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| How Important is Outdoor Advertising? To a lot of advertising practitioners, outdoor advertising is classified as "below-the-line." The "line" being that which separates tri-media, or radio, print and TV as above it and all other advertising activity as below it. Not falling in the any of the three categories of media, outdoor advertising is therefore bundled with the "all others" category. In a world where "labels" seem to be so important, there is a need to challenge the label given to outdoor advertising. Being "below the line" gives the impression that outdoor advertising is not as equally important as TV, radio or print. For one to appreciate just how important outdoor advertising is, one has to go back to the history of advertising. Outdoor Advertising is as old as the history of man. The existence of this industry dates back to when man communicated ideas by carving stone plates and displaying them in public places. Long before there was even print, much less radio and TV, the main form of advertising where on billboards. In the Philippines, consider the fact that one of the original-founding members of the ADBOARD was the Association of Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP). The ADBOARD was originally envisioned to be an association of people involved in mass media for the purpose of promoting the interests of the advertiser, the advertising agency, print, radio, TV and outdoor. Even the wife of the late dictator, Marcos, could not regulate or ban billboards. No less than the Supreme Court ruled that billboards or outdoor advertising was a legitimate form of mass media! So what caused outdoor advertising to be relegated as such? Mainly because of the change in lifestyle of consumers in the late sixties to the early eighties when the colored TV became the number one entertainment center in the home. Until the early eighties, the billboard was limited to hand-painted images. It just could not compete with the vibrant images seen on TV. Billboard displays quickly became boring and predictable. No one paid attention to the displays. But by the mid-eighties, colored television sets had become affordable and commonplace, breaking the barrier between rich and poor. Even the cheapest ones came with remote controls. "Zapping" or switching channels during commercial breaks became a practice. Every time a commercial is aired, the viewer switches channels - rendering the commercial inutile. As if that wasn't enough, cable TV was introduced, now there were hundreds of channels - an expensive proposition to TV advertisers who want to capture the attention of viewers by being in all channels. Saturation of all channels became a thing of the past - it was just too expensive.
The same computer technology gave birth to digital imaging. The process, which allowed for realistic, attention-grabbing, full-color images to be printed in super-large format economically and quickly, would restore dramatically the outdoor billboard to its rightful place as a legitimate form of mass media. The billboard display was transformed into a larger-than-life TV screen outdoors. Advertisers in the cosmetics, fashion and automobile industries were the first to embrace outdoor advertising. Images, which were hard to capture through hand painting, were now easily replicated. Expensive airtime rates inevitably pushed outdoor advertising's popularity to record levels. In the United States and Western Europe, more and more of the traditional advertising budgets are being allocated to outdoor. From a traditional 5% formula of advertising spend, the figures now hover around 20% of total spend and still is showing signs of rising. In the Philippine setting, this trend is beginning to happen as well. With the advent of cable television and increased advertising rates, more and more advertisers are finding it difficult to sustain campaigns effectively on all channels. Outdoor on the other hand, captures the viewer's attention 24 hours a day. True, it has limited coverage. But a well-planned outdoor campaign can effectively cover most major markets in the country - still at a fraction of the cost of doing the same campaign on TV - with almost the same reach. It comes as no surprise therefore that a significant number of advertisers today are channeling a good portion of their advertising budgets traditionally allocated for tri-media, to outdoor advertising. Even ad agencies are responding to this demand. It is common now to find big ad agencies with departments dedicated solely to catering to their clients' outdoor advertising needs. Some advertisers don't realize that it roughly takes only 15 billboards strategically located inside Metro-Manila to reach the 15 million people who live and work in the mega-city everyday. The cost for one year - about the cost of 20, thirty-seconders on TV! With 30 additional billboards, almost all populations in key cities of the Philippines can be reached. Finally, the ultimate proof of the importance of outdoor advertising is media itself. For even TV networks, radio stations and news publishers advertise on billboards and public utility vehicles. Indeed, outdoor advertising is equally important as any of the tri-media. In fact, outdoor advertising practitioners would argue that the word "tri" in tri-media should be changed to "quad-media" to reflect outdoor advertising's rightful place in mass media.
HOW EFFECTIVE ARE OUTDOOR ADS
A QUANTITATIVE survey completed in January 2003
by FB Consumer Research Services Inc., a roster member of the local
marketing and Opinion Research Society (MORES), reveals that outdoor
advertising remains to be a strong out of home advertising medium.
