Australia’s Outdoor Media Association is reporting strong results for the Out-of-Home (OOH) industry in the third quarter for 2013, with 8.6 per cent growth compared with the same period last year. The association says OOH saw a rise in sales revenue to $132.3m, up from last year’s Q3 $121.8m. It also reports an increase in year-to-date revenue of 5.6 per cent to $381m, up from $360.8m for the same time in 2012.

Although digital outdoor was the strongest sector it still only represents 10.8 per cent of the revenue, with wide format printers taking up the bulk of the rest. The continued growth is spurring many offset printers to invest in wide format print systems. Charmaine Moldrich, CEO of the OMA, says the results come as no surprise given the association’s feeling that OOH is the number one broadcast medium in a fragmented media market. She tells Australian Printer, “I think advertisers are realising that Out-of-Home is a cost-effective way of getting to large numbers of people, and we have the audience measurements to prove it.” As the fastest growing OOH category globally, the Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) sector saw continued growth in Australia in line with international trends, with advertisers attracted to the medium’s flexibility. Its 10.8 per cent revenue share grew from an estimated 7.5 per cent share at the end of 2012. The OMA expects continued growth in Australian DOOH as new inventory is made available. Moldrich says, “The digital realm offers innovation in things like occupational health and safety, so people don’t have to change signs, and dayparting of products and services for advertisers, as well as using multiple creatives in the one campaign period. We are now seeing inventory in pedestrian places like shopping centres becoming more digitised. “Digital makes sense. It is growing rapidly, but I don’t see it becoming 100 per cent of our inventory in the near future. There will always be a place for static – we have not seen the end of printing by any means.” In other sectors, roadside billboards posted revenue of $43.8m, roadside other (street furniture, taxis, buses and tram externals and small format) reports $48.2m, transport (including airports) saw $19.8m and retail $20.5m. Moldrich expects further positive results in the next quarter, which she says is traditionally the strongest time for OOH. She tells AP, “Given what I am hearing about the strength of the market and it being our strongest quarter because of the lead-up to Christmas and holidays, I am hoping that we will end the year in a robust way.” The OMA bases its figures on direct sales and the occupancy invoiced in each calendar month by its members. It estimates that it represents 90 per cent of Australia’s OOH industry.

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