Although spend by alcohol brands on out of home (OOH) declined considerably last year, Diageo remains the channel’s top advertiser, followed by Sky and Mondeléz, PML Group’s final quarterly Posterwatch report shows. Retail, finance and media were the top categories in 2020, while tourism/travel and fast food and casual restaurants (QSRs) were down.
Media and food brands were the two best movers on OOH during a year hugely impacted by Covid-19. Media advertisers increased their OOH spend by 80 per cent in 2020, increasing their share of voice by 4.4 per cent to 7.9 per cent. Sky and Disney were the two biggest OOH spenders, using a mix of formats and environments to drive subscriptions and viewership.
As grocery spending increased in 2020, so too did OOH investment by food and FMCG brands, with the point of sale and the path to purchase proving to be key OOH battlegrounds for brands. Food brands increased their OOH spend by 14 per cent and their share of voice improved by more than two points. Kellogg’s, Dr Oetker and Kraft Heinz were top spenders.
ALTERNATIVE
Alcohol, QSRs, films and tourism/travel all declined in OOH spend last year. The closure of pubs, cinemas and restaurants for much of the year and a curtailment on foreign and domestic travel was the reason for the decline. However, advertising by brands that were able to offer an in-home alternative, such as Just Eat and Disney+, helped bridge that gap.
Colum Harmon, marketing director, PML Group, described 2020 as “an extraordinary year” for OOH, with a challenge on a scale never seen before. “However, we can look back on many positives,” Harmon said. “OOH played a key role in public information messaging on Covid and we saw some exceptional creative work in response to the pandemic.”
The pandemic also accelerated and escalated ways in which data is managed and applied to OOH campaigns and the evolution of the medium’s digital infrastructure was not halted by the virus. “It means OOH is better placed than ever to create meaningful solutions,” he added.
