OMA 2020 Annual Report highlights vital role outdoor played during COVID-19

The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) has released its 2020 Annual Report, which highlights the vital role the Outdoor industry played in supporting communities and the public health response last year.

The report also details 2020 initiatives, such as the announcement that Ipsos will lead the upgrade of MOVE (Measurement of Outdoor Visibility and Exposure) to a national model with the capability to measure digital signs, and the launch of the OMA National Health and Wellbeing Policy that restricts the advertising of occasional food and drink products on Out of Home (OOH) signs.

In addition, OMA members continued to use their signs for good, supporting more than 140 arts, sports, not-for-profit and charitable organisations by donating free media space, valued at $92M.

“Annual reports capture a moment in time, and this is our opportunity to record the industry’s experience through last year. At the start of 2020 we were in the process of setting into motion the initiatives that would serve as a catalyst for our next phase of growth, and then the pandemic hit,” said Charmaine Moldrich, OMA CEO.

“Though COVID-19 disrupted these plans, our Board put together a new business plan that has been instrumental in navigating our way into recovery. We are well placed for future growth, and this includes the development of our new audience measurement system MOVE 2.0 which is in the test and learn stage. We will also launch the results of our $1.3 million neuroscience study in July, which proves how memory encoding and emotion play into the impact OOH signs have on audiences,” she continued.

“During the pandemic, government, retail, ecommerce, and banking brands were some of the top advertisers on our signs.

Recent figures released by SMI (Standard Media Index) Australia show that overall advertising spend in April 2021 is 20 per cent above what was recorded in April 2020. Spend figures for May are expected to follow a similar growth rate. ^

“It’s great to now see the market bounce back with automotive, tourism and entertainment brands returning to using OOH signs as part of their advertising mix. This speaks volumes about growing advertiser and agency confidence in the channel,” concluded Charmaine. 

To view the OMA 2020 Annual Report online, go to: Go to www.oma.org.au/annual-reports