EUROPE NEWS

FEPE NEWS: 57th FEPE Congress bookings will be open soon!

Bookings will be opening in early January for the 57th FEPE Congress, which will be held between Wednesday June 1st and Friday June 3rd 2016 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Fira Center, Barcelona.

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

This year's congress in Budapest was FEPE's best attended yet, with over 300 delegates attending from 39 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.

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 will be 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.

We will be announcing the Gala Dinner and Friday night social venues soon, along with our first confirmed speakers.

The content programme will also be in a different format from the Budapest. As we keep evolving as an industry we feel the need to reflect these changes with more engaging content and congress audience participation. We will be giving more details at a later date.

Further details will be announced in future newsletters.

UK: Spoiler alert: Exterion Media knows what you’re getting this Christmas

While a new PlayStation or tickets to Adele may be top of many wish lists this Christmas, a consumer survey released today has revealed the gifts people are actually most likely to receive.

Research from Exterion Media’s award-winning consumer panel, work.shop.play., which surveys 10,000 people across urban areas, has found that while popular tech items such as consoles, tablets and wearables will undoubtedly make an appearance under the Christmas tree, many shoppers are still opting for more traditional gifts for their friends and families.

More than half of respondents (53 per cent) said they are likely to buy traditional hardback books this Christmas as opposed to eBooks (2 per cent). 1 in 5 (20 per cent) said they would be gifting electrical goods such as mobile phones or cameras, 1 in 10 (12 per cent) will be wrapping up a games console or game, and 1 in 20 (5 per cent) will be giving an Apple Watch or Pebble to their loved ones.

The results also highlighted that despite the proliferation of digital technology and the launch of services like Apple Music, CDs and DVDs are still common gifts for more than a third (34 per cent) of shoppers, compared with 29 per cent that were purchasing iTunes or Amazon vouchers. Overall, the number one most likely gift this Christmas is clothing, shoes and accessories (57 per cent), with food second in the running (55 per cent).

“It’s interesting to delve into the data of shopping habits and intentions of the UK in this way. It reveals for us that this year we are likely to have a traditional Christmas, as we are still seeing time-honoured presents like knitted sweaters and the hardback bestseller top of mind for many shoppers” said Jason Cotterrell, Managing Director UK, Exterion Media.

“Panels like work.shop.play. really help us to understand people as they move through urban areas, particularly during the busiest times of year, like Christmas. It’s there for marketers to take insights away, and help inform their campaigns to create the best opportunities possible.”

Other findings from the panel include:

• Two in three urbanites (63 per cent) said they enjoy shopping for Christmas presents

• Half (48 per cent) said they found advertising helpful to get inspired for Christmas

• More than half (51 per cent) shopped during Black Friday this year (68% of 16-34s), compared with 27% who bought something on the day last year (36% of 16-34s)

• With Sales promotions stretching out over a number of days this year, nearly a third (31%) saved their Black Friday shopping for the weekend or following week.

Celebrating centrally at Christmas

In addition to gifts, the work.shop.play., panel uncovered what we’ll be doing in the lead up to December 25. Half (48%) of Londoners are likely to go to a Christmas market, with Southbank Christmas Festival being the most popular destination, followed by Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. Those wanting to escape the crowds should consider Winterville in Victoria Park as only 11 per cent of Londoners will go east for their yuletide cheer.

Don’t expect too fancy a feast

Most (60 per cent) of the work.shop.play. panel do not plan to splash out on fancy festive foods in the lead up to Christmas, saying they prefer their usual food shopping choices over more expensive options. One in three people will spend £100-£300 on Christmas gifts and groceries this year, and two in three (66 per cent) said they like to shop in smaller, independent stores for Christmas.

Thinking with their stomachs, urbanites are likely to buy Christmas themed food and drink (57%). Roast potatoes were voted the no.1 food they are looking forward to eating most (55%), beating the presumed star of the dish, Turkey (44%). In the same list – right behind tin chocolates (36%) - a third of urbanites voted sprouts (32%) as the food they are most looking forward to eating.

For more information on work.shop.play. visit www.workshopplay.co.uk.

