. The company began trading on the Shenzhen exchange in December 2015 under stock code 002027, and its market value was reported to have exceeded 100 billion yuan around the relisting period. The return to the Chinese market restored public-market visibility and provided a domestic listing platform for the business. Following the relisting, Focus Media entered several major Chinese and international equity benchmarks. It was included in the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index in 2016 and the MSCI China A-share Index in 2017. In 2024, it was included in the CSI A50 Index. These index developments form part of the company’s post-relisting public-market history. In the 2020s, Focus Media continued to be associated with large-scale digital out-of-home advertising, especially screens in elevators and residential communities. The same network characteristics that support its commercial proposition also expose the company to questions about public-space governance. In 2025, a five-day protest at Shanghai University involved the shutdown of more than 100 elevator advertising screens reportedly belonging to Focus Media. The episode led to online debate about intrusive advertising noise, whether residents consent to commercial messages in shared buildings, and how advertising revenue should relate to communal residential environments. It underscored a continuing challenge for elevator-media operators: balancing advertisers’ demand for unavoidable attention with the preferences of people who encounter the media as part of their everyday surroundings.

1. 2024Added to the CSI A50 Index

   Focus Media was included in the CSI A50 Index.

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2. 2017Added to the MSCI China A-share Index

   The company was included in the MSCI China A-share Index.

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3. 2016Added to the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index

   Focus Media was included in the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index.

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4. 2015Focus Media agreed to return to the Chinese public market

   The company reached a reported 7.4 billion U.S. dollar reverse-merger transaction intended to place it on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

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5. 2015Trading began on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange

   Focus Media began trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in December under stock code 002027.

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6. 2013The company was taken private and delisted from Nasdaq

   A private-equity consortium including FountainVest Partners, The Carlyle Group, China Everbright, and CITIC Capital took Focus Media private, ending its Nasdaq listing.

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7. 2003Focus Media was founded

   Advertising executive Jason Jiang founded the company in China, establishing the business that became known for elevator-based and other digital out-of-home advertising.

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A scaled out-of-home and digital media network focused on repeated, high-attention advertising exposure in elevators, office buildings, residential communities, and other shared urban spaces.

• Elevator digital-screen advertisingDigital out-of-home advertising

  Digital screens installed in elevators are the company’s signature media format. They deliver short-form commercial content to people traveling through office and residential buildings, offering advertisers repeated exposure in a confined environment with relatively limited competing media. Campaigns can be distributed across a network of buildings or targeted to selected cities, property types, or communities.

• Office-building mediaOut-of-home advertising

  Office-building media packages use screens and related placements in commercial properties to reach employees, visitors, and other professional audiences. The format is suited to brand-awareness campaigns seeking frequent contact with urban workers during commuting and workplace routines.

• Residential-community mediaCommunity advertising

  Residential-community advertising extends the network into apartment elevators and shared community spaces. It gives brands access to residents during recurring home-to-building journeys and supports geographically distributed campaigns. The format also places the company’s commercial media within communal environments, making building-level acceptance and audience experience important aspects of its operation.

• International digital out-of-home networkInternational media services

  Focus Media has operated or maintained market activities across more than 15 countries on five continents. These international offerings apply the company’s broader digital-signage and location-based advertising approach to local office, residential, and community environments.

• 2015Reverse-merger route to Shenzhen listingM&A

  After its Nasdaq delisting, Focus Media sought a new public-market structure in China.

  What changed. The company agreed to a reported 7.4 billion U.S. dollar transaction to list on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange through a reverse merger and began trading in December 2015 under code 002027.

  Aftermath. The transaction returned Focus Media to public trading in China and was followed by inclusion in major domestic and international equity indexes.

  Reported transaction value. 7.4 billion U.S. dollars (June 2015)

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• 2013Private-equity consortium took Focus Media privateM&A

  Focus Media was publicly traded on Nasdaq before a consortium including FountainVest Partners, The Carlyle Group, China Everbright, and CITIC Capital pursued a take-private transaction.

  What changed. The consortium completed the take-private transaction, and Focus Media was delisted from Nasdaq in May 2013.

  Aftermath. The company operated as a private business until arranging a later return to China's public market.

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• 2025Shanghai elevator-screen protest raised questions about advertising in shared spaces

  A student at Shanghai University reportedly shut down more than 100 elevator advertising screens during a five-day protest. The action, directed at screens associated with Focus Media, prompted online discussion about intrusive advertising, residents’ consent, advertising revenue, and the commercial use of shared residential areas.

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• 2025Shanghai elevator-screen protest sparks debate over advertising consent

  A student at Shanghai University reportedly shut down more than 100 elevator advertising screens during a five-day protest against intrusive advertising noise. The action led to public discussion about residents' consent, advertising revenue, and the use of shared residential spaces for commercial media.

  Other
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• 2024Focus Media was included in the CSI A50 Index

  Focus Media was included in the CSI A50 Index, according to the company’s referenced public history.

  Other
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• 2017Focus Media was included in the MSCI China A-share Index

  The company was included in the MSCI China A-share Index, reflecting its position among significant publicly traded Chinese companies.

  Other
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• 2016Focus Media entered the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index

  Focus Media was added to the Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index after its return to China's public equity market.

  Other
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• 2015Focus Media completed its return to China's public markets

  After being taken private and delisted from Nasdaq in 2013, Focus Media completed a reverse-merger route to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and began trading there in December 2015 under stock code 002027.

  M&AOther
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• 2015Focus Media returns to China's public markets through a reverse merger

  Focus Media reached a reported $7.4 billion transaction to return to China's public markets through a reverse merger and began trading on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange under stock code 002027 in December 2015.

  M&A
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1. Focus Media
2. Focus Media official English website
3. 上海电梯屏幕抗议引发广告同意权辩论