The Australian Out of Home (OOH) industry recorded a 24% jump in revenue to $812.7 million for 2021 (up from $655.2m in 2020) but said revenue still trailed pre-pandemic results and was down 17.3% on 2019’s $982.3m. Meanwhile, global outdoor leader JCDecaux's 2021 revenue increased by 18%.
“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,” said OMA CEO Charmaine Moldrich. “What’s more, December’s results mark the first month since revenue has risen beyond pre-pandemic levels, up seven per cent from December 2019.
“We’ve taken this time as an industry to bolster our platforms and processes to make Out of Home easier to plan and buy campaigns and measure their impact. Launched on 31 January, MOVE 1.5 and our Industry standards provide a world-first for buyers.
“And, importantly, with the OMA and MOVE attracting new members with the addition of Scentre Group, Tonic Media Network, and Hivestack this month, this means we now represent close to 100 per cent of the industry in Australia.”
Digital OOH (DOOH) revenue now accounts for 58.8 per cent of total net media revenue, an increase over the recorded 55.2 per cent for the same period last year.
According to figures released by Zenith, Australian advertising spend is expected to grow 5 per cent in 2022, off the back of 18 per cent growth in 2021. ANZ-Roy Morgan 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 expect they will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year.
“What this shows is people are still optimistic about the future, and this 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,” Moldrich said.
In Paris, JCDecaux SA (Euronext Paris: DEC), the number one OOH media company worldwide, said its 2021 group revenue grew by +18.7% to reach €2,744.6 million – “driven by a very strong digital revenue growth and a better than expected Q4 despite national and local mobility restrictions including semi-lockdowns in some European and Asia-Pacific countries.
“All geographies grew strongly in Q4 2021. Europe (including France and UK) reached revenue levels very close to Q4 2019 while the other regions (North America, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World) recorded a strong rebound vs 2020 but remained the most affected regions, mainly due to their Transport exposure and to mobility restrictions.”
