Credit: Bob van Aubel via Unsplash
oOh!media, which last year dragged behind industry growth for outdoor media, has made an “impressive” recovery to grab a bigger share of the market, according to market analysts.
Much of this was down to a revitalised sales approach following feedback from clients.
“We are investing in being able to improve our speed to market now, flexibility in what is a competitive marketplace,” CEO Cathy O’Connor told analysts in a briefing.
“A lot of our feedback we had from customers is that at times we can be slow to move to get to pricing outcomes, notwithstanding the strength of our networks and our sales team.
“We're doing more to put tools into the hands of our frontline sales force, to give them more autonomy.
“And that's having a good effect into Q3 (March quarter) and beyond, and we are getting great feedback that the tools are being effective.”
Last week oOh!media adjusted its sales leadership and confirmed Mark Fairhurst as chief revenue officer
“Mark has made a significant contribution since joining our business in an acting capacity, as evidenced by our strong Q1 revenue performance which is showing double-digit growth,” said O'Connor.
Fairhurst -- with key leadership at JCDecaux, Eyecorp, APN Outdoor, Fairfax Media, SBS and QMS -- stepped in when Paul Sigaloff departed late last year
Andrew Every, who joined oOh! 12 months ago from the NRL, has also taken on the new expanded executive role as chief strategy and retail media officer.
oOh!, the Australian leader in the growing OOH sector, posted flat revenue for the year to December, up just 0.3% to $635.63 million. Profit was 5.7% higher at $36.577 million, with a tight grip on costs.
However, the company told the ASX last month that revenue growth in the March quarter media revenue was pacing 14% ahead on the same three months last year.
“Impressive market share turnaround,” analysts at investment bank UBS said in a note to clients.
The very strong trading update was unexpected.
“The market share gains appear broad based, including the highest margin roads division,” the analysts said.
“The company outlined the drivers of share gains include a stronger sales team post key hires, a more streamlined bid/quote system and greater autonomy to its front line sales teams.”
UBS is now assuming calendar year growth of 9%, up from previous estimates of 5%.
Ahead for oOh! is the federal election, an event normally not a boost for outdoor media
“We note that a federal election looms in April or May and these are not the most positive events for OOH given restrictions on political advertising on sites owned by statutory bodies and the propensity of some brands to hold back on ad spend during a campaign,” said analysts at investment bank Cannacord.
Cannacord said the beat will be closely watched.
Brian Han at Morningstar said the strong start to 2025 revenue was already factored in his forecast.
However, benefits are emerging from an "energised go-to-market" strategy, a euphemism for salesforce being more responsive to customers and having the tools to do so
“Critically, the foundation is set to maximise leverage from the revenue momentum,” he said.
Ahead this year, the company has additional momentum with the addition of Sydney Metro, Waverly and Northern beaches.
And retail media is delivering via the company’s reo unit, with partnerships signed with Petbarn, Officeworks and Australia Post.
The ambition is to be the leading independent retail media business in Australia and New Zealand.
oOh! strategy slides from its analyst presentation:
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