EUROPE NEWS

UK: FEPE "Always On" Full Slide Decks now available for Members

Full slide decks of the highly successful FEPE International 2014 research project "Always On" are now available for FEPE members.

The summary booklet is available for anyone to download from the FEPE homepage, but we have now gone one step further and commissioned Future Foundation (the authors of the research) to create full slide decks for each territory we surveyed. These slides are now available for you to use in your own presentations, and can be mixed and matched any way you choose, to allow the most comprehensive use of the data.

The territories covered are:

United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Turkey, South Africa and Brazil.

Each deck has at least 40 slides about consumer attitudes to Out of Home advertising including commuter and audience profiles, insights and implications, attitudes to other media, vox pops and many other useful observations.

If you would like one or all of these decks please contact Mark Flys at mark@worldooh.org 

If you are not a member of FEPE International and would like access to this material, please email to discuss membership categories and fees.

We will soon be announcing an extension to this research, featuring the first ever Out of Home research undertaken in a new territory.

More details coming soon.

UK: FEPE 56th Annual Congress in Budapest: Early Bird bookings are open until end of February

Bookings are now fully underway for the 56th FEPE Congress, titled "Your Audience is Waiting", which will be held between Wednesday June 10th and Friday June 12th at the Intercontinental Hotel, Budapest.

We will be having 2 full days of presentations and high calibre speakers from across the world, all of whom will be bringing their unique viewpoints on the Out of Home industry.

Last year's congress in Vienna was FEPE's best yet, with over 300 delegates attending from 31 countries, both new records for us.

There will be an exclusive exhibition area attached to the main congress hall, and spaces are now available to reserve. If you are a supplier who wishes to get your product in front of an audience of global OOH decision makers please email us soon so we can hold a space for you.

We have also decided to lower the price for exhibition spaces this year, to offer best value to our industry suppliers.

The Thursday night Gala Dinner, in keeping with the FEPE tradition of finding special locations, will be at the Buda Castle, (see photo) one of Budapest's foremost buildings, and the Friday night social evening will be at a dinner cruise down the river Danube, taking in all the sights of Budapest for 3 hours.

As usual we have negotiated a special delegate rate for the hotel rooms and delegates are able to pay by credit card or bank transfer, which we hope will make bookings easier for some overseas delegates.

Early bird registrations are now open until the end of February, which will allow delegates an extra €100 reduction regardless of FEPE membership status. Delegate fees are unchanged from last year (and several years before) at €1100 for members and €1600 for non members, plus the additional early bird reduction.

You can register by following the link on the FEPE homepage and FEPE members all receive an additional €500 discount so if you are considering attending with colleagues and are not a member, please get in touch so we can organise the most cost effective package for you.

Apolgies for some linking problems in last week's newsletter, please go directly to worldooh.org to find the Congress link.

Speakers and other details will be announced in future newsletters.

UK: Big Yellow Self Storage promotes smaller storage offerings with digital and OOH poster series

Big Yellow Self Storage has attempted to challenge perceptions that the company only provides large storage space with a digital and out-of-home campaign created by CHI&Partners.

To promote the smaller offerings CHI creative directors Danny Hunt and Gavin Torrance have created ‘Big Yellow Does Small’, a series of digital and out-of-home posters showing very large characters squeezed into small shapes.

“Our aim was to create a campaign that disrupts the market and challenges the status quo in the self-storage category. We wanted to find a way of representing small spaces in an interesting and entertaining way,” said Hunt and Torrance of the creative.

The work, which features illustrations from RM2 and Debut Art’s Matt Dartford, will run across digital and static out-of-home sites in London as well as digital media nationwide.

Source

UK: Alcatel-Lucent launches new line of outdoor small cells

Alcatel-Lucent is adding to its LTE small cell portfolio with a new line of outdoor metro cells that feature both Long Term Evolution and Wi-Fi options.

