COVID-19 - INDUSTRY VIEWS

Now Near Next: A View from the OOH World

Colum Harmon, marketing director PML Group, on the implications of the pandemic for Out of Home, both short term and further into the future. Committing thoughts to paper at this time is no doubt a dubious endeavour but as this ever-evolving crisis plays out, it strikes me that at least one constant of advertising will endure – the importance of context.

Consider This - Eight Lessons the COVID-19 Crisis Taught Out of Home Media

A pandemic was not in your 2020 plan. But the crisis has revealed/highlighted valuable lessons for out of home media about what is essential.Staying in Touch with Customers is Essential - Remaining close to customers is always essential, but it is a business imperative when personal contact is severely limited. With stay-home orders in effect for several weeks already and continued quarantine certain, it is critical to stay connected with customers, reminding them about the benefits of OOH and how the medium can help reinforce brand messaging.

It's too early to gauge the COVID-19 impact but OOH will bounce back: Industry leaders

With the spread of COVID-19 and it’s uncertainty posses a grave issue for the oldest form of advertising- OOH. However, many industry leaders have shared that this period is a good time to revamp the industry in terms of their communication with consumers. OOH leaders believe that when the lockdown is over, consumers will want to venture out and OOH will gain back its prominence.

Clear Channel: why we're investing in measurement during out-of-home's darkest hour

Lockdown has meant out-of-home advertising has never caught the attention of fewer people. Clear Channel UK’s managing director, Richard Bon, explains why the company has still powered on with the launch of new measurement technology during the sector’s most trying time. Some may argue that there couldn’t be a worse time for the launch of the new version of Route, out-of-home’s audience measurement tool, and currency. I’d disagree.

Coronavirus Impact: IOAA demands for financial relief package for OOH industry amid COVID-19 lockdown

In wake of the coronavirus economic fallout, the Indian Outdoor Advertising Association (IOAA) has appealed the central government, state governments, municipal corporations, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to provide for measures to ease the financial burden on the Indian (out-of-home advertising) OOH industry. “The outdoor media industry, with an estimated annual revenue of Rs 5,000 crore, could see a drop in revenue to the extent of almost Rs 2,500 crores in the coming financial year.

Winfried Karst, Managing Director of Talon Europe reflects on the role of local OOH as Germany start to emerge from lockdown

It’s very early days, but with some restrictions starting to be lifted at different stages across Europe, close analysis of key data sources and a smart reassessment of campaign delivery means we can start to get brands thinking about communicating again in the right places and moments – some clients already adapt their messages / artwork quickly to the current situation. Germany has delivered a measured and controlled approach to the COVID-19 crisis, but patterns of movement are changing as we slowly see restrictions being relaxed across the country.

Record 2019 UK Adspend Forecast to Fall 16.7% (£4.23bn) to £21.13bn in 2020

The latest Advertising Association/WARC Expenditure Report, released today [20 April 2020] shows UK adspend rose 6.9% year-on-year to reach £25.36bn in 2019 – the tenth consecutive year of ad market growth. Despite 2020’s promising start in Q1, the downgrading of projections for the rest of 2020 and 2021 demonstrate the deep impact that COVID-19 has had on advertising since mid-March, as it has the UK economy as a whole. Projections prior to the COVID-19 outbreak forecast adspend growth in 2020 of 5.2% to a total of over £26bn.

Mark Boidman on 'COVID-19 Market Reactions and Forecasts in AV'

For day two of our first-ever LAVNCH WEEK — created and launched by rAVe in partnership with Zoom — we were particularly excited to have a full day of content specifically positioned around a huge market in our industry: digital signage. So, naturally, we found an expert on DS trends and forecasting to kick off the day. Our keynote presenter for Digital Signage Day was Mark Boidman, managing director and head of Media & Tech Services for independent investment bank and financial advisory firm PJ SOLOMON.

This town, is coming like a ghost town; can OOH survive Covid-19?

