Out-of-home (OOH) media owners are facing one of the toughest periods in more than a decade amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The industry recently reported a fall of 2.59% in net media revenue year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, posting $207.2 million, a dip from the $212.7 million in the same three months of 2019.
As social distancing and self-isolation laws continue to be enforced across Australia and the globe, Carat chief investment officer Craig Cooper says now is the time for OOH to rethink how they do business.
“Given the evolving mobility restrictions in place around Australia, OOH media partners have to be innovative during this period to cut through with agencies and clients,” Cooper says.
“We feel there are certain client categories that could be relevant.”
Clients who have products that are heavily being consumed during this period or can reinvent their services to produce high demand products are among those who Cooper suggests should look to OOH.
He also says the government and brands helping the community through value and support are relevant clients for the medium.
“Clients that switch from price [and] promotion messaging to more generic branding [are also relevant],” he says.
“They would need to sharpen their targeting though [to areas like] shopping centres, suburban areas and near parks.”
His comments come off the back of a recent statement from Charmaine Moldrich, CEO of industry body the Outdoor Media Association (OMA), asking advertisers to still consider OOH in a ‘stay at home’ world.
Moldrich challenged clients to live by their brand values and show Australians what they stand for with the help of outdoor media, however Cooper says this isn’t as easy as it sounds.
“Whilst we [Carat] are aligned with the overall sentiment of this, we feel this may be easier said than done,” he says.
“There are a multitude of issues facing clients relating to COVID-19, which could mean that budgets within their business are not as fluid as they once were.
“Even clients that are going well from a sales point of view during this period are faced with challenges.
“It is, however, a time where it is in everyone’s best interests to keep our economy functioning.”
At Carat, Cooper says the agency has spoken with its OOH media partners and discussed how volatile the coming months will be for the industry.
These discussions were in line with the messaging put out by the OMA that the industry will be doing it tough financially.
“In a refreshingly honest statement, the OMA have drawn a – albeit vague – line in the sand and admitted at least for the short term, that its member base will not be meeting their financial goals,” he says.
“This is definitely not a position they want to be in, particularly given the last decade has given the OOH industry significant growth – mainly driven by the introduction and development of digital billboards.
“The hope is that COVID-19 will begin to dissipate, and businesses and consumers in Australia can slowly start to return to normal.”
Cooper, like the OMA, has high hopes that the industry will bounce back quickly once the lockdowns are lifted.
Looking to China as the “litmus test” for recovery, he says things are looking promising.
For now though, he says it is time for the industry to maintain a healthy balance of optimism and realism.
“There is so much evidence surrounding how brands should react during economic downturns, and we are working through new opportunities each day for our clients,” he says.
“This is the time for smart and sensible activations.”
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