Digital’s Part in the Growth of Out of Home Advertising

Out of home, or outdoor advertising has enjoyed a long tradition of promoting, selling and raising brand awareness in many outdoor locations. From billboards along the high street to posters at railway stations and other locations, outdoor advertising is continuing to thrive.

In fact, recent figures released by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) and the UK’s Outdoor Media Centre (formerly the Outdoor Advertising Association) have shown out of home advertising is not only continuing to thrive but is actually growing, year on year.

The figures for the advertising revenues accrued in 2010 by the out of home advertising sector have shown revenues grew by 4.1% from $5.86 bn (£3.59bn) to $6.1bn (£3.74bn), globally.

In the UK, growth is even larger with total revenue spend on outdoor advertising in 2010 up 12.5% for the full year totalling some £879.8million ($1.428bn). The UK saw the highest growth rate in Western Europe.

And it is outdoor digital signage that is responsible for this growth of out of home advertising. In the UK digital outdoor signage is responsible for 12% of all out of home expenditure (£1 in £8 spent)

Globally, outdoor digital signage has grown by 17% since 2009 becoming one of the fastest growing advertising sectors and bringing outdoor advertising back to the fore of an advertiser’s arsenal.

Outdoor digital signage has revolutionised out of home advertising in providing eye-catching content that is far more noticeable than traditional staid outdoor posters or billboards. Increasingly traditional ad spaces are being turned into digital ones with more and more electronic billboards, digital posters and outdoor digital signage screens usurping the existing print media.

Digital has many other advantages over print media, not just its noticeability. It saves money on print costs and as content can be uploaded remotely there is no need to hire technicians to regularly paste up new content.