The Compact Metro Cell Outdoor product is already in trials with “a number of operators” globally, according to the vendor, and is half the size of existing small cell hardware. The new outdoor small cells are designed to be deployed inside street furniture, such as bus shelters, with digital advertising signage or stationary map locations, according to Mike Schabel, VP of small cells for Alcatel-Lucent. The goal for that sort of deployment, he told RCR Wireless News, is being able to avoid zoning issues and offer an alternative to pole- or wall-mounting outdoor small cells.

Schabel said the units are designed to fit inside existing street furniture instead of requiring new infrastructure or significant augmentation to existing shelters and signs. In some cases, he said, a metal panel may need to be replaced with plastic in order to ensure good radio frequency propagation.

“It is a very small, high-power, high-performing metro cell,” Schabel said. “It’s about as leading edge as you can get.”

Alcatel-Lucent has a partnership to provide this type of small cell technology to outdoor advertising company JCDecaux – which recently signed a global agreement with Vodafone to roll out small cells in street furniture after a successful trial in Amsterdam.

One of the features of the new small cells is the ability to bypass the integrated baseband unit and manage multiple radios by connecting multiple units via the Common Public Radio Interface to a centralized BBU. Schabel said that this feature will allow operators to rely on the small cells if they move to a virtualized or cloud RAN architecture.

The new small cells have models that support the 1800 MHz B7 operating band and 2600 MHz B3 operating band, according to Alcatel-Lucent, and it will have support for the full range of FDD and TDD LTE bands this year. It also has the option to support Wi-Fi connectivity.

Other features of the outdoor small cells include:

• Support for up to 200 users and 60 MHz of capacity. 
• Size of about 6K cubic centimeters, or 6 liters 
• Support for either directional or omni-directional external antennas 
• Power output of up to 5 watts while maintaining convection cooling with no fans

The small cell ecosystem continues with steady progress, if perhaps not as explosive as the industry has been expecting. In addition to more LTE small cells coming onto the market, Nokia and SK Telecom recently announced the first commercialization of enhanced inter-cell interference coordination, or eICIC.

Source

UK: Dynamic Digital Displays Europe delivers its third LED Digital Display to Iconic Yorkshire Post Tower, Leeds Central for City Outdoor Media.

Dynamic Digital Displays Europe, the European Headquarters of D3, a global LED digital display solutions provider, announces the delivery of a third roadside LED digital display in Leeds for City Outdoor Media.

The Yorkshire Tower, which was unveiled on Friday 23rd January 2015, is a 10mm SMD LED portrait display which is located on the site of the old Yorkshire Post Newspaper offices on Wellington Street, overlooking the busy A58M road and located at the largest intersection into the city centre. The part motorway part A-road has circa 75,000 vehicles per day and forms a ring road around the city centre, offering an exceptional platform to target this vibrant audience navigating the city centre.

The tower which has stood proud for four decades displaying the time and temperature is a familiar sight for commuters driving into the city on the inner ring road and the public were delighted when it was announced the tower would be saved preserving an iconic landmark which is part of the city’s history. City Outdoor has retained the top of the original tower including the logos and the famous temperature display.

The portrait display is next door to the Crowne Plaza Leeds Hotel, it is also a mile away from Trinity Leeds Shopping centre, with a catchment area of 5.5 million people and more than 120 national and international brands it’s the newest fashion destination of the North. Other top destination nearby are Xscape Castleford, O2 Academy Leeds, First Direct Arena, only 20 seconds drive away to Leeds Railway Station.

‘We at City Outdoor take pride in delivering the very best quality screen solutions to our industry. For us choosing D3 to work alongside on this project was an easy decision. Having serviced built and servicing our Deansgate and Northern Quarter full motion screens in Manchester we were keen to appoint their expertise and professionalism once again and we are extremely pleased with the finished article’ Charlie Throp, Sales and Marketing Director London.

D3 offers turnkey LED displays solutions that provide customers with a flexible platform for experiential marketing initiatives, advertising, consumer brand engagement and customizable interactive communication exchanges. As a total solutions provider, the company’s extensive experience and expertise is recognised across a global portfolio of projects representing the advertising, architecture, entertainment, gaming, retail, sports and transportation markets.

