FEPE Out of Home News 28th January 2015

FEPE Out of Home News 28th January 2015

EUROPE NEWS

UK: OMC appoints Mark Craze as chairman

The Outdoor Media Centre, the outdoor media trade body, has appointed Mark Craze, the former chief executive of Havas Media UK, as its chairman, replacing Naren Patel.

Craze comes to the chairmanship at a crucial time for the body. Earlier this month JCDecaux, one of the OMC’s four council members, pulled out of the OMC.

The outdoor industry has commissioned Craze to conduct a review of OMC's business in October 2014, to look at the "role, activity and direction" of the organisation. Craze presented his report to the OMC board in late 2014, but his appointment and the review were considered independently, Campaign understands.

It is the first time the body's chair has not been an executive within the industry. Patel is the chief executive of Primesight.

He said: "Our media sector is poised to take a great step forwards. When I was appointed chairman I realised that we needed to reinvigorate the OMC and Mark's experience will be invaluable in helping demonstrate the potential to advertisers, brands and media and creative agencies. "

He has the gravitas, the clout and the contacts to really help raise the OMC to another level."

Craze left his role as the group chief executive of Havas Media UK in February 2014. He joined Havas Media as managing partner in 2005 and was promoted to group chief executive in 2008.

Prior to Havas, Craze was at Aegis Media UK for 15 years, latterly as the chief executive from 2002 to 2004.

Craze said: "The out of home industry is at the most exciting point in its history, and I have been massively impressed with the commitment and energy of all the contractors supporting the OMC. "

On the back of huge investment, new technology and improved audience insights, out of home (OOH) has enjoyed spectacular success over the last ten years, and is now passing the billion pound mark in ad revenue.

"Our ambition is to unleash the full innovative potential of OOH and work even more harmoniously with advertisers, agencies and the Specialists.

"Our single minded goal is to further drive growth and enhance our position as the most innovative, engaging and influential form of advertising."

The OMC's chief executive, Mike Baker, announced his intention to step down in October and expects to complete work in March. He rebranded the group as OMC and ushered the group through a new marketing-led approach.

Source

UK: FEPE 56th Annual Congress in Budapest bookings are now underway

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.

Speakers and other details will be announced in future newsletters.

France: JCDecaux posts in-line Q4 sales growth

Outdoor advertising specialist JCDecaux posted fourth quarter organic sales growth of 3.6 percent - in line with its own forecast - helped by strong sales of street furniture, its largest business.

In street furniture contracts, JCDecaux erects bus stops and kiosks for cities in exchange for being able to put advertising on them.

The family-controlled group, which competes with smaller rivals U.S.-based Outfront Media and Europe's Clear Channel Outdoor, said on Tuesday that quarterly adjusted revenues rose 7.4 percent to 839.2 million euros ($953.83 million).

The company will provide guidance for the first quarter along with its full-year results publication on March 5.

Source

Germany: Porsche Megaprint in Alexanderplatz, Berlin

Spectacular news in giant posters! Vertical Vision created this huge panel in December 2014 for their customer AF-FIX advertising mbH.

Consisting of approximately 72 pieces of 5400 sqm net vinyl poster of the new Porsche 918 Spyder that makes a spectacular 90x60m in the final format and weighs 4 tons.

Two 120 yd long industrial zippers had to be specially sewn to connect the three parts of the poster for fixing.

This Vertical Vision Megaprint is a new dimension in Giant Poster Printing, developed and mastered successfully!

UK: How will driverless cars affect roadside advertising?

As UK towns begin the first trials of driverless cars, Posterscope's Ben Milne looks at the opportunities for out-of-home.

Amid the many technologies being unveiled at CES this year has been a renewed focus on the automotive industry. BMW, Mercedes and Audi all unveiled a vision of their driverless cars at the show, and one driverless Audi even made a 550 mile drive from San Fransisco to the CES exhibition centre in Las Vegas.

Closer to home, four UK towns will become the first to trial driverless cars in the country. The streets of Bristol, Greenwich, Milton Keynes and Coventry are set to host a number of the vehicles as the government assesses their suitability for UK roads.

Some of the factors being examined include whether the vehicles will help reduce congestion and make roads safer, while also assessing the public's reaction to the new technology. The tests, starting in January and lasting for 18 to 36 months, will also analyse the legal and insurance implications of driverless cars.

