NewsLine End Of Year Round-Up: Outdoor

January

Viacom Outdoor began the new year on a positive note by releasing research which showed that advertising on the London Underground directly influences tube travellers to buy products (see Underground Ads Influence Tube Travellers). Adshel was also at the fore after claiming to be able to provide clients with a quantifiable estimate of the extra value gained or lost by the quality of a campaign’s creative (see Adshel To Quantify Campaign Creative For Clients). Meanwhile, Maiden Outdoor secured a deal that saw BBC News 24 broadcast across its Transvision Network of screens in London train stations. JCDecaux launched a national 6-sheet campaign to promote the UIP’s Wild Thornberrys movie after securing the right to handle street furniture sales for the city of Blackpool (see JCDecaux Promotes New UIP Movie With Sonic Bus Shelters). January also saw a range of high profile brands sign up to advertise on talking petrol pumps, the latest ambient innovation designed to reach elusive consumers (see Advertisers Sign Up To Talking Petrol Pumps).

February

The latest figures from the Outdoor Advertising Association brought good news to the industry by showing that revenues rose by 15% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2002 (see Outdoor Revenue Rises By 15% During Quarter Four 2002). Things were also looking positive for Maiden Outdoor, which launched two new AdRail packages to provide advertisers with closer targeting and better coverage at railway stations. It also expanded its portfolio of Irish poster sites, with the acquisition of a number of advertising panels from National Outdoor Displays (see Maiden Expands Portfolio Of Irish Poster Sites). Meanwhile, Adshel consolidated its presence in Scotland by securing the new ten-year street furniture contract for Aberdeen, in a deal worth more than £3 million (see Adshel Consolidates Scottish Presence With New Deal) and Viacom Outdoor launched a series of special advertising sites on the London Underground to provide commuters with breaking news headlines via SMS technology (see Viacom Outdoor Brings SMS News Headlines To Commuters). Elsewhere, ShopFront Media secured Guardian Newspapers Limited as the first brand to use a series of new LED advertising displays that could be updated daily with live news.

March

Figures compiled by the World Advertising Research Centre for the Advertising Association showed that outdoor was the fastest growing sector in the three months to December 2002, with expenditure increasing by 15.5% year on year to £188 million (see Outdoor Growth Boosts UK Adspend During 2002). Entertainment and media companies were found to be driving the growth and accounted for one fifth of the sector’s total revenue during the same period (see Entertainment And Media Brands Drive Outdoor Growth). Meanwhile, Van Wagner secured the national contract for all of Network Rail’s bridges (see Van Wagner Secures 15-Year Deal With Network Rail) and Maiden Outdoor extended its Transvision Network with the launch of a new digital advertising screen at London’s Charing Cross railway station (see Maiden Expands Transvision Network But Profits Dip). The Daily Telegraph also launched its largest ever outdoor advertising campaign as part of the second phase of its brand campaign to increase readership.

April

April was another positive month for Viacom Outdoor, which secured Carling as the first sponsor of an innovative new advertising platform to install branded buskers perform across the London Underground Tube network (see Viacom Outdoor Secures Carling For Busking Sponsorship). Viacom also secured Adidas as the sponsor of the Canary Wharf travel interchange, in a deal designed to coincide with the 2003 London Flora London Marathon.(see Viacom Outdoor Pairs Adidas With Flora London Marathon). Meanwhile, Maiden Outdoor secured the £1.8 million contract to sell advertising at all First Group railway stations following a competitive pitch against a range of outdoor contractors.

May

The outdoor advertising sector blossomed during May with advertising revenues significantly outperforming the media sector in the first quarter of the year to post a 16.9% year on year rise to £169.7 million (see UK Outdoor Revenues Jump 17% In First Quarter). Things were also positive for Maiden Outdoor, which launched an audience measurement system for poster panels at major supermarkets, in a move designed bring a new level of accountability to the sector (see Maiden Unveils Media Measurement Tool For Supermarkets). Elsewhere, Viacom Outdoor secured the advertising contract for the launch of the new Mercedes-Benz CLK class after beating-off 40 other contenders to win the Daimler/Chrysler Media Award (see Viacom Outdoor Wins Pitch For Mercedes Business).

