Page 60 - Print21 March-April 2022

Wide Format
Outdoor media climbing
back to former spend
Out of Home print was smashed during Covid, as commuters stayed away from their CBD offices. However, the sector is now bouncing back, reports Wayne Robinson.
Spend on outdoor media bounced back from its Covid hammering, with December the first month to exceed pre-pandemic revenue
levels, but the annual figure still remains 20 per cent down on the 2019 pre-Covid year.
Digital OOH revenue increased its share of the outdoor spend at the expense of print. It now accounts for 58.8 per cent of total net media revenue year-to-date, an increase over the recorded 55.2 per cent for the same period last year. Print’s share this year is likely to dip below 40 per cent for the first time.
The year just gone 2021 saw an increase of 24 per cent on net media revenue, up to $812.7m from the $655.2m for 2020. Net revenue year-to-date still trails pre-pandemic results, which was $982.3m in
2019. However, in a positive portent December 2021 was the first month since Covid that revenue exceeded pre-pandemic levels.
With CBD offices remaining at
best partly used, and often empty, as work-from-home continues, outdoor media has been hit harder than most during Covid. However, the figures
are bouncing back, with the industry hoping that the announcement by chief health officer Paul Kelly that Australia is “past the peak” of the Omicron wave will signal a return to CBD working.
In good news for the industry quarter four 2021 saw an increase of 13.3 per cent on net media revenue year-on-year, posting $247.6m, up from $218.6m for quarter four 2020.
Right
Outdoor media: Bouncing back
OMA CEO Charmaine Moldrich said, “We began the year cautiously optimistic for industry recovery, and while the second wave of lockdowns mid-May stymied momentum, revenue consistently tracked
above 2020 levels. What’s more, December’s results mark the first month revenue has risen beyond pre- pandemic levels, up seven per cent.”
According to figures released
by Zenith, Australian advertising spend is expected to grow 5 per cent
sets us up for another bounce back when the situation stabilises further. This is good news, and advertisers should be confident in Out of
Home’s ability to deliver audiences particularly in transport, retail and roadside environments and continue to leverage the channel’s impact and creative potential,” concluded Modric.
Spend on outdoor media – a significant part of the wide format printing sector – will not fully recover until workers return to their CBD
Print Digital Print
Digital Print Digital
in 2022, off the back of 18 per cent
offices and international borders open.
48% 52% 44.8% 55.2% 41.2% 58.8%
growth in 2021. ANZ-Roy Morgan However, with restrictions
Consumer Confidence saw a small drop in the first week of January, down 2.4 points to 106.0. Confidence in future financial conditions remained unchanged however, with 38 per cent of Australians expecting they will be better off financially this time next year.
“What this shows is people are still optimistic about the future, and this
easing almost to nothing around the country, the huge drop in work that wide format print suffered – as exhibitions, conferences, concerts, sporting events, travel and tourism, and all other gatherings were cancelled – should return, giving optimism to wide format printers everywhere. Fespa in May is well timed. 21
Print Digital Print Digital
48% 52% 44.8% 55.2%
Print Digital
41.2% 58.8%
Australian outdoor media spend (digital and print)
$982.3m $665.2m $812.7m
60 Print21 MARCH/APRIL 2022 $982.3m
$665.2m