David Neale, Director at D3 LED, Europe commented; ‘We are delighted to continue our partnership with City Outdoor with another iconic LED display build in central Leeds. This particular display has our most advanced back-end control system offering a robust and redundant internal LED display network, allowing D3 Europe’s Ops and Service teams seamless and uninterrupted visibility.’

The company has designed and manufactured more than half of the all LED displays installed in New York’s Times Square and is now doing the same across the UK, with already having installed the largest outdoor LED screen in Scotland and others in Deansgate Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow and Birmingham.

UK: ŠKODA's car experience

ŠKODA UK will host the UK’s first ever augmented reality experience at London Waterloo Station from 9 – 13 February 2015

Commuters will be invited to customise their own ŠKODA Fabia and see it come to life through the large digital screen at Waterloo  

The recently launched, third-generation ŠKODA Fabia, named What Car? Car of the Year 2015, uses innovative design and features especially designed to make life easier ŠKODA UK is bringing to life its third-generation Fabia model at an innovative week-long augmented reality experience at London Waterloo Station.

From Monday 9th to Friday 13th February 2015, more than two million commuters at the country’s busiest railway station will be invited to customise their very own ŠKODA Fabia to reflect their individual personalities.

Once they have selected their ŠKODA Fabia design, users will sit in front of a green screen, which will be located on the train station’s concourse, and then see themselves in their personalised Fabia on the Motion@Waterloo digital screen.

With a choice of 14 colours, three colour concepts and five interior combinations, there will be a total of nearly 100 ŠKODA Fabia designs to choose from.

Partnering with MediaCom, one of the world’s leading media agencies, and global out-of-home advertising specialists, JCDecaux, ŠKODA’s unique, experiential event will use cutting edge technology to project every individual Fabia design onto the country’s largest advertising screen.

Niall McEvoy, Marketing Communications Manager at ŠKODA UK, said: “ŠKODA is a brand that is synonymous with their values: “Combining clever engineering with a human touch”, so it was key that our media strategy for the launch of ŠKODA Fabia was truly innovative.

We used Augmented Reality to give the public the opportunity to personalise a ŠKODA Fabia and to see their car build around themselves up on the giant Motion screen at Waterloo. This will give our customers a powerful and memorable ŠKODA brand experience, showcasing the range of customisation available in the new ŠKODA Fabia, stealing attention and kick-starting the social interaction around our launch.”

Commuters can personalise a ŠKODA Fabia at London Waterloo Station from 6am – 9pm, 9 – 13 February 2015.

AMERICAS NEWS

Canada: OOH & Mobile Drives Consumer Interest and Action

Marketers should be very excited about comScore’s latest Mobilen’s study that highlights consumer’s interest in interacting with OOH ads. The study revealed that 59% of Canadian mobile subscribers are interested in taking some type of action after seeing an OOH ad.

The most common actions taken are related to making a purchase, seeking more information about the product or service and talking or sharing via social media with friends and family.

The study also examined consumer’s interaction with different OOH formats including outdoor, public transit, street level and indoor venues such as resto-bars, fitness clubs, school campuses, shopping malls and airports. While the research showed a high level of consumer action across all OOH formats, younger adults age 18 -44 are most likely to take action.

With Canadian smartphone penetration of 79% second only to Spain at 86%, mobile subscribers are more predisposed to connect with an OOH ad using their smartphone. Other highlights from the Mobilen’s study are:

- Awareness of OOH is directly related to an increase in the use of mobile devices for shopping related activities i.e. find a store location, compare prices, check product availability

- There is a high level of interest in receiving coupons. OOH can deliver relevant and timely coupons through geo-location targeting, beacons, QR codes, NFC tags and other technological advances.