Switzerland: APG|SGA takes over marketing of promotional spaces in SBB stations and launches new segment brand "APG|SGA Promotion"

APG|SGA AG is expanding its product portfolio and entering a new business area. With effect from 1 July 2016, the company will take over the marketing, organization and implementation of promo-tions in SBB stations. By founding APG|SGA Promotion, it is continuously expanding its product range in a growing area of out-of-home communication.

As of 1 July 2016, APG|SGA Promotion will take over the exclusive marketing of promotions, stand and dis-tribution campaigns (such as sampling, fundraising, conceptual campaigns, etc.) and of pop-up stores and events on promotional spaces in around 170 Swiss railway stations. Major events such as Oktoberfest and Christmas markets in the five biggest stations will continue to be marketed and organized by SBB Real Es-tate as previously.

SBB Real Estate and APG|SGA are thus intensifying their successful partnership. Both companies are confi-dent that synergies with other out-of-home products and integration in a large sales network will create sub-stantial added value in the area of marketing, organization and implementation of promotions in SBB stations. Advertising customers will benefit from an extremely attractive product range as well as comprehen-sive advice and services.

National centre of excellence for interactive communication activities

The advisory and sales unit APG|SGA Promotion is being set up to manage the advertising market. It has a total of five employees, two of whom come from the SBB team. From Zurich, APG|SGA Promotion will act as a national centre of excellence for interactive communication activities. It will have a dedicated team of spe-cialists for all customer promotion matters. They will handle the rental of high-footfall locations for commercial promotions, brand staging and pop-up stores on the promotional areas.

Its range of services will also include marketing commercial and conceptual distribution campaigns in predefined zones. In addition to site rentals, APG|SGA Promotion also offers customized concepts and will accompany the appearances and events at the customer's request. In future, the new segment brand will offer its promotional services in other communication spaces, such as shopping centres, mountain regions, airports and public transport.

"Integrating the products and services into the APG|SGA sales organization means they can be offered in-ternationally, nationally, regionally and locally. Based on our experience with numerous successful projects, we are confident that we can successfully develop the new business area by exploiting the synergies available. This will enable us to offer our customers real added value", explains Ernst Fuhrer, who will be heading APG|SGA Promotion in addition to APG|SGA Mega Poster.

High-impact live communication with the target group

"Taking over the marketing of what are surely the busiest and most attractive promotional locations in Switzerland gives us an integrated range that offers our customers fascinating new opportunities", comments CEO Markus Ehrle. Advertisers will have the option of accompanying traditional out-of-home media cam-paigns with a direct, interactive connection to the end product – professionally and from a single source. "Our customers can thus achieve high-impact live communication with their target group" says Ehrle, continuing:

"With APG|SGA's expanded strategic focus we are meeting a growing need of our advertisers relating to the changing consumer behaviour of their target groups. The increasing popularity of e-Commerce and online shopping means that the purchase location is becoming less important. It is therefore vital for our customers to take their products and services to a mobile target group who can touch and interact with them – and our products make this increasingly possible on the move."

Downloadcenter http://www.apgsga.ch/en/company-market/downloadcenter

UK: Could click and Collect Save the High Street?

By Russell Smither, Insight Director, Posterscope

Click and collect truly entered the mainstream in 2014 providing opportunities for retailers, customers and arguably OOH advertising.

Deloitte reported that click and collect had more than doubled in the UK between 2012 and 2014 with total revenues of £5.6bn and 140 million orders last year. And as we enter the Q4 Christmas period, when retail sales peak both online and in store, click and collect is even more significant. John Lewis is a great demonstration of this – in 2014 online shopping accounted for 36% of all John Lewis Christmas sales, but of this an astounding 56% of online shoppers collected their purchases in store.

Similarly, You Gov research amongst almost 2,500 consumers on 29th/30th December 2014 also found that 39% of consumers had used click and collect for Christmas shopping with 53% stating convenience as the driving factor. So clearly click and collect is a growing trend. The table below summarises the main benefits for both consumers and retailers driving its ever increasing popularity.