However, a question the trials raise for the advertising industry is what impact driverless cars will have on roadside OOH. Alarmists could easily seize the opportunity to declare this the beginning of the end for roadside OOH sites. After all, if no one's driving the car, who's looking at the road and the adverts around it?

In reality though, driverless cars will open up a huge number of opportunities for the roadside OOH industry. The quantity of data these automated vehicles will collect is likely to have a considerable impact on advertisers' ability to target campaigns to the cars? passengers.

Currently, roadside campaigns have to balance personalisation with safety to ensure drivers are not distracted from the road. A nation of passengers being chauffeured to their destinations by driverless cars, however, is an exciting proposition for advertisers. They'll be able to target messaging far more accurately, developing more personalised and potentially interactive campaigns which hold people's attention for longer.

Driverless cars also open up a whole new entertainment environment for broadcasters, entertainment companies like Netflix and media giants like Google. These companies could potentially subsidise the cost of the cars if they're able to be a built-in part of the environment. Google's already been looking at how it can monetise free taxi rides in driverless cars - serving ads in automated taxis to passengers during their ride rather than charging a fare.

Full article here

Switzerland: APG|SGA refines «Double Impact» targeting concept: now with target group selection and city cover

In spring 2014 «Double Impact» was launched, a product that enables posters to be combined with advertising banners on mobile devices. Now, APG|SGA is adapting the offer for display advertising to reflect the new opportunities.

From now on, target group can be delimited even more precisely by age and gender, even in large cities.

The fusion of poster advertising with display advertising is one of the most exciting marketing topics right now. 75 percent of Swiss people own a smartphone and 42 percent use a tablet (source: Media Use Index 2014). In other words: there is a great deal of potential in display advertising and, thanks to «Double Impact», traditional poster advertising can be reinforced with pinpoint precision on mobile devices.

When a user is in the vicinity (50 m) of an APG|SGA poster site, a banner from the same advertiser is automatically displayed on the customer's smartphone or tablet. The user therefore receives the campaign message on multiple channels, geolocalized and in real time. The possibilities on mobile devices are almost limitless: animations, interactive elements, video integration or input fields give full rein to creativity.

Refined, even more specific product

From now on, in mobile advertising the target group can be defined by age and gender. Additional selection criteria and tracking concepts are conceivable in future, which will be developed in partnership with Jaduda GmbH. As for the distance from the nearest poster site, APG|SGA has already expanded its product range: combined with a poster campaign, advertisers can now cover an entire city with display advertising. A choice of three product sizes are available, depending on the number of impressions required.

Markus Ehrle (CEO) says: «With Double Impact, we are offering our customers the only tool of its kind in Switzerland for extending traditional poster campaigns with intelligent multichannel marketing. We can en-sure that our customers achieve the optimum, cumulative advertising effect for their display advertising cam-paigns with their budget and reach their relevant target group.

 

UK: Captive Media Ltd Converts to BroadSign International, LLC for Growing Washroom Digital Signage Network

Innovative and engaging network will expand to 1,500 screens by 2017.

The first and only provider of digital signage in washrooms across the United Kingdom, Captive Media Ltd, has converted its network to BroadSign International, LLC’s cloud-based software platform. After deploying 60 screens in London in 2014, another 160 will be installed in major regional cities over the next few months, contributing toward an expansion goal of 1,500 screens by 2017.

Captive Media screens situated in washrooms of bars, pubs and clubs, reach a targeted audience of males between 18 and 35 years old. Each 12” LCD screen generates around 800 impressions per week for a total of just under 100,000 weekly impressions across the current network.

“We conducted a review of the Top 30 digital signage software companies identified by DailyDOOH and chose BroadSign because it is best-in-class for ad-based networks and one of only a few that would allow us to distribute interactive games in addition to regular video assets,” said Gordon MacSween, Founder and Director at Captive Media.

Network content is meant to entertain, promote and engage, with 10-second slots contributing to a 90-second loop, half of which is entertainment including RSS-fed pictorial news and the other contains ads. The interactive portion lasts about 55 seconds (the average dwell time) and contains branded content and games ideal for brands targeting a male, Gen Y audience, such as Guinness, Smirnoff and Captain Morgan.

