INTERNATIONAL. World Out of Home industry leaders have delivered an upbeat message on the return of audiences to public spaces, despite continuing challenges from COVID-19. They also predict improved market fundamentals in the coming months.
In a podcast released today by Australian marketing and media industry journal Mi3, the business leaders agreed that the industry is in a strong position to return to its robust, pre-coronavirus growth trajectory. The high profile panel was made up of oOh!media CEO Brendon Cook (Australia), President of the World Out of Home Organization and Chairman of Ocean Outdoor Tom Goddard (UK), Outfront Media CEO Jeremy Male (US), and Ströer CEO Christian Schmalzl (Germany).
Assessing Out of Home performance in Australian states, Cook said: “Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland, they’re all back and audience numbers are going well. Victoria’s been hit hard, but overall, suburban areas have really seen billboards, bus shelters and shopping centres attract advertising dollars.”
Offering a view of the German market, Schmalzl said “there’s a fair chance” that his company’s Out of Home advertising revenues could reach 80-90% of pre-crisis levels in Q4 this year. He added: “In fact, following lockdowns, when people go out again they are almost celebrating their new freedom, which makes the Out of Home medium more attractive than ever when you position brands in that context.”
“Following lockdowns, when people go out again they are almost celebrating their new freedom, which makes the Out of Home medium more attractive than ever when you position brands in that context.” – Ströer CEO Christian Schmalzl
Giving a US perspective, Male said that despite some gloomy predictions about the future of cities and people working from home more, the fundamentals for the Out of Home industry remained sound. “This is a bump in the road and it doesn’t change the basic growth story of cities – and indeed the structural growth story of Out of Home that we’ve been seeing over the last 25 years.”
UK contributor Goddard agreed with Male’s assessment, referring to Out of Home industry resilience in the face of previous shocks such as the 1990’s recession and 9/11. He said: “I think the effects on people’s behaviour and mobility will be far less pronounced when we get to the other side of the pandemic.
“In the UK audiences are already back over 50% of the level they were before, and certain categories are bouncing back strongly, like government messaging with its public health focus. Automotive has come back, as have the telcos and companies like Amazon, Netflix and subscription TV – media that have done relatively well during the pandemic.”
The upbeat messages from the industry leaders mirror recent data collected by oOh!media and DSpark. The research reveals that combined roadside and retail audience volumes in regional areas of Australia have recovered to 93% of their 2019 levels in a recent week measured, having plummeted as low as 57% in mid-April.
This regional trend, the data shows, is also reflected in an improvement in suburban areas, which are currently at 69% of 2019 levels, according to roadside audience measurements.
Meanwhile, the Australian national audience level is currently at 77% compared to last year, although oOh!media noted that this has dropped from 84% over the past month, citing the impact of COVID-19 restrictions in the Melbourne area.
From a retail perspective, the research shows that Australian regional strength continued with audiences bouncing back to 104% of their 2019 levels, while the overall national retail audience is at 78%. In all markets aside from Victoria, audiences stand at 91% of 2019 levels.
*Read our recent interview with oOh!media Chief Commercial and Product Officer Robbie Dery for insights into the challenges currently faced by the Out of Home advertising industry here.
**The Moodie Davitt Report also publishes Sight Lines, an eZine dedicated to airport advertising and communication. Click here for the latest edition.
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