CONSUMERS

Collect at convenient time and place e.g. In store or transport hubs like Doddle

No delivery concerns

Avoid shipping / delivery costs

Same day delivery

Face to face interaction in store

Easier Returns

Facilitates impulse / forgotten purchases in store

RETAILERS

Home delivery at capacity

Reduce delivery costs

Drive in store footfall

Drive incremental spend

Reignite physical store relationship

So you may ask why Posterscope believe click and collect provides such a great opportunity for OOH advertising?

CLICK AND COLLECTORS HAVE A STRONG AFFINITY WITH OOH

Firstly, the target audience benefitting most from click and collect are young, urban and mobile. Home delivery is not convenient for consumers with busy lives who by definition spend most of their time out of home. A 2014 report stated that almost half of 18-34 year olds experienced problems shopping online at Christmas 2014 largely due to missed or late delivery, which is double the figure for all adults. Click and collect is the ideal solution.

Posterscope’s own proprietary survey OCS (Out of Home consumer survey) which interviews over 5,500 consumers also identifies that consumers who use click & collect have a very strong relationship with OOH advertising. “Click & collectors” are 18% more likely than average to be heavy OOH consumers and 20% more likely to notice OOH adverts. They also have very positive attitudes towards Digital OOH, in particular relevant messaging such as a countdown clock to an event e.g. Christmas (Index 125), providing many tactical opportunities.

Click and collectors not only notice OOH advertising but respond to it. 4 in 10 have responded to an OOH advert in the last week (Index 136) with the most common actions being going online (28%, Index 167) and purchasing in store (11%, Index 142) – both linked to click and collect. 7 in 10 (72%) of click and collectors also search on their mobile devices when out of the home (Index 145) with over half (51%) researching products and services (Index 167).

Full article here

AMERICAS NEWS

USA: 10 Reasons to Celebrate OOH in 2015 By: Nancy Fletcher

Celebrated author Margaret Atwood once wrote, “Opti­mism means better than reality; pessi­mism means worse than reality. I’m a realist.”

I’m a realist, too. As we come to the end of 2015 and embrace a New Year, real­ity looks good to me. There’s no ques­tion our industry faces challenges in the days ahead and we can’t shirk from those realities, but here are ten reasons to celebrate OOH.

1) OOH is Growing. OOH is the second fastest growth medium following digital (online, social, and mobile) with gains projected through the next three years, according to ZenithOptimedia.

Next year, ZenithOptimedia expects US OOH to grow 4 percent, and con­tinue that pace through 2017. OOH will continue to be the top performing form of traditional media, and outpace total combined media through 2017 even af­ter accounting for digital (online, social, and mobile).

2) OOH Growth is Global. The Austra­lian OOH industry is up dramatically with double-digit growth. Alan Brydon, the new leader of the UK OOH indus­try group, Outsmart, says the most prevalent theme in the UK is “positivity.” According to Magna Global, OOH will grow globally by 5.2 percent next year compared to 4.3 percent for total combined media. The overall message is that OOH continues to perform well everywhere.

3) Broadcast is Down; Print is Worse. A weakening in other media channels signals an opportunity for OOH. Global TV ad spend will fall this year, for the first time in a non-recession year. In the US, TV spend will be down 3.9 percent. Nielsen recently admitted, the smart phone is eating TV spend. TV viewing by all age groups peaked in the 2010 season and has been declining ever since. Before that point, TV viewing had been growing since 1949.

Of course, TV’s revenue will be sus­tained somewhat in 2016 with the cycli­cal infusion of presidential election and Summer Olympics media spend.

The downward spiral of print will con­tinue. Newspapers will be down 12.9 percent this year and magazines will be down 13.5 percent. Radio will be down 3 percent.

4) Project MORE. The TAB Board of Directors has just agreed to test an am­bitious proposal intended to enrich and expand the information derived through OOH ratings. The plan will produce enhanced audience measurement using a blend of standardized sources for ve­hicular traffic data, augmented through multiple data sources. The information will cover millions of miles of roadways, include volume and congestion by time of day, and vehicular occupancy.

Further enhancements are expected to include the measure of pedestrian volume, new eye tracking research, and advanced audience profiling in an effort to produce more timely metrics for an expanded universe of OOH formats.

