Ooh!Media has dismissed claims that its merger with APN Outdoor will saturate the regional market.
The comments follow an AdNews article that highlighted a divide of opinion surrounding the deal. Goa CEO Chris Tyquin previously argued the merger would give the combined company “65-75% of the inventory in Queensland”.
However a spokesperson for Ooh!Media says the claim by Goa that the merger would completely saturate the regional market "is incorrect”.
“In regional Queensland the merger would only change regional Queensland representation by 27 signs – those held by APN Outdoor," an Ooh! spokesperson says.
Ooh! says that out-of-home (OOH) “is typically only a modest share of an advertiser’s overall ad budget” and that it must be recognised that OOH counts for only 5.3% of total Australian advertising revenues, which is estimated to be $12.8 billion in 2015. It says that within that segment there’s currently a number of key players vying for advertising dollars including JCDecaux, Adshel, QMS, VMO and Brandspace.
Ooh! added that the merged entity will represent less than 3% of the advertising services market.
“While there are over 30 competitors in the OOH category, with Adshel and JCDecaux each having more roadside panels than the merged entity combined, we are battling some extremely well-resourced global competitors – Facebook and Google to name two,” the Ooh! spokesperson said.
Ooh! went onto say that a large part of future growth in the sector is expected to be in the digital online area and due to the ability to target OOH advertising to people’s personal devices based on their geographic location, it’s clear that smartphones and tablets will be a continued digital battleground for OOH spend.
The ACCC's decision is due on 4 May.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.