“The study highlights the connection that mobile subscribers have with OOH ads and how marketers can use OOH to significantly increase consumer interest in their brands and drive action,” said Rosanne Caron, President: OMAC. The integration of mobile and OOH is still in its infancy in Canada compared to other countries but this is expected to change.”

USA: Highway Agency Takes a Hit Over Safety Report on Electronic Billboards

Why did the billboard cross the road?

It sounds like the opening line of a corny joke, but it’s actually a question raised by a baffling glitch in a Federal Highway Administration study on the safety of electronic billboards. Billboards that seem magically to have moved from one side of the highway to the other are part of a detailed critique by a former FHWA researcher, who says the federal report is so badly flawed that no one should rely on its conclusions.

The $859,000 FHWA study had been eagerly anticipated by local agencies across the country, including some that held up permit decisions on electronic billboards to await federal guidance. They hoped the report would shed light on whether the visually stunning digital signs, which change messages every few seconds, might pose a threat to traffic safety.

The FHWA study, performed for the agency by the consulting firm Leidos, used sophisticated eye-tracking equipment to time drivers’ glances at billboards and other visual features along assigned routes in Reading, Pa., and Richmond, Va. Finally released years behind schedule, the study found that the digital signs did not prompt drivers to look away from the road long enough to increase the risk of crashes. The billboard industry, which has aggressively pushed to install more of the lucrative displays, trumpeted the results as confirmation of their safety.

But the lengthy critique issued last month by Jerry Wachtel–who worked for the highway administration in the 1970s and ’80s and served as an adviser in a preliminary phase of the study—says the research is so riddled with errors and contradictions that it should be disregarded (A summary of his critique can be found on the website of the Eno Center for Transportation think-tank). His report lists experts from the U.S. and five other countries who reviewed his conclusions, including one who wrote: “It is highly disappointing, even irresponsible, that a study anticipated for so long on such an important question has been so poorly executed.”

For their part, officials of the FHWA and Leidos, which formerly was known as SAIC, have refused to answer questions about the federal study. “FHWA has no additional comment beyond those made in the report itself,” spokesman Doug Hecox said in an email.

Wachtel, who heads The Veridian Group, a consulting firm, says he wasn’t hired to dissect the report, but decided to do it on his own. He said he was concerned that local officials lacking the technical background to analyze the FHWA study would simply read the conclusions “and begin to promulgate regulations based on this faulty data.”

“The breadth and depth of the mistakes and errors were so substantial,” he said, “that it was either very, very poor science, or there was something about it that they were trying to hide.”

Seizing on Safety Issue

While billboard foes oppose digital signs mainly on aesthetic grounds, they’ve also seized on the safety issue, and are touting Wachtel’s critique. “We know that the issue of digital billboards and traffic safety is far from settled,” said Mary Tracy, president of the anti-billboard group Scenic America, in a prepared statement. “Any public agency considering allowing the bright, blinking signs on their roadsides should take this critique into account first.’’ The Outdoor Advertising Assn. of America, the billboard industry trade group, did not respond to requests for comment. It’s just the latest, but most prominent, black eye for the federal research, which was announced with fanfare in 2007.

Full article here

USA: Ads wrapping McKinney Avenue trolleys rake in cash but don't sit well with some

The sight of historic McKinney Avenue trolley cars wrapped in liquor ads makes some people uncomfortable. Others say the visual clutter is worth it if it helps keep trolley rides free.

Phil Cobb sits firmly in both camps.

“I hear criticism about the way the ads look,” said Cobb, CEO of the McKinney Avenue Transit Authority. “I’m sensitive to it. It’s something I understand. But what it gets down to is money.”

Transit officials signed a three-year contract last September with Radiant Outdoor Advertising that allows the ads — called wraps — on two of the fleet’s six historic cars.

The wraps went up in December on 89-year-old Betty, once part of an extensive Dallas streetcar system, and on 90-year-old Matilda, which was imported from Australia in the 1980s.

Reaction quickly followed.