“BroadSign has built a reputation for being at the forefront of innovation in our industry and we do so to ensure our customers can focus on being leaders in their respective domains,” said Skip Beloff, Vice President of Sales at BroadSign. “By minimizing scheduling time, Captive Media can focus on venue and advertiser acquisitions to expand its highly successful network rather than occupy resources with software development.”

Not only do Captive Media screens turn a minute of boredom into a unique experience for pub-goers, the network delivers directly attributable sales uplifts of 25% to 200% for featured brands and the venue.

“There are so many factors involved in building and operating a new digital signage network that it’s a blessing to schedule ads simply and reliably, and delivering audited reports in an industry where measurability is normally an Achilles heel is an added bonus,” continued MacSween

AMERICAS NEWS

USA: Lamar Advertising Company and Blue Bite Partner to Expand Mobile Interactivity

Lamar Advertising Company has announced its new partnership with Blue Bite, the Mobile Standard in Out-of-Home, which will give advertisers the ability to create measurable mobile campaigns through the use of outdoor media.

The addition of mobile touchpoints to Lamar's transit media will allow advertisers to reach audiences at scale with the right content at the right time. The partnership will include the integration of Blue Bite's mTAG platform on Lamar's street level media.

First being deployed to 440 transit locations throughout the Buffalo, NY area, both companies are working to expand the network footprint to a potential 25,000 mobile touchpoints across the U.S. and Canada. Blue Bite's proprietary mTAG Platform allows advertisers to deploy and monitor campaigns in real time, helping to further demystify consumer mobile behavior.

Various technologies such as Near Field Communication (NFC), Quick Response Codes (QR), Short Message Services (SMS), Bluetooth and Geofencing are used to facilitate a variety of brand-to-consumer interactions.

"Our partnership with Blue Bite brings an interactive element to outdoor advertising campaigns, giving advertisers an opportunity to reach consumers with relevant mobile content," explained Ian Dallimore, Director of Innovation and Digital Strategy at Lamar.

"We are pleased to continue our relationship with Blue Bite, and we look forward to enhancing the mobile consumer experience with a presence on our street level inventory."

Mobile devices are essential to consumers' day-to-day lives, creating the need for a strong advertising delivery mechanism to help interact with them on a more personal level. The partnership will improve how smartphone users consume and experience mobile content, providing ads that contain relevant information and value. Blue Bite and Lamar have worked together for the past several years on OOH-to-mobile campaigns featuring clients like Kind Snacks and Under Armour. They have focused mainly on bridging large format with mobile through geofencing technologies, but are now expanding their partnership to increase their reach.

"We are excited to partner with Lamar and expand upon our previous campaign successes with increased scale and functionality," said Mikhail Damiani, CEO and Co-founder of Blue Bite. "As we continue to add more touchpoints, we not only provide a wider audience for our brands, but also begin to understand the consumers' journey and deliver messaging and content that is customized to their behaviors and preferences."

Source

Canada: OUTFRONT Media Canada increases digital network in Quebec by 4

OUTFRONT Media is pleased to announce 4 new digital locations in key Quebec locations: two Digital Bulletins (14’ x 48’) in Brossard, and two Digital Posters (10’ x 20’) in Saguenay’s Chicoutimi borough.

The 2 Digital Bulletins in Brossard are located along Highway 10 at the foot of Champlain Bridge, the busiest bridge in Canada. These are situated within one of the most dynamic commercial sectors on Montreal’s South Shore – near Taschereau Boulevard and its many stores, as well as the increasingly popular boutiques, department stores, bars and restaurants of Dix-30 Center. Each digital location will generate daily circulations of over 82,200 commuters!

In Saguenay, the 2 Digital Posters (10’ x 20’) are ideally located along one of the most important traffic routes of the Chicoutimi borough on St. Paul Boulevard, north of Price Street. Their proximity to the city centre makes them key assets in reaching commuters on their way in and out of the core, as well as drivers on Université and Talbot boulevards. Both reach two-way traffic on Dubuc Bridge and commuters in and outbound from the nearby Jonquière borough. Each location will generate a daily circulation of 44,800 – high for the region.

These four new assets enhance the OUTFRONT Media digital media platform offered to advertisers in key Canadian markets, leveraging the power of digital technology to efficiently engage, entertain and inform on-the-move consumers. Digital media allows real-time customization of ad messages depending on day, time or moment of the week as well as evolving advertiser’s objectives.