June

The Outdoor Advertising Association announced plans to promote outdoor as a medium with the launch of the industry’s first joint initiative advertising campaign for more than ten years (see OAA Launches Poster Campaign To Promote Outdoor). June saw Viacom Outdoor respond to the increasing demand for pan-European outdoor advertising strategies with the appointment of Clive Punter to the newly created role of director of international sales (see Viacom Outdoor To Capitalise On International Sales) and JCDecaux overhauled its national sales teams with a range of internal promotions. Meanwhile, outdoor advertising group Mega Profile merged with Forrest Outdoor Media to develop the market for large scale poster sites in Scotland (see Mega Profile And Forrest Outdoor Merge In Scotland). Maiden Outdoor launched a new flexible network of large format backlit poster sites to offer advertisers the opportunity to hand pick individual prime London locations (see Maiden Launches Targeted Ad Network). It also beat-off competition from incumbent Clear Channel to secure the £20 million contract for Manchester City Council’s outdoor sites (see Maiden Secures £20m Outdoor Contract For Manchester).

July

JCDecaux remained in the spotlight in August after securing an exclusive agreement with transport advertising group, AdBus, to sell 6-sheet advertising panels across Nottingham’s new tram network. Meanwhile, Viacom Outdoor signed a sponsorship deal with Highland Spring and VisitScotland to launch a water sampling initiative to prevent passengers overheating on the London Underground (see Viacom Refreshes Tube Travellers With Highland Spring).

August

August was a relatively quiet month for the outdoor advertising industry. However, Hi-Tech Solutions, the bar media specialist, was selected as the sole provider of bar and washroom poster advertising for the Outdoor Advertising Association’s landmark promotional campaign (see Hi-Tech Cleans Up With OAA Bar And Washroom Account). Meanwhile, responsible drinking organisation, The Portman Group, launched an ambient media campaign that used talking posters in pub toilets to promote sensible drinking.

September

Outdoor advertising continued to perform strongly in the three months to June, with revenue increasing by 6.3% year on year to more than £184 million, according to the latest figures from the Outdoor Advertising Association (see Outdoor Industry Sees Ad Revenue Rise In Second Quarter). Meanwhile, Hi-Tech Solutions expanded its London business development team with the appointment of Karin Jeffrey to the newly created position of sales account director (see Hi-Tech Solutions Expands London Development Division). In other news, Maiden Outdoor secured the contract to market 6-sheet posters across Birmingham’s Bullring shopping and leisure site and Mega Profile launched a campaign to promote Bosch power tools across its portfolio of giant banner sites.

October

October saw Mega Profile offer brands the opportunity to sponsor a giant advertising hoarding on the west front of St Paul’s, which was erected while the famous London landmark is given a facelift (see Mega Profile Takes Over St Paul’s With Giant Banner). Meanwhile, Maiden Outdoor launched a unique ambient advertising campaign at London’s Waterloo station to promote the opening of the new high-speed Eurostar line (see Maiden Uses Ambient To Promote Eurostar At Waterloo) JCDecaux also promoted Eurostar with an outdoor advertising campaign forming part of a wider pan-European push (see JCDecaux Gets On Track With New Eurostar Campaign). Elsewhere Viacom Outdoor unveiled an extensive outdoor campaign to promote Disney’s new animated film Finding Nemo across the London Underground Tube network (see Viacom Outdoor Rolls Out Finding Nemo Campaign).

November

Clear Channel was in the spotlight in November after securing Midland Expressway Limited for a major advertising campaign to increase public awareness of Britain’s first tolled motorway ahead of its scheduled launch early next year (see Clear Channel Brings Midland Expressway To Fort Dunlop). Meanwhile, the IPA launched an extensive media neutral advertising campaign to promote its forthcoming Effectiveness Awards to communications agencies (see IPA Uses Outdoor To Promote Effectiveness Awards) and JCDecaux rolled out two new networks of 12-sheet advertising columns in city centres across the country. November also saw Mega Profile secure a new deal with British Land to erect temporary advertising banners across its construction sites in the UK (see Mega Profile Secures British Land For Advertising Deal).

December

The start of the festive season brought positive new for the outdoor industry, which continued to perform strongly in the three months to September with revenue increasing by 6.6% year on year to more than £195 million, according to the latest figures from the Outdoor Advertising Association (see Q3 Gain Makes Outdoor The UK’s Fastest Growing Medium). However, this failed to boost total UK advertising expenditure, which only inched up by a nominal 0.2% year on year to £3.4 billion. Meanwhile, Viacom Outdoor ended the year on a positive note by snatching the GNER advertising sales contract from Maiden Outdoor, in a move that has dealt a blow to its rival’s core railway station business (see Viacom Outdoor Swipes GNER Contract From Maiden). Elsewhere, JCDecaux launched a new 6-sheet product which it claims could revolutionise the market by allowing advertisers to change their creative executions from day to night display.

Subscribers can access ten years of media news and analysis in the Archive