EUROPE NEWS

UK: Strong Q4 helps outdoor post record 2014 revenue of £1bn

Outdoor reported its strongest-ever performance in the final three months of 2014, helping the sector achieve a record £1 billion in revenue for the full year.

Figures from the Outdoor Media Centre show outdoor adspend rose 6.1 per cent to £300 million in the quarter. Among the biggest spenders were Asda, Sky, Sony Mobile, TSB and Warner Bros.

Google was another brand to invest heavily in outdoor during the period, using the medium to amplify campaigns for search, YouTube and Android.

The performance contributed to the sector growing 3 per cent year on year in 2014 to reach £1 billion for the first time.

The industry has fared well over the past few years, exceeding its goal of becoming a "10 per cent medium" (its aim to capture a tenth of all display advertising revenue) while continuing to innovate with new partnerships, technology and content.

The OMC credits the increasing number of digital sites now available through many media owners’ portfolios for much of the growth momentum. Digital out-of-home now accounts for more than 28 per cent of the medium’s total revenue.

Mark Craze, the chairman of the OMC, said: "These are great results for the sector. The market is benefiting from the investment in digital but also the rampant inflation levels in TV. The growth in retail is clearly a result of press advertising losing share, which is moving on to digital screens."

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UK: FEPE 56th Annual Congress in Budapest: Early Bird bookings will be closing next week!

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.

Switzerland: Out-of-Home and Mobile Advertising – the new cross-media offer by Clear Channel and Adello

Out-of-Home’s impact can now be increased by applying Mobile Marketing. For that purpose, Clear Channel and Adello launch a cross-media offer.

Regarding OOH, no medium is faster when it comes to achieving high reach. Therefore, OOH is indispensable for branding and sale. Being the only mass medium, OOH plays an important role as gatekeeper for online campaigns and mobile advertising, whose strength is interactivity. Adello and Clear Channel Switzerland have agreed on an exclusive cooperation that will leverage the advantages of both media.

Oliver Schönfeld, Marketing Director Clear Channel Switzerland, is proud about the new offering: “With our two new products, which are exclusively available with Clear Channel, we launch a ground-breaking innovation. By use of Mobile Marketing, OOH campaigns can be reinforced, deepened and extended – thanks to our partner Adello in a quality and of data depth which previous offers have not met. Adello, an international company rooted in Switzerland, is our partner of choice – they have been multiply awarded, both on national and international level, for their smart business solutions.”

With Adello’s support, Clear Channel launches two innovative offers:

• «Amplify» – campaign extension With OOH advertising, the advertiser generates publicity and attracts attention for his message. Audience close to a billboard – i.e. who see the respective advertising – get deepening additional information on their mobile phones, such as videos or order forms.

• «Performance» – campaign reaction and customer acquisition Employing its self-optimizing, awarded models, Adello generates a profile out of all persons who – close to the respective billboard – react to the campaign by accessing additional information on their mobile phones. Afterwards, persons with similar profiles in general population will also be targeted with the respective advertising, regardless of whether they are close to a billboard or not. By doing so, the OOH campaign achieves additional reach with persons who exactly comply with the advertiser’s target group.

Mark Forster, CEO Adello, explains: “At Adello, we use the power of data science to identify the most responsive audience – impression by impression. Our algorithms are based on behaviour of over a billion mobile devices, which we analyse across 50,000 attributes – not only gender and age. Our campaigns lead to better advertising results and less wastage.”

The new products are available with immediate effect and can be booked exclusively with Clear Channel.

UK: Amscreen and Clear Channel UK pen digital screen deal

Ground-breaking technology partnership will see Clear Channel’s Adshel Live screens deployed across UK

Amscreen, Europe’s leading digital signage solutions company and outdoor media giant Clear Channel UK have today announced a deal that will see outdoor, sunlight-visible digital screens deployed across the UK.

The strategic alliance will see the coming together of technology innovators Amscreen and media experts Clear Channel UK. Amscreen’s Solutions division will exclusively provide affordable and state of the art digital signage screens that are visible in sunlight, making them ideal for outdoor use and will be deployed as Clear Channel’s Adshel Live units at bus stops and various other outdoor locations. Amscreen has designed a new range of products and operating model that will bring huge efficiencies in the areas of installation, maintenance and full lifetime product support.

The screens include a unique modular approach that allows on-site replacement of all key parts where previously this has not been feasible. The screens will be manufactured and assembled in a purpose built 20,000 square foot plant in Bolton, creating numerous employment opportunities in the area.

