New numbers from the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) show that out-of-home advertising fell 18% in the first quarter of 2009, versus the same time last year.
All media sectors have seen declines, so it’s no big surprise that outdoor is seeing the same. This marks the third straight quarter of declines, after years of revenue growth.
Every top 10 outdoor ad category was down in the first quarter. Miscellaneous services & amusements – the biggest outdoor category – was down 13.4% to $226.9 million. The biggest category drop was in Insurance and Real estate, down 37% to $90.2 million.
There is a bright spots in this news. The industry is continuing to invest in new technologies like digital billboards, which shorten the turnaround time for launching a campaign. This could be a big selling point as when companies are ready to jump back into the ad arena. In fact, out-of-home industry people are already saying that second quarter expenditures should be up as marketers start looking toward an economic recovery and marketing budgets loosen up.
See all the numbers by category here.
Friday, Jun 12, 2009
Michelle OBrien