Robert Cole, an Oak Lawn real estate agent, said he was stopped at a light in Uptown when he saw one of the trolleys encased in a Dallas Mavericks advertisement.

“My jaw literally dropped,” Cole said. “They spent all that money refurbishing those cars and now they’ve lost the historic look and charm. People told me they think the trolleys just look like buses now.”

In fact, the wraps have become a common sight on DART trains and buses in recent years — and they are not entirely new to the trolleys.

Cobb said that a few years ago a trolley was wrapped in orange to advertise a highrise apartment building in Victory Park. Reaction was positive, he said. But that was one time only, not a long-term marketing plan.

The feedback to the recent campaign has not been all bad.

When trolley officials posted pictures on the “McKinney Avenue Transit Authority” Facebook page in early December of the newly wrapped streetcars, there was strong negative reaction from some trolley enthusiasts. But it was not the majority view. In fact, the comments were evenly divided.

“I don’t care about basketball. I’d prefer not to see these wraps covering the beautiful vintage cars,” said one. “But I understand ‘Free to Ride’ means money has to come from somewhere.”

“I love the charm of the trolleys, but I also love the M-Lines continued existence and $0 fare ... so, I’ll reluctantly take it,” said another.

Cobb said the contract will provide about $125,000 this year for the trolley system, more than triple the advertising revenue from previous years. Advertising revenues now represent the trolley system’s third largest contributor to its annual $1 million budget. Subsidies from Dallas Area Rapid Transit and the nonprofit Uptown Dallas are the two largest contributors.

The controversy comes as trolley officials prepare to open a much-delayed loop into downtown. Construction on the 1-mile extension to the existing 2.8-mile system is nearing completion, with the first test runs scheduled for this month.

If all goes well, Cobb said, a soft opening for the new route could begin as early as April 1. During that period, the cars will not run on a regular schedule but will take riders. Regular service is tentatively scheduled to begin at the end of April.

In the meantime, trolley officials have been discussing how to deal with criticism of the wraps.

Cobb said the criticism is shared by some members of the trolley system’s board, though the complaints have varied. Some board members have expressed discomfort over the prominence of alcohol ads on a family-friendly attraction.

“If you have a trolley going down the street and it looks like a giant beer bottle, some people have questioned whether it hurts our image,” he said. “But it’s hard to tell if they’re against that particular wrap or if they just don’t like the idea of a trolley car wrapped in an ad.”

He said the issue will come to the full board next month.

“If we feel it’s not in the best interest of the trolley, we’ll do something about it,” he said.

But, he said, there is only so much he can do. The advertising contract was signed after three months of vetting by the board’s marketing committee, and was unanimously approved by the executive committee. It is binding for three years, and ads have been sold for most of this year.

Brad Berkley, CEO of Radiant Outdoor Advertising, notes that the trolley system is bound by contract but indicated there may be some leeway. He calls the ads a “work in progress.”

The wraps have attracted national advertisers that have not previously shown interest in buying trolley ads, he said. He emphasized that the adhesive vinyl used in the ads does not damage the cars’ finish.

He noted that the visibility of the ads has changed somewhat. More recent wraps, such as one for Highland Park Scotch, have been less visibly intrusive than the earlier ads, such as the Mavericks’. Cobb said he wants to hear more reaction from both riders and board members. He notes, however, that reverting to the less-visible side-panel ads would only bring in about $50,000 a year.

“It’s an interesting debate so far; but right now, we’re staying the course,” he said.

Source

Canada: PATTISON Outdoor Launches New Mall Network Arts Initiative

PATTISON Outdoor Advertising today announced that it is launching a new national arts programme called Art Belongs in the Community (ABC).

As part of its renowned Art in Transit programme, ABC will support numerous arts organizations across the country, offering them new audience-building opportunities through PATTISON Onestop's Digital Mall Network in shopping centres throughout Canada from February 9 to December 31, 2015.