Amscreen CEO Simon Sugar, commented, ” We are thrilled to announce the partnership with Clear Channel UK and with our combined knowledge of the sector, we have developed our solution from the ground up to deliver a more efficient product in all areas. This initial rollout of screens marks the start of our relationship with Clear Channel, and we look forward to watching this flourish. We have a scalable business model that can be easily replicated across European markets.”

Sugar continued, “The deal with Clear Channel will also see us manufacturing and assembling technology here on UK soil, bringing jobs to the industry at a time when many corporations are choosing to move abroad. We are proud to be investing significantly in the UK and are certain our partners will benefit greatly from the support, skills and technological advances that we bring.”

Will Ramage, Business Development Director at Clear Channel UK added, “Partnering with Amscreen is the perfect opportunity for Clear Channel to innovate technologically. Their screens and services provide us with an economical solution that we can roll out as Adshel Live across our outdoor network. We are certain that our partnership will provide the acceleration in outdoor screen adoption that the market has long been waiting for. We also look forward to further developing our technology partnership with Amscreen.”

The Digital 6-Sheet sector is currently estimated to comprise over 2,000 screens in a number of enviroments including bus shelters, rail stations and shopping centres. This deal will see a huge injection of digital sites across the UK over the coming year helping to further grow an already burgeoning sector.

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UK: Outdoor Media Centre appoints Alan Brydon as chief executive

The Outdoor Media Centre (OMC), the industry body for the out-of-home media sector, has appointed Alan Brydon, head of investment at Havas Media Group UK, as its chief executive.

Brydon replaces Mike Baker who left the OMC at the end of 2014.

With more than 25 years' experience in media, the last eight at Havas, Brydon has worked as a media director at Abbott Mead Vickers, and has held senior roles at MEC and MPG. He has also held positions on the media owner side as advertising sales director for the London Evening Standard, and has worked in the private equity sector with Apax Partners.

He joins OMC in a time of transition, as Mark Craze, another former Havas Media leader, is due to replace Naren Patel, the chief executive of Primesight and outgoing chair of the OMC, from next month.

Brydon said: "I am absolutely delighted to be joining the OMC. The OOH medium is already an incredibly effective and powerful choice for advertisers, but it is now entering the most exciting period in its history.

"With all the innovations, developments and opportunities across the next few years, I know that by working with a fully committed and focused OMC, as well as key supporters and out-of-home specialists, I can help take the OOH medium forward, and assist clients and their agencies in using the platform in ever more efficient and effective ways."

Launched in 2011, the OMC consists of three council members, seven board members and 24 associates. Its job is to market the outdoor medium to advertisers and their agencies, using regular events, training, category argument, newsletters and case studies. It also lobbies central and local government.

Patel said: "I am delighted to welcome Alan to the Outdoor Media Centre. He has unrivalled experience in the media sector and has long been a vocal supporter of the outdoor advertising medium. He brings knowledge, passion and a great black book to the OMC."

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Netherlands: River Island choose ADI as retailer’s first LED screen is unveiled at Rotterdam Store

Global fashion retailer River Island have invested in LED technology for the first time, with the installation of a large external screen at their flagship Rotterdam store.

At the city’s busiest shopping destination – The Lijnbaan - the 12m² display is helping drive footfall and convey the fashion brand’s identity via high impact digital media.

The screen allows River Island to communicate their latest campaigns and in-store offering in an innovative and attractive way, with the new installation also providing opportunities to broadcast interactive and live content.

ADI have designed and engineered a solution which integrates seamlessly within River Island’s contemporary storefront; the screen is recessed within the clad façade and features a matte black Dibond bezel which elegantly compliments the existing reflective metal cladding.

The screen utilises ADI’s outdoor 10mm SMD product, which features Nichia grade LED; widely recognised as the highest quality available on the market.

This offers exceptional image quality in all weather conditions, even in direct sunlight, and brightness can be controlled on-site or remotely.

ADI also provided the Content Management System, allowing programming to be managed remotely from River Island’s West London Head Office and the latest marketing content to be broadcast to the screen with ease.

In addition to custom screen design and manufacture, ADI undertook the installation process during the store’s closing hours.

They will also provide on-going servicing and maintenance to maximise the screen’s operational lifespan and offer localised client support and remote monitoring.

UK: BrightMove Media appoints Nigel Sharrocks & Shaun Wyles as non-executive directors

Digital Taxi advertising company BrightMove Media has named Nigel Sharrocks and Shaun Wyles as non-executive directors to oversee the real-time digital moving media specialist’s expansion plans.

