Entertainment and media companies are driving the growth in outdoor advertising and now account for one fifth of the sector’s total revenue, according to new research due to be published by Concord.
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Media’s Medium study, which uses data from Nielsen Media Research, shows that entertainment and media companies accounted for 20% of the £690 million worth of revenue generated by the outdoor industry during 2002. Motor advertisers led the chasing pack with 9%, followed by food brands with 8% and business companies also with 8%.
Film promoters EFD, Buena Vista, Warner Brothers, UIP and 20th Century Fox spent a combined £50 million on outdoor advertising last year. Followed by TV organisations such as the BBC, Channel 4, ITV, Channel Five and Sky, which invested more than £25 million in the medium during the course of 2002.
Radio advertisers including the BBC, Emap, Heart and Capital spent over £10 million on outdoor advertising last year, with newspaper and magazine publishers such as News International, Associated Newspapers and The Economist ploughing £9 million into the sector.
Commenting on the findings, Concord’s chief executive, Nigel Mansell, said: “Perhaps the greatest unsolicited testimonial that can be given to a medium is its use by other media, its competitors, to promote themselves.”
He added: “Big converts to outdoor in recent years include the BBC, BSkyB, Channel 4, Channel Five, the Guardian, and most recently the Daily Telegraph returns in a major way. OnDigital was launched on posters, as were a host of radio stations and magazines.”
The latest figures from the Advertising Association show that outdoor was the fastest growing sector in the three months to December 2002, with expenditure increasing by 15.5% to £188 million. The medium ended the year on a high, with adspend improving by 1.9%, as advertisers returned to using posters and billboards in force (see Fourth Quarter Sees Boost To UK Adspend).
