FEPE NEWS

UK: Ocean wins contract for Piccadilly Lights

Ocean is to embark on an ambitious plan to transform the Piccadilly Lights into a more dynamic advertising proposition after winning the contract to handle ad sales for the London site.  

Land Securities, the landlord, has appointed Ocean "to build on the long-term heritage" of the famous outdoor site by turning it into "an innovative and exciting global technology hub". The companies would not comment on details.

There is speculation that Land Securities could reduce the number of long-term advertisers or cut the length of their tenancies.

Introducing more real-time and topical ads could drive up revenue from the site, which observers estimate could bring in more than £20m a year. Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Samsung are among those with tenancies. Another screen, The Curve, allows temporary advertisers.

Land Securities previously worked with Clear Channel on The Curve but handled other relationships directly.

Source

UK: Multi-million Pound Boost From Bus Shelter Advertising

Advertising on bus shelters across the West Midlands is set to net more than £15 million income over the next five years – to plough straight back into public transport.

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), the transport arm of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has awarded the contract to advertising giant Clear Channel. Revenue goes back into the network to help pay for the upkeep of vital infrastructure including bus stations and shelters.

As part of the new contract Clear Channel will pay a fixed fee each year for the exclusive sales rights to advertising panels on a third of shelters throughout the West Midlands.

The new contract, which goes live on July 1, will see the number of digital advertising screens at bus shelters across the region increased to 300 over the next five years.

Full story here

UK: Helen Weisinger leaves HeyHuman for Outdoor Plus

After 2 years, Helen Weisinger, Managing Partner and CMO of HeyHuman has decided to leave the agency to join media owner, Outdoor Plus as its Chief Client Officer. 

Helen’s remit will be to get closer to advertisers and their agencies, enabling them to capitalize on the huge new opportunities created by technology, data and creativity. Helen will report to Jonathan Lewis and sit on the company’s executive board along with Grant Branfoot and the 4 other members of the management team. She will join the company in September 2016.

Helen said: “This is not just a new job but an exciting career shift for me. It’s a really interesting time to get into digital OOH. Unlike any other medium, the great thing is that it can’t be turned off or tuned out and I’m excited about showing off the creative opportunities to clients and agencies.”

Jonathan Lewis, Managing Director of Outdoor Plus said: “Our experience has shown us that the most innovative & successful campaigns arise when we work directly with advertisers and their agencies. Appointing Helen as Chief Client Officer is the next step for Outdoor Plus as we continue with our ambition to offer advertisers the very best in Digital Out of Home. Helen has a wealth of agency experience & this new role will see her play a pivotal role in the growth of Outdoor Plus.”

UK: “Something Strange in your Neighbourhood” as Sony Pictures Dominates Waterloo Station with Ghostbusters Campaign

A super-sized spooky Out-of-Home campaign was launched by Sony Pictures with JCDecaux today, transforming London’s Waterloo Station into a film-themed showcase for two weeks, promoting the release of the new GHOSTBUSTERS movie which hits cinemas today.

The campaign activity is augmented with a variety of global media-firsts debuting at the Waterloo Station spectacular. Oozing, 8 metre ‘Slime Poles’ have been placed around the station, and a colossal sculpture of the iconic Stay Puft Marshmallow Man can be seen smashing through the concourse floor.

Commuters will be encouraged to capture a picture and share on Twitter using #ghostbusterswaterloo. An immersion zone in the station’s busy commuter tunnel has been completely transformed with New York vinyl wraps and atmospheric audio, including eerie snatches of sound from New York City.

Thousands of visitors will have the chance to buy ghostly goods at a pop-up GHOSTBUSTERS retail unit which has been built to look like a New York Subway entrance. The retail unit is being run by the world’s largest and best-known science fiction, fantasy and cult entertainment retailer FORBIDDEN PLANET.

Full article here

Romania: Trends in Romanian OOH market: Digital screens and real-time trading

An increase in the number of digital screens and real-time trading, new developments in hyper-targeting, and a growing beacon adoption focused on analytics – out-of-home advertising (OOH) will be a core part of social and mobile strategies and will start being recognized as a direct response medium.

These are the main trends across the OOH advertising industry in 2016, industry players told BR. In the context of constant industry change and evolution, Phoenix Media, the leader of the outdoor digital market, has continually sought to innovate in terms of out-of-home advertising (OOH) and launched the first planning programmatic application, called SETI (Integrated Traffic Extended System). This instrument is the result of a wide-ranging study conducted along with D&D Research and has as its goal to identify the demographic profile of people passing through 43 transit locations in Bucharest.

Full article here

UK: The Four Core Strengths of a Digital OOH Network

“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” – Lao Tzu, 530BC

Just as some within the out-of-home (OOH) advertising market thought everything was heading in a steady direction with a gradually growing market share (give or take the odd recession); the online and mobile world turned up and disrupted everything. In a short period of time, rapid real-world digital advances (mobile technology, ubiquitous Wi-Fi and 4G, social media, search, retail, transport, banking, food delivery etc.) have resulted in the OOH medium, to some observers, being viewed as an anachronistic, antiquated, analogue advertising channel.

Paradoxically an increasingly huge amount of poster locations have been converted into shiny new structures housing networked screens – bringing in visibly tangible evidence of the modern age. While I sit at my desk this afternoon, senior players in the world’s creative community are congregating in Cannes for multiple award ceremonies. I would predict that at least 50% of all creative entries will have used OOH in some form to bring their idea to life.

