OOH Today Weekend Update

A weekly commentary of the top stories in OOH Today this week

By OOH Today Last updated Jul 24, 2022

A weekly recap of the top OOH stories you may have missed, along with colorful commentary from BB

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1. OOH Word on the Street Today — Acquisitions Near

Lamar Advertising acquires Apple (Outdoor)and Clear Channel Outdoor UK and Europe is said to be near sale to a private equity firm.

Commentary

We shared per LinkedIn post by 21 year OOH veteran Dave Peacock, VP/GM Lamar Advertising Greater Philadelphia, Lamar has acquired Apple Outdoor in Northern Maryland. Word of the impending sale has been circulating on the street for nearly a month. Looks like it has closed. No official comments have yet to be released. And even as of today July 24, nothing official has been released regarding this acquisition if indeed it occurred. Sound move for Lamar moving into Maryland within the footprint of the Lamar Philly plant.

As for CCO Euro and UK, still no official word as of this press time. Monday’s a good day to announce a change. Stand by for news.

2. It’s the ‘Little Billboards’

Seth Godin makes a connection with the ‘new billboards’ of today, namely social media, from his experience viewing actual billboards in Manhattan.

Commentary

The real takeaway here, even a non OOH person like Seth Godin easily recognizes that QR Codes are not effective with large format OOH. At 55 MPH good luck with trying to safely or successfully scan a QR Code. And yet so many in the OOH Industry espouse the use of QR Codes in nearly every OOH format. I don’t think so.

3. OOH Best Creative Last Week Today

Brands so iconic, no name is necessary. Plus, nine other outstanding OOH ads that caught our eye last week.

Commentary

It’s pretty easy to create great OOH designs by following a few simple rules. The most compelling ‘6 words or less’. Wendy’s does it in 2 words AND without even a hint of the company name. Next time your client asks for the proverbial creative ‘kitchen sink’ to be included in the design, you know, address, phone number and web address, show them this. Hitting the Jack Pan and the Evian double decker run close seconds.

4. The Must-Attend Yearly Summit in NYC

This year’s DPAA Global Summit will be held on October 11 at Pier 60, Chelsea Piers in New York City. The annual event is part of New York Digital Signage Week coordinated by The Ministry of New Media. More information on the summit can be found here.

Commentary

Hey were not kidding. Make sure you sign up for this event. LIVE and In Person. It is worth every minute and penny. Click on the story above to sign up. Be sure to tell Barry, Bill sent you.

5. OAAA Sales Tip: The QSR

The QSR category produced a solid 7.3% increase in OOH spend in 2021 and notice of OOH QSR ads leads to in-store purchases and online activation. QSR ads engaged almost 9 in 10 recent OOH viewers, according to the latest OAAA-Harris Poll research. For complete research results, watch Wednesday’s OAAA – Harris Poll Q2 Consumer Insights and OOH opportunities webinar.

Commentary
One question on this research: What was the OOH format which was measured? Not large format. Which is OK, but please don’t mislead us into believing it is all OOH media which QR Codes are effective.

6. OOH Veteran Eric Selby Joins Insite Street Media

InSite Street Media announced that Eric Selby has joined their management team as General Manager, DMV (DC, Maryland, Virginia). Mr. Selby was most recently at Clear Channel Airports where he was Vice President, Sales. He also spent 6 years at Outfront Media where he was General Manager, DC before starting his own record label and music publishing business between 2013 and 2016.

Commentary

Keeping the DC Metro market in mind, which Selby is taking over, InSite has been bleeding occupancy, at least from our perspective of living and observing their inventory in Northern Virginia for the last 6 years. When occupancy is noticeably off, which is an understatement here, revenues must suffer as well.

Great move to put an effective OOH veteran in the position to change things. It is long overdue. Now, will management, or actually a few board members, leave him alone to sell and manage the operation the way it should be. DC is one of the most underbuilt major markets in America for OOH. Arguably the DC Metro is number one for having the least OOH inventory of any of the top ten markets. Selby has the skill set and determination to get it done.

We wish our friend Eric Selby great success.