ABC is a national programme that partners PATTISON Outdoor with 10 major public art galleries to display art in shopping centres. Onestop (PATTISON's Digital Out-of-Home advertising agency and a recognized leader in digital advertising) will showcase a range of artwork on its mall screens in select Canadian cities in 2015. For anyone who regularly visits malls, they've undoubtedly noticed the presence of Onestop's digital mall screens. PATTISON, through ABC, is offering public galleries the chance to display artwork that relates to their current exhibitions throughout the year on these screens. ABC's scope and objective is to help broaden the exposure of artists and their artwork in the communities they are exhibited.

"For years, PATTISON Outdoor has been involved in the arts with numerous initiatives across Canada and extending these efforts to a new audience with our Mall Netowrk is an exciting endeavor," said Sharon Switzer, National Arts Programmer and Curator, PATTISON Onestop.

"This year we have partnered with, for the first time, a group of public art galleries across the country in an effort to bring artwork outside the walls of the gallery and offer it to the public at shopping centres near them. The objective is to create opportunities that will help art institutions share their ongoing programming in a unique way, and offer mall visitors a chance to see incredible artwork that they may not normally see. It's a novel approach that will reap positive benefits for artists, the galleries, and art lovers."

ABC reflects PATTISON's continued investment in the arts community and the growth of artists. The following is a list of cities, participating public art galleries and Onestop's mall locations in which artists will be showcased:

• Vancouver BC, Contemporary Art Gallery (contemporaryartgallery.ca), Oakridge Centre 
• Richmond BC, Richmond Art Gallery (richmondartgallery.org), Richmond Centre 
• Calgary AB, Glenbow (glenbow.org), Sunridge Mall 
• Edmonton AB, Art Gallery of Alberta (youraga.ca), Southgate Shopping Centre 
• Winnipeg MB, Winnipeg Art Gallery (wag.ca), Kildonan Place 
• Toronto ON, Art Gallery of Ontario (ago.net), The PATH 
• Mississauga ON, Art Gallery of Mississauga (artgalleryofmississauga.com), Dixie Mall 
• Ottawa ON, Ottawa Art Gallery (ottawaartgallery.ca), St. Laurent Centre 
• Montreal QC, Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal (macm.org), Centre Eaton 
• Halifax NS, Art Gallery of Nova Scotia (artgalleryofnovascotia.ca), Mic Mac Mall

AFRICA NEWS

South Africa: Digital advertising billboards set to replace traditional paper billboards

Digital advertising is increasingly replacing traditional paper billboards across South Africa. The next generation in out of home advertising is internet-connected digital screens that vary in size, provide more effective advertising to consumers through their flexibility and timeliness, and afford advertisers the opportunity to stream media and showcase dynamic graphics. Vicki Myburgh, PwC Entertainment & Media Leader for South Africa, says: “OOH advertising is moving with the times and like other parts of the media, such as newspaper and magazine publishing, is transforming into a digital environment.

“It is reasonable to predict that more than a quarter of traditional paper billboards could be converted to digital within the next decade.” “Advertisers are looking to engage with consumers while they are out of their homes and the OOH industry provides a number of ways in which to do so, from the traditional roadside billboard to interactive digital panels inside shopping malls,” adds Myburgh. This means serious revenue opportunities for the OOH advertising industry. According to the fifth edition of PwC’s ‘Entertainment and media outlook: 2014-2018’, by 2018 traditional South African OOH revenues will begin to decline – a trend that will have occurred on a global level by 2015 – but digital OOH (DOOH) revenues will replace them. DOOH revenues will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.3% and account for 31% of the market by 2018.

The OOH market in South Africa reached revenue of R4.1bn in 2013, up from R3.7bn in 2012. South Africa’s OOH market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.9% and will see revenues of R5.5bn in 2018. The fifth edition of PwC’s ‘South African Entertainment and Media Outlook’ presents annual historical data for 2009-2013 and provides annual forecasts for 2014-2018 in 12 entertainment and media segments. The Outlook also includes detailed information for South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

The OOH advertising market is evolving from one dominated by traditional posters, besides roads and in shopping malls, to one where the posters are replaced by digital panels, offering advertisers more flexibility in terms of content and display campaigns. South Africa’s general election of May 2014 boosted the OOH advertising market – the Democratic Alliance used roadside billboards to inform drivers in Gauteng about their opposition to e-tolls.