Having spent the past three months talking about the brilliance of out of home with my pod-partner Dan Dawson on our podcast, Behind the Billboard, the OOH world is very much front of our minds. What does Covid-19 mean for OOH, a media that relies on people being, well, out of their homes, when the government is actively telling them to stay indoors?

The Ad Council ramps up industry-wide Covid-19 reponse efforts

Finding real purpose amid the global pandemic, the Ad Council has been hard at work on its ongoing national Covid-19 response efforts, including a mental health campaign and a public service announcement (PSA) to thank essential workers. Considering the spike in mental health issues during lockdown, the Ad Council, Comedy Central and ViacomCBS’ Entertainment & Youth Brands have released the second phase of the #AloneTogether campaign to help those who may be really struggling.

Out-of-Home Data Finds Americans Continue Traveling More: +18% Miles Daily In Past Two Weeks

Americans continue to travel more as many states ease restrictions and begin opening up public places and businesses, according to unique out-of-home media planning data released today by Geopath and Intermx. The data shows the average number of miles traveled daily per American rose to 11.5 for the week beginning April 20.

OOH and Small Business Go Together - Now More than Ever

For decades, Out-of-Home (OOH) and small business have been the most steadfast of partners with the majority of OOH ads being sold to promote local businesses. This powerful, enduring partnership has taken on new and vital meaning during the current COVID-19 crisis. For the past several weeks, the OOH and DOOH industry has been doing their parts to promote and sustain small businesses across America that are keeping their lights on to keep us safe, fed, and clothed.

Covid 19 coronavirus: Billboards across NZ to feature small business in 'no strings' free initiative to boost post-lockdown restart

Small business owners may see their names up in lights - or giant digital billboards across the country - as two of New Zealand's leading marketing companies come together to help get them up and running after the Covid-19 lockdown. When the country went into a national lockdown last month to stop the spread of the deadly virus, the majority of businesses were forced to shut up shop.

Burger King Makes Out-Of-Home Ads Relevant Amid The Pandemic

Everyone is stuck at home during the pandemic making out-of-home (OOH) ads useless. Yet Burger King has found a way to make them relevant again: by inviting people to use images of the brand’s billboards during their video conferences. In return, Burger King is giving out buy-one-get-one codes for its Whopper sandwich. To participate, fans need to download one of the billboard images from Burger King’s Twitter account and use it as the background in their video conferences.

The Gold Coast lights up with #togetherGC campaign

Gold Coast residents will wake up to a splash of colour and comfort today, following a Burleigh Heads’ business, Theory Agency’s activation to bring optimism to the city, through artwork. The pro-bono project was the brainchild of creative branding agency, Theory who has partnered with Australia’s leading digital outdoor advertising company, QMS Media to bring it to life. Theory Agency’s artwork will be displayed on outdoor advertising sites throughout the Gold Coast over the coming weeks.

Digital Original: Minot Area Council of the Arts launches 'Stay Home, Make Art' project

In windows of homes and businesses around Minot, colorful drawing and cutouts of hearts are seen hanging to encourage community members to stay positive during the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspirational art is now also being displayed on the digital billboards which line Broadway. This is part of a project called, “Stay Home, Make Art”, sponsored by the Minot Area Council of the Arts.

Australia and New Zealand: MediaCom and GroupM have partnered with Hivestack to enable programmatic buying across OOH inventory.

The innovative buying capability sits alongside existing OOH buying and allows the agencies to deliver clients an integrated programmatic solution beyond traditional metrics. The partnership with Hivestack will allow MediaCom to integrate the audience profiles developed by GroupM’s [m]Platform tool, enabling the usage of digital behaviours to influence offline advertising.

Uganda: Court quashes city outdoor advertising fees policy

High Court has nullified the advertising rates and fees imposed by Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA on outdoor advertisers, saying they are illegal and unlawful. The judgment stems from an application filed by the National Outdoor Advertising Contractor’s Association Limited protesting the levies introduced by KCCA. In 2008, government introduced Out Door Advertising Policy which provided different rates that were to be paid by advertisement firms.

World OOH News - May 1st 2020