Life Without Out of Home

New Life Without Out of Home campaign details the unseen economic value of OOH advertising to Australian communities

Life Without Out of Home

A new video campaign ‘Life Without Out of Home’ from the Outdoor Media Association (OMA) is detailing the economic contribution of the Out of Home (OOH) advertising industry to public infrastructure across Australia, an impact that is often overlooked in public discourse.

Created by Howatson+Co, the campaign reveals how revenue generated from advertising in public spaces directly funds and maintains essential infrastructure. From bus and tram shelters to public toilets and pedestrian bridges these everyday items are often made possible without relying on taxpayer dollars.

OMA CEO Elizabeth McIntyre said, “People see an ad in a public space, but what they don’t see is how that ad is helping pay for the infrastructure we all rely on, and how much it saves taxpayers.”

In 2024, the OMA commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to quantify this value. The analysis found the OOH industry contributes an estimated $1.3 billion to the Australian economy and develop, manage and maintain over 21,500 public infrastructure items valued at more than $650 million, directly supporting infrastructure and services used by millions of Australians.

“It’s not just about ads,” Elizabeth McIntyre added. “It’s about jobs, infrastructure, and creating value that would otherwise come from the public purse. For every dollar of value added by OOH advertising companies, there is more than another dollar of value added across the broader economy.”

It’s not just about ads, it’s about jobs, infrastructure, and creating value that would otherwise come from the public purse.
For every dollar of value added by OOH advertising companies, there is more than another dollar of value added across the broader economy.

The ‘Life Without OOH’ campaign is being launched at a critical time, as governments consider further restrictions on advertising, including a ban on occasional food and drink advertising from 1 July on Adelaide Metro buses, trains and trams in South Australia. Industry leaders are urging a more balanced understanding of the role OOH advertising plays in supporting communities.

Click the Life Without Out of Home video on the photo below↓

About the OMA
The OMA is the peak industry body which represents most of Australia’s Outdoor Media Display companies and production facilities, and some Media Display asset owners. The OMA operates nationally and prior to July 2005 traded as the Outdoor Advertising Association of Australia (OAAA). It was first incorporated in 1939. The OMA’s charter is to serve its members by promoting the OOH industry and developing constructive relations with its primary stakeholders.

Its core functions are Marketing and Research (including audience measurement), Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs, Media Relations, and Member Services. The OMA is governed by a Board of Directors which is elected by the membership. Members of the OMA adhere to a Code of Ethics and abide by the regulatory frameworks in which they operate.

About MOVE
MOVE is Australia’s premier quantitative audience measurement currency for OOH media, covering major OOH environments including roadside, airports, railway/bus stations, buses/trains/trams and shopping centers. MOVE simplifies the planning and buying of OOH by producing audience measurement results for any combination of formats or tailored packages. As well as providing results numerically, an inbuilt mapping functionality visually displays the reach of a campaign against the chosen demographic and market(s).

MOVE enhances the standard measurement of target audiences, Opportunity To See (OTS), by reporting the active audiences through Likelihood To See (LTS). LTS is a quantitative measure that enables MOVE to account for the traditional passive audience interaction. LTS accounts for a number of visibility factors; values assigned to either the advertising face itself or the person passing the face within different audience environments. Visibility factors include the individual’s mode of transportation, speed and viewing location, as well as face metrics such as visual size to the audience and illumination. Note that LTS is neither a qualitative measure of the sign nor the audience dwell.

MOVE is endorsed by the Media Federation of Australia (MFA) and the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA).

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