The pair will take on their roles with immediate effect in which they will seek to develop new and nurture existing relationships within media markets.

Piers Mummery, CEO of BrightMove Media said, “We are delighted to welcome our three new directors to the board and are looking forward to working with them. With such a breadth of experience and expertise, this will further support and drive BrightMove Media’s dominant position in real-time digital moving media”.

Sharrocks added: “The outdoor industry is at a pivotal point of change with the emergence of innovative digital applications. I am extremely excited to be working with the BrightMove Media team, who are definitely at the cutting edge of digital out of home advertising”.

Both will be assisted in their new roles by Keith Marsden who will advise on growth and development opportunities within the company.

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AMERICAS NEWS

USA: Largest Hispanic Digital Signage Network in the United States, Admirable LLC, Deploys with BroadSign International

Admirable LLC, the nation’s largest Hispanic digital signage network, has completed its initial deployment of 265 screens using BroadSign International, LLC’s cloud-based software.

Situated in Hispanic restaurants, Admirable’s 42” LED screens reach about 2.5 million visitors per month who designate eating out as their number one leisure activity. A seated dwell time of 45 minutes to two hours has enabled Admirable to divide its 12-minute loops between global, country-specific and local news, entertainment, advertising and each restaurant’s own messaging.

“The BroadSign platform was made for ad-based networks such as our own. Its performance reports have been crucial for establishing a level of trust with our advertisers that would have been difficult using other software,” said Kristian Diaz, Chief Technology Officer at Admirable.

“The ability to use triggers and add custom integrations through BroadSign’s SDK has been a source of innovation for our interactive campaigns, and BroadSign’s rules-based approach frees up time for our network operations team to focus on clients, offering great responsiveness and flexibility.” Advertisers can easily segment Admirable’s audience by age (almost 50% are young adults), country of origin, location and income level, and include Telemundo, United Airlines, AARP, MetroPCS and Corona.

Admirable ran a network-wide campaign for Corona during FIFA World Cup 2014, enabling viewers to vote on game results and view them on the screen in real-time. Since Corona was sold onsite, Admirable was able to measure a 19% sales lift. The network is featuring more campaigns of this nature to assess engagement levels and correlations with factors like copy, length and rewards.

“As innovators in the digital signage space, we enjoy assisting our customers in maintaining the same role in their domains,” said Skip Beloff, Vice President of Sales at BroadSign. “Admirable is a fabulous example of a network that has focused on a specific vertical and viewership, and makes constant use of our features to deliver campaigns that connect with viewers. Advertisers thank them for that.”

CANADA: OMAC Best CPG OOH 2014 Entry Call

The Out-of-Home Marketing Association (OMAC) has announced the call for submissions for the 2014 Best Consumer Packaged Goods Awards.

Submissions are due by March 27, 2015 and all consumer packaged goods OOH advertising (English and French) that ran in Canada from January – December 2014 is eligible for entry.

The OOH award categories include: Beauty, Health & Personal Care, Food, Beverage and Household Products.

Judging for the 2014 best OOH campaigns will be a 2 stage process: a panel of industry leaders will review and select finalists in each category which will then be tested by BrandSpark’s Shopper Panel to gauge the ad’s ability to connect with consumers.

Last year’s winners were: Beverage: Molson Coors for Newcastle Ale, Food: Ultima Foods for IOGO, Health & Personal Care: Unilever for Dove and Household Products: Procter & Gamble for Mr. Clean.

If you would like to enter an OOH campaign(s), please click here to download the form and email the completed form along with a jpeg and / or video of the OOH creative to Jacques Major at jmajor@omaccanada.ca no later than March 27, 2015.

USA: Outfront Media Promotes Engagement: Literally!

Elizabeth asked Vincent to marry her – thanks in part to OUTFRONT Media. In keeping with the spirit of Valentine’s Day, we employed our Digital inventory to invite Canadians across the country to ‘Share your Love’. Love notes received via a custom URL and online entry were played on our national digital network with a 1.5 million daily circulation.

OUTFRONT Media received over 260 messages of affection. Messages not only ran on our network, we posted pictures of the messages on our screens on our Facebook page and let everyone know that they could find them there. Consumers searched for their note and shared it on their own social networks.

The ‘Share your Love’ campaign proved that Digital Outdoor gets noticed, drives emotion and links beautifully with social media when planned holistically:

• Our Facebook total reach peaked over the Valentine’s Day weekend at 9,766. For every person who sent us a love note, 38 others on average saw the message online.

• OUTFRONT Media Facebook posts generated 52,681 clicks, illustrating the ability of Outdoor and social media to amplify messages when used in combination.