This, despite the emergence of newer forms of media that include Internet and +web-based advertising where access is prevalent Internet cafes, direct marketing, special events and other technology-based or multi-media formats. NCR survey The usage, attitude and Image (UAI) study on outdoor advertising was conducted recently in the National Capital Region among male and female respondents belonging to the A, B,C,D socioeconomic households. A random selection of respondents included private vehicle motorists and commuters who travel along Edsa, C-5, Quezon Boulevard, Commonwealth, Greenhills, Rizal Avenue, Baclaran, Airport Road, South Superhighway from Quirino Avenue to Calamba and North Luzon Expressway, among others. The survey uses a multi-stage probability sampling methodology. Its reference include the unified socioeconomic classification that describes the AB market as a successful businessman or high level executive with an estimated minimum household monthly income of P 50,000 among the B market and P100, 000 among the A market. The upper C market is personified as a junior executive or young professionals with an average income of P30,000 while the broad C market is a new corporate recruit, semi-professional or mid-level supervisor or small businessman earning a minimum of P15,000.00. The low -ranking white collar worker, unskilled overseas worker, farmer, tenant or those with a small, informal business comprise the D market with a minimum household income of P 8,000. The survey results indicate information on the psychographics and demographic profile of the expected audience of outdoor advertising. It also reveals the respondents' level of awareness, perception, experience and attitude toward the medium that includes among others, billboards, posters and bus shelters. The same study identifies and ranks in order of importance certain attributes that help in the awareness and recall of outdoor advertising. It also identifies attributes of outdoor ads that influence consumption of product. Following are some of the key findings of the survey: KEY FINDINGS 1. On a daily basis, average time spent by respondents watching television is 3.3 hours on weekdays and 3.4 hours on weekends. Time spent listening to radio during weekdays and weekends is 2.1 hours. Likewise, respondents spend an average of 1.2 hours reading newspapers both on weekdays and weekends while average time spent reading magazines on weekdays is 1.2 hours and 1.4 hours on weekends. On internet usage, respondents go online at an average of 3.4 times per week, clocking in an average of two hours on weekdays and three hours on weekends. 2. When traveling, AB respondents clock in an average travel time of 1.10 hours going to and from work and 1.40 hours going to and from their place of study. The C market averages 1.24 hours going to and from work or 1.22 hours going to and from place of study. The D market has an average travel time of 1.07 hours going to and from work and l.26 hours going to and from place of study. This excludes travel time spent on other errands. 3. While traveling, most of the respondents look at other cars or people (66 percent). Forty five percent look at billboard advertisements while 27 percent listen to the radio. Twenty percent look at lighted posters and 8 percent read. 4. Time spent traveling is highest among the C market. This segment includes the young professionals, supervisors, mid-level executives and career service people on the rise, small to medium size entrepreneurs and skilled workers. 5. Routes regularly traveled among respondents include Edsa along Monumento to Roxas Boulevard, Rizal Avenue to Taft Avenue, Quezon Boulevard to Novaliches, Greenhills to Antipolo, South Superhighway from Quirino Avenue to Calamba, C5 from South Superhighway to Katipunan Avenue. 6. The study reveals that most noticeable outdoor ads are Jollibee, Bench, McDonalds, Guess, Jag, Lee and Penshoppe. 7. Data from the study reveals that in order of importance, the
following attributes help in the awareness and recall of outdoor
ads: use of bright, cheerful colors; use of photographic or real
life situation ; billboard contains product information; uniqueness
of billboard design; use of product illustration and use of celebrity
endorser. These same attributes likewise influence the respondents
to purchase the brand advertised. One, outdoor advertising is a strong medium for out of home advertising as 45 percent of the representative sample of motorists and commuters spend the time looking at billboards while traveling. This means that a person traversing through a regular route gets to see a specific outdoor ad at least once a day. Two, use of celebrity endorsers help in the recall of outdoor ads. onetheless, there are other attributes that respondents consider far more influential in the recall of outdoor ads as well as purchase of a brand after exposure to the ad. These include use of bright, cheerful colors on billboards; use of a photographic or real life situation; billboard contains product information and uniqueness of billboard design. Finally, the study reveals that outdoor advertising is prevalently used by categories that include quick service restaurants, food and beverage, retail apparel, personal care products, telecommunications, Nonetheless, its use can extend to other categories should marketers choose to capitalize on the insight that second to viewing other cars and people, motorists and commuters across all segments of the market view outdoor ads nearly half the time while traveling. 
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