5) Strong Buzz. The OOH industry’s Feel the Real campaign landed big on the press radar screen, starting with an ex­clusive in The Wall Street Journal during Advertising Week in New York. Equally important, media planners noticed the hyper-targeted OOH ads, and their responses lit up social media.

A favorite tweet remarked, “Nice media placement! Right outside my ad agency window,” posted Marc Stryker, media director at the Penna Powers agency in Salt Lake City. A web post from India, asked, “When will we see OOH in India taking such an action?”

6) Digital Ad Spend Will Soon Overtake TV and That Helps OOH. The Wall Street Jour­nal recently reported that digital ad spend in the US will surpass TV spending next year. Digital will be the largest media category with revenue expected to exceed $66 billion.

The OOH medium complements digital media. In fact, MediaDailyNews writes, “Today, OOH is increasingly becoming the media of choice of public brand declarations. The public plus private formula is tried and true and an effective mode of communication.” But, instead of using TV and print to deliver this combination, more marketers are turning to digital and OOH.

7) Technology Helps OOH. Ford is asking consumers to design custom OOH ads, taking “brand connections” to a new level. In five UK markets, Santa Claus made his rounds on 50 digital billboards. London is displaying traffic updates on digital taxi tops.

Advances in display technology and data integration are combining to make OOH an even more compelling design palette for brands. The result is a new gen­eration of OOH design options that can engage consumers like never before.

8) Urban Amenities. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says new street-level ad panels that bring free Wi-Fi are “a critical step toward a more equal, open, and connected city.”

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says waiting for the bus should be “an oppor­tunity, not a chore,” thanks to upgraded bus shelters and benches.

Municipalities are beginning to see more dimensions to the traditionally linear role of the OOH medium with new amenities and revenue streams. When the intelli­gent and intuitive nature of a connected web is linked to the physical world, it positively impacts cities and makes them better places to live. OOH helps to make the connections.

9) The Industry Maintains Strong Relationships with Congress. President Obama just signed a five-year Highway Bill to maintain roads, bridges, and tran­sit while protecting OOH industry proper­ty rights. Despite attempts to inject two amendments to the Bill that could have harmed OOH, our industry responded with deliberate action and the amend­ments were defeated.

The OOH industry has a long history of working with elected officials to ensure that our right to con­duct business is preserved while re­maining a positive economic driver and job creator in communities across the country.

10) More Brands Recognize the Power of OOH. In Minneapo­lis-St. Paul, a 12-week campaign boosted enrollments by 92 per­cent for Delta Dental of Minnesota, driving con­sumers to a website to browse dental plans. Digital billboards were supported by bus kings, train wraps, posters, and bulletins. This highly engaging campaign won OAAA’s 2015 OOH Media Plan of the Year Award.

Local businesses and national brands rely on OOH to deliver messages to active audiences when they are away from home on the path to purchase. The brands using OOH straddle every product category, but some of the most striking growth has been among technol­ogy advertisers. Apple, Google, Sam­sung, Snapchat, and Spotify are among the brands investing more heavily in the power of OOH.

Yes, I am a realist, a realist who can­not ignore facts. OOH is a growing and vibrant media channel with much to celebrate as we ring in a New Year.

Source

USA: Outfront Media Goes Even More Digital

Outfront Media is looking to court digital ad dollars with a new technology platform that provides more robust analytics for marketers.

The company’s new “ON Smart Media” platform, unveiled last month, will provide marketers with more data about the audiences that pass by its signs, whether static or digital, much like the analytics capabilities that are commonplace in Web and mobile advertising.

The platform makes it easier to buy outdoor ads digitally and helps marketers do more with its outdoor creative campaigns, such as provide tools to send mobile messages to consumers who are near one of Outfront Media’s displays.

The aim is to “allow people to buy our assets with a digital focus,” said Andy Sriubas, Outfront Media’s executive vice president of strategic planning and development.

According to Interpublic research firm Magna Global, out-of-home and cinema advertising were the only traditional media categories in the U.S. to grow in 2015 largely thanks to the superior yield from digital signs and better measurement and trading metrics to lure much larger branding and TV budgets.