The on-going development of OUTFRONT Media’s national digital network is a key component of our mission to reach new heights in OOH advertising, by offering our clients the best products, locations, tools, innovations and talent to help them grow their business and prosper.

AFRICA NEWS

South Africa: Bhamuza goes to town

Primedia Outdoor has expanded the footprint of its iconic Bhamuza billboards beyond the primarily rural locations and into urban environments across South Africa, in line with progressive migration of the BoP/Survivor market to cities.

The 40 original structures have now increased almost two-fold to 70 - substantially expanding this route to market. Ten of these additional Bhamuza structures have been strategically positioned to extend the reach of the product beyond the small towns to include many of the larger cities in the country - Nelspruit, Sasolburg and Pietermaritzburg to mention but a few.

The first 40 Bhamuza deliver an estimated 45% of the South African BoP market - defined as a household income of 70k per annum and lower.

This market represents a substantial 70% of all households in South Africa with a spending power of R300bn (formal) and R280bn (informal). (UCT Unilever 2014).

62% of this population lives in three provinces - KwaZulu Natal, Eastern Cape and Limpopo. 70% live outside metros or cities. A staggering 79% are not formally employed. (AMPS 2013/14)

So, where does the money come from? The South African government - that spent in the region of R135bn on social grants in 2014. More than 40% of survivor households depend on social grants for more than half their income. (UCT Unilever Institute 2013)

Accessing social grants has never been easier - apart from retail outlets like Shoprite and deposits directly into accounts, the new SASSA biometric cards facilitate the collection of grants through a number of channels: points of sale; merchants; banks and cash pay points.

This begs the question - how does one reach this market?

Shopping patterns within the BoP market help strengthen the argument for outdoor advertising and significantly reduce the number of sites needed to reach a high percentage of this audience.

61% of the BoP market claim to do one bulk shop a month with another 16% twice a month (AMPS 2014). Bulk shopping requires shopping venues with substantial choice and size thus requiring migration to the largest convergence nodes within a given area and that's where you'll find Bhamuza.

These monuments to outdoor "own the town" (and the surrounding population). Unilever and Coca-Cola, the first clients to come on board, booked the entire initial package - at face value, a strong indicator of faith in this powerful outdoor medium to capture significant BoP market share.

"Outdoor should be the medium of choice when it comes to this market." says Dave Roberts, CEO of Primedia Outdoor. "Consider that some of the most successful brands in this segment, like Lucky Star and KFC, also dominate share of voice in outdoor."

The success of the first 60 billboards and the addition of 10 new urban structures would suggest that the Bhamuza business is booming.

Source

South Africa: Insight: The 24/7 free-to-see medium

by Michele Munro

Billboard advertising is to many is the traditional out of home (OOH) advertising format, but there has been significant global growth in digital OOH (digital boards and place-based networks) in recent years. A definite trend is the growth of digital as many more new sites are being developed, says Michele Munro.

Digital OOH (DOOH) is a no brainer and benefits media owners and advertisers alike in being able to engage customers and the target market, while extending the reach and effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Although there will still be some urban consumers who will have an interest in more old-style OOH platforms such static billboards and posters. I’m amazed at how technology has advanced in this industry when I think of the days we all thought that Trivisions were a new-found revolution, to what we see today.

We have really come a long way.

Another definite trend in OOH advertising is behavioural targeting. I just love this as it helps us to understand human behaviour and how it affects the marketing campaign and its results. Tracking your consumers’ behaviour and understanding exactly how your target market rolls allows you to plan a successful advertising campaign reaching all your prescribed objectives.

Mobile technology, specifically due to the explosion of mobile devices, is perpetually changing brand consumer communication and engagement and elevates the influence of OOH advertising. Urban consumers remain highly receptive to their surroundings and engaged with OOH advertising. The key here it to understand how consumers’ relationships with OOH and their expectations are changing.

Mobile technology and OOH work well hand in hand, similar to the effects of radio and OOH working together.

Full article here

MIDDLE EAST NEWS

UAE: Digital signage is now part of Dubai’s landscape

By Stephanie Gutnik

Digital signage should be considered as a chameleon. It’s format and purpose varies across verticals and countries, occupying significant space on American freeways and noticeable nooks in European boulevards.

