The future is flexible as advertising goes digital

The number of digital advertising screens in the out-of-home sector is forecast to increase 50 per cent this year, but the regeneration of Ireland’s billboard sites – backed by local authorities – is expected to take some years to complete.

Core Media, the largest media-buying agency in Ireland, predicts that the number of digital screens in the Republic will grow from 930 to 1,400 by the end of 2013 – but this equates to less than 12 per cent of the total number of poster sites.

“It still costs a huge amount to put up a digital screen, and obviously there is less incentive to invest money on that technology when the market is so slack,” says Core’s chief executive Alan Cox.

Inherent flexibility

Core estimates that the out-of-home market shrank more than 6 per cent last year to €54 million and will fall a further 2 per cent to €53 million in 2013.

But Cox believes the full digitisation of poster sites will rejuvenate the sector, as well as make “for a much more dynamic city environment”.

Digital out-of-home advertising screens boast an inherent flexibility, in that the messages displayed can fluctuate depending on the time of day or week.

The Licensed Vintners Association’s “Dublin Does Fridays” campaign took advantage of such “day-part” techniques last year, deploying messages on digital screens on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, when consumers are most receptive to the suggestion they should make weekend social plans.

The advent of near field communications (NFC) also points to a future explosion in out-of-home interactive advertising.

But the industry has warned that the lack of a broad-based digital out-of-home infrastructure is likely to limit innovation.

Digital accounted for 4 per cent of the entire out-of-home sector in 2012, with much of the activity taking place in retail spaces and transport hubs, according to out-of-home specialists PML Group.

The location of CBS Outdoor’s “dPods” near multiplex cinemas in Dundrum Town Centre and the Pavilions Shopping Centre in Swords meant movie studios were the biggest users of digital out-of-home formats last year. Warner Bros, the top spender, splashed out on the The Dark Knight Rises, while Sony Pictures came in fourth with its outlay on Spider-Man and Men in Black 3.

PML describes the sector as “still in its infancy”, but points to planned new locations for both the Transvision network of digital screens in bus and rail stations and retail dPods.

“There is an appetite to create real engagement with the audience via digital out-of-home,” says Pat Cassidy, who is responsible for digital planning and buying at the group.

Meanwhile, Dublin City Council is backing a cull of older, less desirable large-format poster sites. In January, the council amended its development plan to allow “for the possibility of innovative design and creative thought”.

‘Visual clutter’

In practice, this means promoting “the phased removal of existing 96-sheet and 48-sheet advertising panels”. No new applications for these billboards will be permitted, with smaller advertising structures preferred.

In a bid to contain “visual clutter”, any upgrades to existing outdoor advertising sites will only be allowed if an agreement is made to decommission at least one other display panel.

“The one thing the planners don’t want to see is more panels,” says Cox. “I would be very surprised if they were resistant to the idea of digital panels because they can also serve as public information panels. Any public authority could make a fantastic use of digital.”