“The use of OOH advertising is an extremely powerful medium, particularly in political campaigning channels. The use of this method of advertising has the ability to reach and target a large audience especially where they spend a substantial amount of their time: away from their homes,” adds Myburgh. Such political campaigning is expected to result in revenues reaching R4.4bn at the end of 2014, a year-on-year increase of 7.9%.

Although billboards are considered an important platform for the growth of OOH advertising, the industry faces a number of regulatory challenges. These include issues around height, light pollution if they are situated in residential areas, their proximity to schools or the side of the highway, and the minimum distances between fascia on the highway. Another issue facing the OOH market and the advertising industry overall, is the proposed ban on alcohol advertising. Over the last decade the South African OOH market has benefitted from the improvements made to the country’s transport infrastructure, especially the launch of the Gautrain and the expansion of OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Many site owners are now transitioning from static to digital panels, now offering advertisers the scope to engage with consumers directly at airports or shopping malls.

Advertisers are continuously looking for ways to reach the 21.6 million people who travel to work using public transport every week. It is estimated that 18 million South African use minibus taxies as their main form of transport, while only 2.8 million people commute using buses. Street furniture such as bus shelters and house billboards are visible to passing vehicles and foot traffic. The City of Cape Town and the affluent Gauteng region have witnessed an upgrade to many of their bus shelters. Taxi ranks are also considered an excellent way by OOH advertisers including TRANSIT. TV to reach consumers.

One advertiser in the food industry placed ads inside 1000 taxis in early 2014, using different vernacular in different regions to advertise its special offers. Proponents of building wraps contend they have massive impact and have the potential to leave a lasting imprint. Advertisers are also able to combine campaign and corporate social investment budgets by utilising mural billboards. One of the major inhibitors to the OOH advertising industry is the lack of tools to measure audience and campaign effectiveness compared with other types of advertising. Media measurement research in South Africa is currently in a state of flux.

Nigeria

Nigeria’s OOH market will be worth around US$261 million in 2018, growing by a CAGR of 6.1%.

Total OOH revenues in Nigeria were US$ 193 million in 2013, 8.9% up on 2012.

Kenya

The Kenyan OOH market is forecast to be worth US$137 million in 2018 growing by a CAGR of 8.3%.

Total OOH revenues in Kenya had reached US$92 million in 2013 up on 2012 and almost twice the figure of 2009.

Myburgh concludes: “OOH can provide advertisers with the opportunity for great innovation – more so than any other advertising medium. DOOH will increasingly continue to grow at a time when the advertising industry is at a taxing time regarding its ability to engage with consumers.”

Source

South Africa: Trends in Out of Home

The Out of Home industry in South Africa is a profitable and fast-growing one and is set to see further growth and change in 2015, says Provantage Media Group MD Jacques du Preez.

Global companies are coming into Africa and Southern Africa and will soon be making acquisitions, Du Preez predicts, with OOH companies expected to follow, bringing both experience and capital into Africa. “The bar will certainly be raised, which is good for OOH, however it will make it tough for smaller companies in the industry and these acquisitions will change the landscape dramatically,” explains Du Preez.

OOH will become more valuable in the year ahead, he maintains, as it is one of the last mediums that can’t be controlled by the consumer. With OOH, consumers can’t tune out or change the channel and this will have a knock-on effect on the value of OOH media, which is currently undervalued.

Infrastructure development such as the new airports, railway systems and BRT projects visible throughout Africa are all natural incubators for Out of Home. These infrastructure projects, coupled with the growth of digitisation and new technology, will change the OOH landscape, especially in terms of new transportation hubs. Companies that can adapt and innovate will benefit from these developments.

