Friday, October 5, 2012

Going Out-Of-Home, Fighting for the Industry Turf

PUBLISHED ON: Friday, October 05, 2012 BY: Content Support IN:

Out-of-home media, or simply OOH, is quickly becoming as mainstream as traditional media for its particular ability to follow 86 percent of urban dwellers who spend their time outside the home. Only the remaining 14 percent stay at home for 100 percent of the day.

The Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) shared these figures in discussing the potential of OOH at the 5^th PANA GMM May 31 at the Hard Rock Cafe. OAAP President Delia Magtoto and the organization’s chair for information and education committee Lloyd Tronco see “unlimited possibilities with going outdoor”, when “every time could be primetime”.

Ferdie Frejas, managing director of GoodThinking Research Inc, joined the talk to describe the different types of OOH and the impressions they make on viewers: Well-liked placements are point-of-purchase media, indoor TV, outdoor TV/digital billboards and light boxes. Human ads, transit media, billboards and indoor posters/banners garner average liking. The least liked are roving billboards, building wraps, street posters/banners and flyers/leaflets/brochures.

Found in schools, malls, offices, on the road and while in transit, the places where we encounter OOH are as varied as the forms in which they come. They have grown so prevalent that they could reach the people at times that TV, radio or print could not.

Every time could really be primetime with OOH, but Tronco says, “In our research, very clearly, traditional media adds brand credibility. It still tells consumers that if you’re a good brand, you have to have a TV campaign. That’s the role of traditional media--it confirms your brand credibility. And the role of out-of-home media is actually to remind people. One-third actually buy when they see out-of-home media.”

The value of utilizing OOH fuels the growth of the outdoor advertising industry--from 7 percent in 2004, steadily increasing to 10.9 percent in 2011. So the industry, highly visible by its nature, tends to invite outside scrutiny, especially in the wake of its current boom; it faces regulatory issues with the Department of Public Works and Highways, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and local government units.

“Government intervention continuously persists, as do major obstacles in the out-of-home industry,” Magtoto says.

But she assures advertisers that OAAP is maximizing legal channels “in an effort to protect the business and fight for property and industry rights”. With stakeholders ranging from outdoor media to the advertisers, the OAAP must champion the rising industry to keep the information flowing and the momentum going.

OOH enhances the integrated marketing mix as it reaches far and wide going to where the people are. Maybe it’s time to give it a try, because if you want to stand out, you need to go out of home.

Written by: Ivy Ong

Source: adEDGE, APR-JUN 2012, Vol. 8 No. 2, p. 26