Digital Outdoor Planning Unit Launches

Outdoor Connection has negotiated a strategic alliance with PHD, OMD UK and Blade GB to form Digital Connection, the first specialist unit to focus solely on planning and buying digital outdoor media.

Launched yesterday, Digital Connection hosts a database of existing digital formats and is to develop planning tools for non-traditional forms of outdoor media including plasma and other out-of-home screens, cross-track projections, kisoks and mobile phones.

The unit will initially be made up of Outdoor Connection’s joint managing director Andrew Allerton, Blade’s joint managing director Nick Maddison, PHD’s director of screen strategy Howard Nead and associate director of OMD Kate Cox. Madison commented: “With new outdoor opportunities offering moving images, sound and interaction, its as if we’ve caught up with the future.”

Allerton added: “The outdoor medium is on the cusp of significant change with the introduction and growth of digital outdoor platforms. We believe that this change requires new thinking and a broader skill set to provide advertisers with relevant media solutions. As Digital Connection is founded with personnel from both media agency and outdoor specialist backgrounds, it will have the best knowledge base from which to draw upon.”

Outdoor Connection has revised estimates originally published in its December 2000 New Technology in Outdoor report, predicting that the growth of digital outdoor media will reach £9.5m in 2001 and forecasting that in 2002 this figure will reach £20m.

Outdoor Connection: 020 7307 9700

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