“We were very pleased that the promotion touched so many people, across so many demographics. It can be easy to forget sometimes how impactful Outdoor is for people but this campaign really brought that home in a very fulfilling way.

Aside from many heartfelt submissions, we also received many notes of thanks and appreciation for the chance to send a message in such a unique way.” said Michele Erskine, Marketing Director, OUTFRONT Media Canada.

And what about Elizabeth and Vincent? Elizabeth’s grand, romantic gesture on OUTFRONT Media’s digital network worked…. Vincent said yes! And many of those on Facebook shared in her joy when she let everyone know “It worked, he said yes!”

AFRICA NEWS

Angola: Continental Outdoor continues their Digital OOH revolution into Angola

Roadside digital screens have, following Continental Outdoors’ rollout plan, hit the streets of Angola. The four digital screens in Luanda, Angola can be found on strategic arterials and provide clients with valuable opportunities to interact with their respective target markets.

The screens are located in Ilha de Luanda, 1 de Maio, 21 de Janeiro and Avenue Revolucao de Outbro. These will be the first of their kind in Angola to offer high quality and impactful opportunities broken down into day-parts and will change the landscape of digital offerings to clients in the market and influence how marketers communicate with their target markets.

The networks that Continental Outdoor have built allow brands to do short term tactical campaigns, product launches and adhoc promotions. Long term brand building, product/service awareness and location targeting and dominance are also key benefits that the networks provide.

Brian Smith, General Manager for Continental Outdoor Media RoA states, “The installation of these units is an achievement of monumental proportions. Every unit is equipped with a generator that automatically kicks in if there is any interrupted power supply.

The units had to be installed in the very early hours of subsequent mornings due to the ridiculous traffic in Luanda. The project had to be planned and executed meticulously and we could not have done it without the support of our local in-house operations team. All four units are now online and monitored from our Digital operations room at our Head Office in South Africa.’’

Distell has paved the way by being one of the 1st clients booked to flight their Nederburg brand with many more prominent brands showing a keen interest. Continental Outdoor continues to be innovative and contemporary.

South Africa: Continental Outdoors’ Digi-nomics a huge success at the South African Mindshare Huddle!

The “Did you know” of the art of digital conversations by Continental Outdoor was chosen as one of the futuristic and innovative concepts to be showcased at the inaugural South African Mindshare Huddle on Tuesday 17 February 2015. Themed “Futurenomics”, the Mindshare Huddle was a full day ‘un-conference’ where clients, staff and media owners shared intimate and no-holds barred discussions about the future of media. The mantra for the day was “think provocation, controversy and standing for something”.

Continental Outdoor invited attendees to climb into their Digi-Pod and take a drive through the art of engineered brand conversation and finally redeem their special gift with their virtual coupon. The future speaks to Media Engineering and structuring brand conversations down the media funnel from macro to micro! Continental Outdoor demonstrated how Digital Out of Home multi-screens integrate to form the foundation to launch brand conversations, across the African continent, onto mobile and online platforms…all the way to the till!

Lelanie Butler, Sales Director SA, states, “We demonstrated how conversations and relationships can be engineered throughout Africa from a single source from our Digital hub in Bryanston onto multiple screens in real time or as a pre-planned campaign. The experience we put delegates through also showcased how we are able to seamlessly integrate campaigns from our DOOH platforms, using the cameras we have installed on our sites, onto social platforms or other digital channels. The integration with mobile and the DOOH channels illustrated how the flow opens the formats up for informational, conversational and transactional capabilities using various techniques like RSS feeds, content creation and wifi couponing. These ‘engineered’ conversations also become perfect opportunities to build databases, track responses and evaluate the return on media investment (ROMI) of campaigns across sub-Saharan Africa”.

Lyn Jones, Marketing Manager, continues, “DOOH location-based technology coupled with engineered conversation plans can provide instant gratification and moments of truth to deliver ONE experience to customers wherever they are in the buying lifecycle. We had a lot of fun demonstrating these possibilities creating 6 brand scenarios through our digital hub which we set up for the Huddle. The industry has spent a long time talking about how this should happen. This is now a reality, and we were very excited to show the attendees that we are now able to deliver these solutions across the sub-Saharan region!” 

AUSTRALIA NEWS

Australia: oOh! beats prospectus profit forecast

Australia's biggest outdoor advertising company is searching for more bolt-on acquisitions to further capitalise on the sector's double-digit growth.

oOh! Media, which listed on the ASX last December, has exceeded its revenue and profit forecasts from its prospectus.

