Word on the street – advertising on buses and cabs going nowhere

All sectors posted better results except for transit – advertising on the sides and back of buses and taxis – which fell by 3.3 per cent.

Street furniture attracted the highest revenue of $149.9 million – a 14.9 per cent rise on last year. It now commands 39.5 per cent of the market compared to 32.9 per cent for large format ($124.1 million), 20.4 per cent for transit ($77.3 million, a fall of 3.3 per cent) and 7.2 per cent for posters ($27.4 million).

Increased occupation of outdoor advertising sites fuelled the rise, which is good news for the printing industry – outdoor advertising is still overwhelmingly print-based. Despite opposition to the proliferation of large billboards, the over all number of sites increased.

According to Helen Willoughby, ceo, Outdoor Media Association, (pictured) the success of the street furniture category was due partly to the growth within the retail environment, but also to the increasing breadth of advertisers using the media.

“These figures show the outdoor industry as a whole held up extremely well against a softening advertising marketing in 2006. Among the higher users of outdoor were fast moving consumer goods, the entertainment industry, automotive, telecommunications and the finance industry.

“Outdoor media’s success is its combination of traditional media and it been least affected by media fragmentation,” Willoughby said. “It can still provide a proper broadcast medium for advertisers.”

Willoughby expects street furniture and all other sectors of the outdoor media industry to grow this year. “Based on the 2006 results we’re expecting another strong year across all sectors in 2007,” she said.