To raise the profile of out-of-home ads among Madison Avenue, the outdoor advertising industry has highlighted its ability to reach mass audiences that can’t skip over ads, its conversion of more billboards to digital displays and improved metrics to measure out-of-home ads compared with other media categories. Outfront Media, formerly known as CBS Outdoor, reported organic revenue growth of 2.5% to $336 million in the most recent quarter.

Historically, out-of-home displays such as billboards, transit station signs and other outdoor posters have been purchased by out-of-home media specialists on a board-by-board basis. Outfront Media, however, wants to appeal to a broader group of media buyers and help advertisers get far more specific in who they’re targeting with their outdoor ad buys, Mr. Sriubas said.

“To bring growth, we have to bring more dollars into the market,” Mr. Sriubas said.

With Outfront Media’s new platform, a marketer can for example buy space on billboards below 14th street in Manhattan that reach women between the ages of 18 and 34 years old who frequent Starbucks shops. Mr. Sriubas says the company hopes the improved targeting of advertising on Outfront Media’s displays will drive up rates known as CPMs, which are the price they can charge to reach 1,000 people. Such targeting has helped raise CPMs with digital media.

The company’s new technology platform also aims to help advertisers create more engaging campaigns displayed on Outfront Media’s signs, especially its digital boards. Outfront Media is already using its cloud-based technology to display messages on smart boards located in New York City’s new 34th Street Hudson Yards subway station, its first product initiative through the ON Smart Media platform.

Full article here

AFRICA NEWS

South Africa: New DOOH measurement tool unveiled

Neil Eddleston, managing director of JCDecaux OneWorld, was recently in South Africa to reveal the particulars of the group’s latest OOH measurement study. The project, called AM4DOOH, uses sophisticated technology to measure audience engagement, as well as factors which contribute to optimal OOH placement.

The AM4DOOH Study, which builds on existing Joint Investment Committee studies, is European focused as that was where the research was conducted. It centres on the significance of digital in this market, and more specifically, how digital relates to existing static factors. The study builds on existing visibility adjustment measures, rather than reinventing them, providing a consistent approach and consistent standards.

The basis of the study is twofold: firstly it concentrates on actual measurement of where the participants’ eyes rove in an outdoor environment. Secondly it creates a virtual city that can be customised to reflect any city in reality, no matter where it is in the world. Eddleston explained that the virtual city explores a large volume of possible contact possibilities per respondent. As a result the city generates a lot of usable data as a significant number of outdoor formats are measured. Another two positives are that the study can be tweaked so confounding issues are controlled and all measures are relative, allowing for easier comparison.

The necessity of new research into digital OOH (DOOH) is supported by data from MAGNA Global. According to them, DOOH’s share of ad spend is expected to grow 180% from $2.5bn recorded in 2010, to $7bn in 2019. DOOH global spend is also expected to increase from just over 5%, recorded in 2010 to 18% expected in 2019.

During his talk Eddleston also revealed the six most important factors that need to be considered when OOH adverts are placed. These are:

Angle of panel

‘Eccentricity’, explained as how far or near it is to roads

Size

Lighting

Visibility complexity

Traffic speed

Concluding the presentation, Eddleston said his company is working with JICs in each market and the application of any digital findings will be the decision of the local JICs.

Source

ASIA NEWS

India: IOAA plays on power of shared OOH experiences, underlines efficacy of medium

The Indian Outdoor Advertising Association’s (IOAA) campaign to highlight the ‘Power of Outdoors’, first unveiled in August 2015, went live on OOH sites in Bengaluru last week, with plans to go live this week in Mumbai and NCR.

The campaign has been conceptualised by Taproot India with photography by Prashant Godbole. The OOH campaign uses unused billboard inventory to underline the power of the medium, with the lead copy: “Everything works better when it’s outdoor”.

The visuals have been shot across India to give it a pan-India flavour, informed an agency statement.

While one creative depicts a group of men on a desert listening to radio together (above), another captures a motley bunch of enthusiasts by the bay cheering what seems like a match on TV.

Source