Since being appointed interim CEO for Adshel late last year, I am even more convinced the future for Outdoor globally is very bright and nowhere more so than in Australia. The economic slowdown in developed markets, coupled with rising fears of a double-dip recession, have caused some advertisers to trim back budget increases, but we are still seeing strong performances as advertisers continue to see the value and power of building brands and engaging with their target audiences out-of-home. In Australia revenues grew 3.4% year on year in 2011, and although this is not as strong in the UK, growth is still occurring.
This growth in the UK is in partly due to digital technology evolving out-of-home into a dynamic platform for real-time, tactical, topical and flexible communications. Projections see digital out-of-home being the third fastest growing medium between 2011-2016, behind online video and mobile advertising. We predict that in key markets and segments, 90% of our out-of-home advertising revenues will be delivered digitally by the end of the decade, and in some segments even sooner. Digital now makes up 14.3% of all UK outdoor revenue, so it is easy to see where Australia is heading and the potential it affords us in both revenue and media share.
But digital is only part of the story, the UK has a diversity and depth of product that Australia is yet to build. Iconic outdoor sites like Piccadilly Circus and Cromwell Road, that excite and engage the consumer as much as the advertiser and creatives, don’t really exist yet in Australia. The lead on media planning really comes from the media agency here rather than a tighter collaboration between advertiser, ad agency/creatives, media planning and media owner. Additionally, prior to the introduction of audience measurement in MOVE, outdoor was considered more of an awareness medium in Australia, rather than one of the strongest broadcast mediums available. All of this would contribute to OOH’s lower media share of 4% in Australia compared to 9% in the UK.
It is no wonder the true potential of the medium is being quickly uncovered through MOVE’s results. Outdoor delivers higher reach and frequency than other mediums including television and at lower CPMs. Add the digital, mobile and NFC integration potential to a market that has the second highest smartphone penetration rate after Singapore and you have a unique combination of factors that all point towards unrivalled growth of the medium in Australia.
2012 will see us focus on further developing OOH’s accountability to add even further proof of the effectiveness of Outdoor, while at the same time integrating digital technologies in a way that provides a transformational opportunity that we believe will reinstate Outdoor as an integral part of the communications mix.
Rob Atkinson
Chief Executive Officer
Adshel
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