The out-of-home (OOH) industry has seen a steady rise in ad revenue, reporting $363.6 million in Q2 and $334.1 million in Q1, both from this year, according to the Outdoor Media Association (OMA)
Elizabeth McIntyre, CEO of OMA, told Mediaweek OOH isn’t fragmenting and that advertisers see the power of out-of-home.
“Advertisers are seeing the power of all the different formats of out-of-home and knowing that if you combine formats, you’re going to have a much better return on investment.
“If you’re looking at billboards versus buses versus trains or place-based, you’re always getting that reinforcement with your brand. That’s where people are at, and they’re acknowledging that out-of-home is always on and you can’t miss it.”
The always-on, non-invasive, and inoffensive nature of OOH makes it a compelling channel to invest in, according to McIntyre.
She also noted that brands are attracted to OOH as a responsible medium that self-regulates.
“We (the OMA) understand that we are a broadcast medium, and we have a lot of self-regulation, and our members have agreed to.
“We are a great director of traffic in terms of where people are going to need that presence and brand awareness to make that sale and pathway to purchase.”
McIntyre also noted that the OMA is a medium that adheres to bans. She shared the little-known fact that there is no OOH advertising of high sugar or salty foods 150 metres from a school.
OMA betting big on data
Aside from advocating the industry and its role in self-regulation, the OMA is doing its part to push innovation in the industry through its investment in digital and MOVE 2 (Measurement of Outdoor Visibility and Exposure), the quantitative audience measurement tool for OOH media.
“The measurement of out-of-home will be world-class, and it will give that validation of what we know works, but it will also measure every format, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
“That’s the biggest innovation, it’s been four years and nearly $20 million spent on that measurement, and not a lot of other mediums are updating their measurement tools, and so this is a big thing for the industry.”
Earlier this year, OMA unveiled MOVE2 and introduced new features, further enhancing the sophistication and accountability of OOH audience measurement.
For McIntyre, the findings cemented the impact of OOH advertising in an increasingly fragmented media landscape, with 97% of Australians aged 14+ each week.
“If you look at other mediums, even social media, that is taking an entire month, and they’re still only getting half the reach that we’re getting. We’ve seen some fun facts around, the trends, seasonality, what’s doing better in winter, and everyone is excited about regional,” she said.
McIntyre noted that members are getting across all the data and what it means for them, and that agencies are getting comfortable with the process and signing licence agreements.
“There are 300 billion rows of data that we’re getting through. I think everyone was overly optimistic. There are over 150,000 signs. We are going to be excited to see the granularity and then what the market wants from that.
“We’re starting with so many different demographics, but it’ll be very much based in terms of what the market wants, and we’ll be able to respond to those requests from advertisers.”
OOH work that turns heads
The OMA is also driving innovation on the creative side of the industry with the OMA Creative Awards, which were launched earlier this year.
McIntyre highlighted Jurassic Park, Mecca, Kitchen Warehouse’s shredded billboards, Specsavers campaign, and, more recently, L’Oreal’s 3D DOOH for hair brand Kérastase in Melbourne as recent work that has caught her eye.
“What we’re trying to push is how impactful our medium is, the creativity of that message and the impact that that can have is very much dependent on how it’s presented on the medium. So clear, crisp, impactful, different is what we’re going for.”
“The difference with our creative awards is that we not only have executive creative directors on the jury, but we also have CMOs. What I noticed from being on a lot of juries is that the CMOs are the ones who have helped come up with that idea.
“You need that context that sometimes people don’t see when they just look at how a creative has been executed. I think some of the simplest campaigns are amazing, and Australia is punching above its weight globally.”
A unified OOH Industry held back by outdated regulations
McIntyre was one of 800 delegates to travel to Mexico City for the World Out-of-Home Annual Congress, which drew in leaders from all over the world. Among the speakers was Australia’s own Cathy O’Connor, CEO of oOh!media, who spoke about retail OOH and the REO business within OOH.
The conference brought together international speakers who shared their views on the role of OOH in a digital media landscape, challenged the industry to lift standards in creativity and measurement, and presented case studies showcasing the medium’s unique impact.
McIntyre shared that OMA’s developments in measurement were “light years ahead of anyone else.”
“The closest country that is developing this software is Route in the UK, but they are now using a lot of the methodology that we‘ used, but even so, they’re only on transit, they’re not on all formats.”
For McIntyre, what stood out to her was comparing how united Australia’s industry is and how its members are willing to put the industry first.
“That is one of the things that nearly every single other country struggles with because they can’t come together to see the bigger picture.”
Meanwhile, from a creativity perspective, McIntyre praised local efforts but noted that Council and State regulations were a frustrating challenge.
“If we could have a Piccadilly Circus or a Times Square here, that would change the game, but we’re operating with some states that haven’t reviewed their planning laws for over 25 years, including New South Wales. Those are the things that harness what we could be doing on a more global level, and that’s frustrating.
“There’s not a lot that we can do about that, and if you go to some cities in Asia, like South Korea, you’ll see those full emersions. It could never happen; our regulations would never allow that.
“But at the same time, I feel that we’ve got to catch up in that department and when I speak to Ministers and they say, what could we do that we’re not doing? I tell them all of that and that they need to pass the regulations so that we can get that happening.”
Staying the course amid rising expectations
McIntyre offered a balanced outlook on the performance of the out-of-home industry. While she’s optimistic, she’s aware of challenges in the industry, from restructuring in agencies to tighter budgets.
“We are positive, but I think we’re cognizant of the fact that it is that everyone in this market is expecting more from everyone, expecting more from agencies, expecting more from their mediums and the publishers.
“We are just sticking to what we know works best and very optimistic around the interaction we have with agencies and obviously what out of home delivers.”