PML Group reports a three per cent increase in out of home (OOH) ad spend for the first quarter of the year. The increase follows a seven per cent improvement for the whole of 2016. Growth is said to be coming from across various market categories and advertisers. But an interesting trend emerging is the expansion in OOH formats, networks and media owners.
Media owners such as DAA airport ads, Adtower, Orbscreen and Wide Eye Outdoor added to their portfolios in the last year. The investment was almost entirely on digital. Advertisers reacted well to new arrivals in a market dominated by three media owners – French company JCDecaux, Exterion Media and Clear Channel.
PML Group marketing director Colum Harmon says it will be interesting to see how the new arrivals develop the market in the medium to long term. Although the relatively small market share of these media owners is growing, it was important to note the vast majority of OOH spend remains with the Big 3.
Diageo, McDonald’s and AIB Group are the top three advertisers in 2017 to date. Vodafone and Unilever also saw comparitively big increases in spend. Perhaps the most interesting of movers among the top spending advertisers is Premier Lotteries Ireland – aka the National Lottery. The reason for this is the use of digital in the lottery’s OOH strategy.
The lottery places special importance on flexible copy change. Among the top 15 advertisers, ten upped their spend in the first quarter, including AIB, Glanbia and Aer Lingus. Harmon says PML will launch the full Q1 report early next week.