Company chief executive Brendon Cook attributed the gains to a buoyant out-of-home (outdoor) advertising market.

oOh! posted a 4.4 per cent rise in revenue to $261.3 million for the 12 months ending December 31, 2014 compared with the previous year. This was 1 per cent higher than the company forecast.

Net profit, on a pro-forma basis, which excluded IPO-related costs, surged 222.3 per cent to $18.2 million, beating oOh!'s estimate by 4 per cent While competing mediums – such as free-TV, which reported a 3 per cent revenue slump across all capital cities for the six months to December 2014 – have seen their share of advertising spend dwindle, out-of-home has surged, rising 10 per cent in the past year. But free-TV is still ahead of out-home, with overall revenue of $1.6 billion for the six months, compared with out-of-home's $602 million for the entire year.

Mr Cook said the company's net cash of $21 million as of December 31 gave it flexibility to make more bolt-on acquisitions, particularly in the roadside advertising space, and continue with introducing its digital strategy.

"We haven't got any [acquisitions] in train at the moment. But there is a long tail of smaller operators that potentially could become available at different times." Mr Cook said the outdoor advertising market was performing as expected in the past two months and oOh! was on track to meet its 2015 guidance, of $266.4 million in revenue and $22.2 million in net profit on a pro-forma basis. "[We] currently anticipate that both an interim and final dividend will be paid in respect of calendar year 2015," he said in a presentation to investors.

"The board intends to target a dividend payout ratio between 40 per cent and 60 per cent of oOh! Media's pro forma adjusted net profit." He acknowledged the company could face headwinds that could derail its guidance, but those risks were the same for any company operating in Australia.

"If there is major economic downturn then clearly that's the primary headwind. The structural media headwinds are positive. We talk about audience and delivery, and the asset side of the business is complementary and progressing beautifully."

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MIDDLE EAST NEWS

Lebanon: New regulations for Out of Home Advertising

On January 15 2015 The Government of Lebanon has edited a new decree Nº 1302 regulating Outdoor Advertising and the way permits are granted.

It was published in the Official Gazette of Jan the 22nd 2015.

This new regulation brings solutions to the technical conditions set in the old decree such as the setback that was impossible to apply due to the nature of the road network.

It also puts a legal frame concerning Digital roadside panels which is expanding rapidly.

Lebanon: Les Affichages Pikasso Celebrates the best Out of Home Campaigns

The annual Pikasso d’Or Awards, a competition showcasing the best work in Out Of Home advertising and creativity announces its 2014 winners. Embodying creative excellence and producing breakthrough work in the advertising industry, the honorees were celebrated during the 22nd annual Pikasso d’Or Awards Ceremony in the presence and under the auspices of HE Mr. Michel Pharaon, Minister of Tourism on Thursday February 19 at O1NE, in Beirut.

Pikasso invited the ‘who’s who’ of the industry in Lebanon and Iraq including leading advertising agencies, clients, as well as media representatives.

All winners were chosen by the Pikasso d’Or International Grand Jury of 7 leading creative professionals: Mr. Alain Weill, President of the Jury, Mr. Andrew Rawlins, General Secretary; Mr. Samer Younes, Executive Creative Director at M&C Saatchi; Mr. Alain Shoucair, Regional Executive Creative Director at Drive Dentsu; Mr. Wissam Matar, Creative Director of FP7 Beirut; Mrs. Dina Fawakhiri, Creative Director of Wunderman Jordan and Mr. Cherif Medjaoui, Creative Director of Ganfood Algeria.

Out-of-Home has never been more exciting with Pikasso demonstrating a new level of innovation through the Mobile Bridge Interactive platform. Other new launches this year include: the iconic to become CANAL 8 Large format Digital network and the Malls Channel of LCD screens.

For this 22nd edition of the Pikasso d’Or 2014, 306 visuals were presented by 33 agencies and selected for the following categories:

• Best use of creativity in Out-Of-Home campaign

• Best use of Supersize format in outdoor

• Best use of Mall Advertising

• Best use of Digital Out-Of-Home in DOOH

In addition, there was a Citizen Billposter Award for the most effective and forward-thinking campaign for a great cause billposted free of charge on Pikasso networks as part of its ongoing CSR program.

A full list of the winners can be found on the Pikasso website, here

The Pikasso d’Or Jordan Chapter for 2014 will be held in Amman on Monday February 23rd, 2015 at the Four Seasons Hotel and the Lawhat d’Or 2014, in Algier on Tuesday, March 3rd, 2015 at the Hilton Hotel.