Outdoor Advertising Set To Claim Record Market Share
The outdoor industry looks set to announce a record nine percent share of the total UK advertising market when official revenue figures for 2003 are released later this month.
The growth in outdoor advertising equates to a 1% rise year on year and follows a tough few months for other sectors, with television and national newspaper share of revenue expected to be static.
Commenting on the forthcoming figures, Alan James, chief executive of the Outdoor Advertising Association, said: “I think we could be on course for a nine percent share over the whole year. It’s difficult to say, but all the signs are positive.”
Outdoor has seen an upsurge recently as advertisers realise its potential as a cost effective, versatile marketing medium. James said: “It’s the scope and the breadth of the offer that outdoor now has that means it’s no longer just a 48-sheet medium. Now you can have ads in shopping trolleys, you can have ads outside supermarkets and inside gyms and healthclubs. It’s a very flexible, creative and innovative medium.”
Outdoor’s market share has risen from 7.1% in 1998 and looks to be closing in on a ten percent share in the not too distant future. James said: “I think that we will get towards that magic ten percent. It’s not going to be easy but increasingly people are learning to live on a multi-media diet, just having a television campaign just doesn’t work anymore.
Exactly when outdoor advertising will command 10% of advertising revenue is unclear. However, several developments pushing the medium are sure to help and James believes large scale digital screens will form a big part of the industry’s future.
He explained: “There is a slow but meaningful growth in digital screens, which is classed as outdoor advertising. They’re in railway stations, they’re in supermarkets, some will be in doctors, dentists or DIY stores. We will see rapid growth there.”
A recent study by Clear Channel UK found that current media research underestimates the impact and effectiveness of non-television media by as much as twenty percent. The research confirms long-held industry suspicions of under-reporting for a range of non-broadcast media, especially outdoor and press (see Existing Research Under-Reports Non-Broadcast Media).
Outdoor Advertising Association: 0207 973 0315 www.oaa.org.uk
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