As with other industries, digital will continue to grow. Already, there are massive investments being made in digital Out of Home, Du Preez reveals. Wi-Fi networks are ever-expanding and mobile phones provide another touchpoint that offers advertisers an instant connection with their consumers. “The penetration of cellphones and smartphones into the marketplace is substantial and we will soon see the synergistic effects it will have with advertising. Whoever gets ahead of this and understands where the synergies lie will crack it,” he predicts.

The year ahead will see the launch of OMC - a measurement standard set by the industry – with the first phase revealed in July 2015. This research, he reports, will cover static media types such as billboards, street pole ads and will also market Out of Home to advertisers and marketers, with proper currency research that will quantify and support the value of OOH mediums.

Sooner or later, changes in the general landscape will have an effect on advertising, believes Du Preez. With the introduction of on-demand television, it’s only a matter of time before advertising is affected. “Comparatively, from a growth perspective and from a modernisation perspective, OOH media is well-positioned to provide exciting, innovative advertising opportunities for brands. We will face challenges as an industry, but the times ahead are very exciting,” he concludes.

Source

AUSTRALIA NEWS

Australia: The first PRISMATRONIC Roadside digital billboard in Sydney’s South

Prismaflex International helped QMS to bring Digital to Sydney’s roads, with the development of the first LED billboard to target Sydney’s South.

This sign is a P10 SMD LED display, and the first with SMD technology in Australia.

The Prismatronic LED sign shows a very advanced technology with “BBM” management system, a unique innovation by Prismaflex.

This state-of-the-art digital sign is located at the busy intersection of Princes Highway and Rocky Point Road in Kogarah, and reaches traffic travelling south to the Sutherland Shire.The Sutherland Shire is the second largest council in terms of population, with over 220,000 people residing there, and a further 1.1 million visitors who visit the area each year.

Sara Lappage from B&T Australian Magazine wrote:

QMS CEO Barclay Nettlefold, said, “we are excited to be able to launch this premium digital offering in Sydney, an emerging market in terms of genuine roadside digital billboards.

This site builds on our current quality digital portfolio in Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, as we continue to develop a strong strategic footprint across all major metro markets in coming months.”

The launch of this digital billboard, not only opens up advertisers to this significant audience but also provides the market with one of the only genuine roadside digital billboard options available in Sydney.

The development is a further extension of QMS’s relationship with Outdoor Systems and also marks the introduction of PrismaFlex to Australia.

PrismaFlex is a leading LED manufacturer offering the highest European quality design and technology.

MIDDLE EAST NEWS

UAE: Bloomberg inks deal to feed DIFC news ticker

Bloomberg has signed an agreement with Elevision Media to provide dynamic financial data and market-moving headline news to be streamed over its outdoor LED digital display next to the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Gate Building.

Known as the DIFC ticker, the digital display is the longest of its kind in the Middle East. Under the agreement, it will broadcast a wide range of Bloomberg content complementing the Nasdaq Dubai market data already on display, including indices and currencies data.

Elevision Media, the digital media network which owns more than 340 screens in 80 locations across the UAE, said in a statement that it will continue to manage the media sales for the DIFC ticker, which has featured brands such as BMW, Julius Baer and London Business School.

Speaking on the collaboration, Niall Sallam, founder and CEO at Elevision said: "The DIFC ticker is designed to deliver valuable content to Dubai's financial hub and there is no better or more relevant content producer than Bloomberg.

"With its up-to-the-minute news and market data featuring on the ticker, we can create an effective and dynamic advertising opportunity for brands. Likewise, Bloomberg will enhance its ability to communicate with its target audience using a unique platform in an iconic location."

The financial data and news headlines supplied by Bloomberg will be supplemented by DIFC branded content, and a revolving stream that will allow brands to leverage the digital media platform with targeted messages suited to a professional demographic.

The LED screen was installed in May and is the longest digital out of home space in the Middle East standing a total of 96 metres long and 1.3 metres high.

Source