Digital OOH contributes 55.8% to OMA’s 2019 all-time high media revenue

The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) released its 2019 Annual Report, showing a net media revenue increase of 1.5% to an all-time high of $935.5M, with digital Out of Home (DOOH) accounting for 55.8%.

The report also details 2019 initiatives such as the $1.3M Neuroscience Project Study (NPS) to investigate how people engage with digital signs; the new platform for buying and planning OOH campaigns, CORE; the Look Up campaign which reached over 12M people with the simple reminder to engage with the world; and, driver behaviour research which showed that digital billboards may improve driver performance.

The industry continued to give back, citing over 230 arts, sports, government, and charitable organisations who are beneficiaries of donated media space and advertising services, valued at $87M.

“We celebrated our 80-year anniversary in 2019, a milestone for the industry. Our program last year brought us closer together, working to build a new audience measurement platform for DOOH as well as launch our new industry campaign Look Up which saw our members use their signs to promote our unifying brand message,” said Charmaine Moldrich, CEO of the OMA.

“We remain one of the most trusted media channels used to broadcast awareness campaigns for road safety, public health, and community service messaging. For the second year, the industry partnered with DrinkWise in support of the ‘Children can inherit more than your looks’ campaign that encouraged parents to role model sensible alcohol consumption to their children. In addition, we entered the eleventh year of our partnership with National Missing Persons Week and we announced an industry-wide partnership with Brisbane City Council (BCC) to pilot the delivery of Amber Alerts on OOH signs,” she added.

“It makes it difficult to look back, on what is now a halcyon period, when the industry grew exponentially following the global financial crisis in 2009. Annual reports are meant to document a specific period time, so while COVID-19 is what is happening to us in 2020, we know that the foundation we have built over the last 80 years, alongside the guidance of our Board, will serve us well as we prepare for recovery from this pandemic.”

The OMA 2019 Annual Report can be viewed at www.oma.org.au/annual-reports.