Full article here

AMERICAS NEWS

USA: The Call of the Billboard

You can download the blueprint for the world’s first “sweating” billboard online. And for about $280, you can build it, too. The Mosquito Killer Billboard, designed and launched by Brazilian ad agencies Posterscope and NBS, lures bugs with a haze of fluorescent lights and an airborne lactic acid solution that mimics the smell of human sweat and the CO2 in human breath. Killing mosquitos is a big priority in Brazil this summer. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently responded to a letter sent by 150 global health experts calling for August’s Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro to be delayed or moved in light of the Zika virus outbreak. WHO’s verdict: the virus is a global emergency, but holding the games should not worsen transmission. Like mosquitos, spectators likely will swarm Brazil’s capital as planned.

Sweating billboards are an unlikely ally, but they might help draw in the Zika-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitos from as far as four kilometers away. After duping the sweat-drunk insects into thinking they have found a human body, fans blow the bugs into glass chambers, where they eventually die of dehydration, their wiry bodies piling up as evidence for passersby. Beyond stockpiling insect carcasses, these billboards are also notable for what that they are not doing: selling products. 

Full article here

AUSTRALIA NEWS

Australia: Signs of the times - the brave new world of outdoor

“The out of home (OOH) industry is experiencing a renaissance,” Outdoor Media Association (OMA) CEO Charmaine Moldrich said and looking at the sector as a whole, in many ways it has. The past 18 months have seen a renewed focus on discovery and exploration within OOH, guided by new technology and advances spawning fresh interest in the sector from outside and within the advertising industry.

In 2015, there was a huge boost in the development of digital out of home (DOOH), from the building of huge roadside screens to the unveiling of a digitalised street furniture network across the country, and this year looks poised to continue that trajectory.

Full story here

Australia: APN Outdoor outnumbers the competition

APN Outdoor’s commitment to research continues as they reaffirm their leadership with the release of research snapshot, Outnumbered, to market today. Outnumbered, produced as both an online and hardcopy book, filled with insights into all of APN Outdoor’s formats, is further proof the Outdoor leaders are heavily committed to the investment in and proliferation of market leading research, to propagate their own products and the industry overall.

Sharing statistics from several different sources, commentary from key industry figures and product insights from a range of bespoke studies undertaken by APN Outdoor, Outnumbered is an Outdoor format index of sorts, providing a snapshot into the research available from APN Outdoor’s extensive library and archives. 

Read it here

New Zealand: Adshel launches NZ's first national digital roadside network

Adshel has today launched New Zealand's first national digital roadside network, Adshel Live.

With 150 ultra-high definition screens across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, the Adshel Live national network offers unrivalled ability to reach audiences across NZ's three major metropolitan centres. The screens are located in hand-picked zones including main arterial routes and key shopping precincts across each centre, enabling advertisers to reach commuters where they work, live, shop and play.

Full story here

Australia: APN Outdoor ponders double acquisition

Out-of-home firm APN Outdoor is allegedly contemplating a double acquisition which will see the outdoor media giant take over Queensland's Metrospace Outdoor Advertising, along with assets from Independent Outdoor Media (iOM).

The deal could see APN Outdoor fork out some $40m for both Metrospace and iOM’s assets. Metrospace has a prolific presence in Queensland’s outdoor media industry, with 130 sites situated across Brisbane, Cairns, Gladstone and Hervey Bay. iOM operates outdoor advertising across Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane and has been in divestment mode for the last several years.

Full story here

AFRICA NEWS

South Africa: Outdoor advertising in South Africa now has reliable measurement data

Assessing the reach of out of home (OOH) advertising has always posed enormous challenges, but the industry now has a powerful new toolkit. It was the vision of a joint industry committee, the Out of Home Measurement Council (OMC), to produce consolidated research utilising cutting edge technology to better equip media agencies.

A vision they have now achieved. The four founding members of OMC, JCDecaux, Primedia Outdoor, Outdoor Network and Ad Outpost, were joined by OOH stakeholders for a breakfast function at the Johannesburg Country Club on Monday, 23 May, for the announcement that would almost certainly change the local industry for the better.

Full article here

ASIA NEWS

Japan: MCDecaux wins 15-year Tokyo Metropolitan Government advertising bus shelter contract

JCDecaux SA today announced that its Japanese subsidiary, MCDecaux (85% owned by JCDecaux and 15% by Mitsubishi Corporation) has won the competitive tender for advertising bus shelter contract awarded by the Bureau of Transportation, Tokyo Metropolitan Government, for a minimum duration of 15 years.

This exclusive contract is the largest bus shelter contract in Japan and covers the design, installation, maintenance and operation of advertising bus shelters. At least 400 shelters, featuring more than 800 2m² advertising panels, will be installed before the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.  

Full story here

Thailand: Thailand's ad spending down 8% in H1

Advertising spending through all channels dropped 7.86 per cent in the first half of this year, according to a survey by Nielsen. Total spending during January and June fell to Bt55.97 billion, against Bt60.75 billion in the same period last year.

Amid the gloomy outlook, the Internet showed a bright future. Spending through the channel jumped 72.56 per cent on year to Bt849 million. Cinema ad spending also rose by 21 per cent to Bt2.72 billion; followed by a 20 per cent increase in transit advertising; a 17.89 per cent increase in outdoor advertising and a 0.57 per cent increase in radio advertising. Other channels reported a drop in spending, led by magazines (down by 28 per cent to Bt1.5 billion).

Thailand's economy expanded 3.2 per cent in the first quarter of this year thanks mainly to public spending.

India: JCDecaux gets advertising rights for Chennai Metro

In a short span of time, Chennai’s metro operations have become a branding hotspot with local, national and international companies advertising to target users. With names such as Arun ice cream, Reliance Trends, Maruti, ITC, Renault, Motorola and Ford among others on board, out-of-home agency JCDecaux is set to give the necessary splash for brands via Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CRML).

Many companies are leveraging advertising campaigns through the elevated corridor in Chennai as the metro is becoming a much sought-after media for the billboard-free city.

Full story here