Out Of Home

Out of Home (OOH) Advertising is any type of advertising that reaches the consumer whilst out of their home. OOH connects with consumers when they are on the go (Rail, Road), in transit (Airports, Tubes), waiting in spaces (Bus stops) and in specific commercial locations (Leisure centres, Shopping Centres, Petrol Stations, Doctors Surgeries). The Outdoor audience is mobile, young, affluent, high spending and attractive to advertisers. It is also the advertising medium that is closest to the point of sale. OOH Advertising reaches over 80% of the population in the UK (IPM).

OOH has over the past decade been the fastest growing traditional advertising medium with 53% of people spending more time out of home than they did 14 years ago. Almost £900 million was spent by UK brands, and their agencies on OOH. This represents a 6% share of all UK Advertising Revenue, and only TV and newspaper advertising enjoy a larger share of UK advertising spend.

Digital Out of Home (DOOH) is revolutionising the world’s oldest advertising medium in two ways. Traditional static signage has been transformed by screen technology with screens replacing posters particularly at bus stops, airports and stations where people loiter with high dwell time. Simultaneously new media owners are developing a diversity of DOOH offerings in new formats in urban environments that offer flexibility, new opportunities to advertise by time of day (as opposed to the traditional longer posting cycles), and by audience demographic.

Spend on DOOH in 2010 reached £100.7m, up 37.3% Year on year, which means that £1 in every £8 spent on OOH is now spent on digital formats. Investment in digital has intensified this year with the traditional media owners like JCDecaux, Ocean and Outdoor Plus all launching digital formats. CBS Outdoor has invested in new digital formats at the new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford, which is the largest urban shopping centre in Europe and gateway to the Olympic Stadium. 2011 also saw investment in new, exciting formats from new niche media owners such as Captive Media, Insitu Media and Renew Media.

OOH is transforming into a 21st Century advertising platform with all the strong brand awareness capabilities traditionally offered by the medium, but with the enhanced engagement opportunities offered by digital signage with NFC, Wi-Fi and motion tracking enabled screens.