Outdoor Advertising: A New Look.

You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

Outdoor advertising has been around as long as advertising itself, but the old medium is showing new life.

In fact, as digital, video and wireless technologies redefine the sector over the next few years, out-of-home will rank second only to Internet advertising in ad spending growth.

eMarketer projects that US outdoor advertising revenues will rise from $6.8 billion in 2006 to $10.2 billion in 2011.

“Outdoor advertising is bucking the trend,” says Ben Macklin, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, Outdoor Advertising: A New Look. “While other traditional advertising sectors are struggling to adapt to increasingly fragmented audiences and changing media consumption patterns, the out-of-home advertising sector is actually reaping the benefits of the evolving media landscape.”

Unlike TV or radio, out-of-home advertising is immune to channel or Web surfing and digital and video technologies are making the medium more compelling and effective.

As an example of the opportunities that new technologies are opening up, out-of-home video advertising networks will comprise the largest component of what is described as the “alternative” out-of-home advertising sector.

“Out-of-home video, also known as narrowcasting, is video content and advertising distributed to captive audiences in such places as retail outlets, transit vehicles, office buildings, shopping malls, theaters, bars and restaurants, gas stations, hotels and gyms,” says Mr. Macklin.

eMarketer forecasts that out-of-home video advertising spending in the US will total $2.25 billion in 2011, up from $1.26 billion in 2007.

The falling costs of flat panel LCDs, combined with the emergence of IP and wireless Internet technology are driving the out-of-home video advertising market.

“Another significant driver of the out-of-home advertising sector is that US consumers are spending more time outside their homes, shopping, dining, walking, traveling and waiting,” says Mr. Macklin.

According to Veronis Suhler Stevenson, US consumers spend twice as much time away from home than they did 30 years ago and the average daily commute has doubled to about an hour.

“New delivery and measurement tools are also giving advertisers the confidence to embrace the emerging new creative possibilities that out-of-home offers,” says Mr. Macklin.

Courtesy of http://www.emarketer.com