When it comes to the UAE, a deep understanding of the region, Dubai in particular, is required for digital signage solutions to change their colours. Out-of-home is plentiful, especially in Dubai where large format signs spanning blocks and storeys are used to hide construction sites from passing traffic. In stark contrast to the old, Dubai is all about the new, the first, the biggest.

Enter digital out-of-home.

Many of the buildings in Dubai are recent constructions or currently being completed, allowing digital signage to be incorporated into blueprints versus added as an afterthought. By including screens in the original architecture, deployments exude intention and are aesthetically pleasing — a perfect easel for advertising.

JCDecaux Dicon’s screens in Dubai International Airport attest to this, as do the two-panel, two-sided kiosks and LED screens situated throughout The Dubai Mall.

To bring more attention to the space, SGI Dubai began to court digital signage exhibitors in 2014 and continued to do so this year. Unlike other print shows with a similar mindset, SGI Dubai did not bring these vendors together in a dedicated space on the show floor, nor was there a conference line up to educate printers interested in digital.

Indeed, more digital signage could be found outside of the halls than within, despite the 400 exhibitors from 34 countries and 12,000 visitors from 78 countries expected to attend.

This trade show aside, convention centers and event locales are prime venues for investment in digital signage. Global events like the Olympics and FIFA World Cup have triggered increased advertising spend and digital signage deployments, most recently in the United Kingdom and Brazil. Sure to raise demand for DOOH is the World Expo 2020 in Dubai, the FIFA World Cup hosted by Qatar in 2022 and when the Formula 1 Grand Prix revs up in Abu Dhabi each year.

Indeed, premium out-of-home advertising locations in Dubai are as valuable as those in high density, world famous spots in the US, at least in terms of ad dollars. In December 2012, the Wall Street Journal reported on the annual rents of digital billboards at One Times Square, ranging from $1.1 million to $4 million (Dh4 million to Dh14.7 million) depending on the size and placement of the screen.

It is highly likely that these costs have increased since then and important to note that they do not include the expensive aspect of content creation.

A similar billboard on Shaikh Zayed Road in Dubai might go for $1.2 million (Dh4.4 million) per year. The fact that out-of-home advertising in Dubai demands similar advertising dollars as in New York is a good “sign”, illustrating the progressive nature of the Dubai market and coveted audience it promises.

What next? According to a Tech-Sci Research report, digital signage in the UAE is projected to grow at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 23 per cent between 2014 and 2019. An IHS Technology Report from February 2014 predicted that by the end of 2017, digital signage shipments in MEA (Middle East and Africa) will be up 61 per cent from 2012 levels compared to a 3 per cent and 4 per cent increase in Eastern and Western Europe, respectively.

Such a land of sand, sun and screens makes for an interesting DOOH market, with attributes (and true colours) that differ from the rest of the world.

Stephanie Gutnik is the Marketing and Business Development Manager at BroadSign International.

Source

ASIA NEWS

Indonesia: Jakarta looks to ban outdoor tobacco advertising

A senior official at City Hall reiterated yesterday (Jan 23) the government’s commitment to ban billboard advertising of tobacco products to curb smoking addiction among children.

Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama issued a bylaw on Jan 13 stipulating that the city would not grant permits for tobacco companies to advertise outdoors.

“We have to be brave enough to do this to show our commitment to tobacco control,” Jakarta regional secretary Saefullah said yesterday.

Ongoing advertising contracts with tobacco companies will be honoured but no extensions will be given and no new contracts signed, according to the bylaw.

Mr Saefullah said the government was prepared to lose money on the sale of advertising if it meant reducing the number of new smokers in the city.

Public order officers (Satpol PP) will monitor outdoor ads whose permits have expired, including banners and posters installed at small vendors.

“Smoking is unhealthy so we have to be courageous enough to take this bold decision if we want our next generation to live a healthy life,” he said.

The Ministry of Health issued a regulation in 2012 that permitted tobacco advertising up to 72sqm in size. Jakarta has previously issued several regulations on tobacco control.

In 2010, former governor Fauzi Bowo issued a bylaw banning smoking from all government buildings. Smoking in public buildings is also prohibited. Anecdotal evidence indicates, however, that these laws are frequently not enforced.

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