WOO sets out the four main themes of its 2026 London Congress

The World Out of Home Organization’s 2026 Annual Congress in London is shaping up to be the most important gathering in WOO’s recent history — the first return to London since 1990 but also an opportunity to highlight the importance of creativity, sustainability and the AdNetZero carbon calculator, the increasing importance of data and measurement , as well as the global challenge of regulation creep. 

WOO has appointed from its Board of Directors, four leading industry figures, who have the experience and skillsets, to champion these key strategic pillars going forward. 

Tim Bleakley, Chairman of Ocean Outdoor will head up the Creativity workstream, Katrin Robertson, CEO at blowUP media leads on Sustainability, Charles Parry-Okenden of Australia’s OMA will focus on Data and Measurement whilst Kai-Marcus Thaesler of B|A|M the German OOH Association will lead WOO’s monitoring and action plan on Regulation. 

Key initiatives in these areas will be announced at the London Congress. 

Creativity: 

Creativity has always been core strength of OOH. WOO will be building and curating a global showcase of the world’s best OOH work, updated continuously and amplified across every WOO platform, working to elevate the WOO’s Global Creative Awards into the medium’s definitive international benchmark and demonstrating how better creative work translates into better business outcomes. 

Sustainability: 

This will see the continued development of WOO Sustainability Knowledge Hub, with carbon calculators, best-practice case studies drawn from markets around the world, procurement templates, an innovation directory and a community forum. 

London will also see the launch of the AdNetZero GSMF (D)OOH carbon calculator-developed in partnership with AdNetZero. 

Data and Measurement: 

WOO will be further enhancing and launching its latest Global OOH Expenditure Survey, a standardised model that merges aggregated data from over 80 territories worldwide. It will cover spend by country but also look in more detail than previously at Global Programmatic spend. Furthermore, the updated Audience Measurement Guidelines – version 2.0 will be launched covering best practice from 28 rather than the existing 11 territories. 

Regulation: 

WOO is developing a coordinated global policy response to growing regulatory pressure across the world, with an early-warning policy radar, tracking legislation before it escalates, working closely with the country OOH Associations to share experience and best practice across the world’s OOH community. 

WOO President Tom Goddard says: “We are delighted to be developing an active and lasting contribution to the growth and health of the OOH industry through these initiatives. I’d like to sincerely thank these four Board Members for so enthusiastically stepping up to the task, on a voluntary basis, on top of their day jobs. Our London Congress will mark an important step in this process as OOH successfully navigates its way through a rapidly changing media landscape. As such, I predict that London could well be WOO’s most important and far-reaching Congress to date.”