Reflections on the APAC Forum: A mix of OOH, business, tradition, technology…

Reflections on the APAC Forum: A mix of OOH, business, tradition, technology…

Reflections on the APAC Forum: A mix of OOH, business, tradition, technology…

Just back from the World Out of Home Organization APAC Forum in hashtagSeoul. My first session on the direct, commercial effect that creativity has on hashtagOOH campaign success went down well. It's a critical message that needs more focus. "Without Creative, We Have Nothing!"

My future trends session raised a few eyebrows and got people talking about hashtagtrendjacking, hashtagperovskites and AI prompt injection. It was such an action-packed few days, what were my highlights?

Social media (and LinkedIn) are awash with 3D anamorphic campaigns but it's rare to experience it in the real world. Not so in Seoul. Finally got a change to check out the giant COEX screen in K-POP Square. OOH bucket list, tick.

All presentations were excellent, but Benjamin Milne from Billups topped my personal list. His “OOH Growth in SE Asia Through AI” was a blunt, practical and fact-packed intro to how AI is actually being used to generate revenue in OOH. Sobering that 51% of OOH companies have limited or no use of AI.

I loved the “Women in WOO: Continuing to Drive Change Through Inclusion” panel. Six leading voices communicating that inclusion isn’t optional, it’s expected and… good for business. The mentoring programme was a key focus. There’s still a lot of work to be done but the panel, consisting of Angie Cutter, Laetitia Lim, Elizabeth McIntyre, Maud Moawad, Anna Maria Pisano and Annie Rickard delivered a loud rally cry to accelerate the pace of change.

Regulation is an increasingly important, but potentially dry topic that Dr. Kai-Marcus Thäsler skilfully turned in to one of the most engaging. My Top Slide Award was Kai’s “Most annoying ads” chart, showing that music streaming, on-demand video and linear TV ads annoy viewers most, and OOH is officially the least annoying. Discuss...

I accidentally missed most of the tours, but I’m glad I got to see the BloomingTerra screens on the new Hangang Bus Ferry Service terminals on the Han River. Classy screens that hid the subtly and hard work that goes on to make opportunities like this happen.

If you were concerned about where the new OOH clients are coming from, Jim Liu, CEO at BNR Communications left no doubt… China. One slide featured 70+ brands ready to roll. We've heard of DJI and NIO, but the majority were new to me. I suspect not for long.

And finally, shout out to some the random things I noticed on my first trip to Korea. The high-tech toilets with "massage" feature, the coaches with curtains and kettles, the shoe blowers on mountain trails and tactile pavements for the visually impaired... all excellent. It’s refreshing to not have every sign and instruction written in English. A good reminder that visitors should make an effort to learn the “hello” and “thank you” basics. But most importantly, the people… and culture. Seoul was a wonderful mix of the traditional and the techno-future, but most of all, one of the friendliest and enjoyable places I’ve ever been. 감사합니다 Seoul!

Tom Goddard at Seoul 2025 Seoul 2025 Delegates Hun Choi at the WOO APAC Forum Seoul 2025

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