According to ad spend resource Standard Media Index (SMI), outdoor revenue underwent double-digit year-on-year growth in November 2009, while wider ad spend increased 6%.
However, SMI publisher Jane Schulze told ProPrint that digital signage may be driving much of this growth.
Meanwhile, a survey of advertising and media executives by media communications agency Starcom MediaVest has forecast a 5.3% rise in main media ad spend for 2010.
OMA chief executive Helen Willoughby told ProPrint the association had seen a “major upturn” in the final quarter of 2009. It is set to release its final figures for the year in the coming weeks.
“Coming into the first quarter of 2010, our members are already reporting healthy bookings,” she said.
OMA will launch its ‘Move’ tool (Measurement of Outdoor Visibility and Exposure), described as “the world’s first audience measurement system for out-of-home media to cover all the major formats and audience environments”, on 23 February.
Move will launch in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, and data for these markets is currently being finalised.
The tool will introduce a new concept to the Australian media: likelihood-to-see (LTS), which hones in on audiences by only including people who are likely to see an advertisement.
“Move will give media buyers direct access to a web-based planning tool that will produce reach and frequency results for outdoor advertising campaigns based entirely on LTS contacts,” Willoughby said.
The system has been nearly four years and $5m in the making, led by former OzTAM chief executive Ian Muir.
“Move is very different from other media measurement systems, which are effectively measuring the same black box,” Muir said.
“With this system we have 60,000 individual faces carrying unique characteristics that impact the target audiences in different ways depending on variables such as the time of day, the speed of the traffic, and their exact geographic location.”
The Roy Morgan Starcom Media Futures survey cited point-of-sale and direct mail advertising as two printed advertising markets in line for a boost, with at least half of all national advertisers expected to use these media.
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