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Accelerate industry transformation: Jean Charles Decaux

While the industry’s share of ad spends at 6.7% has not declined, as has been the case with print and television, there is scope for increasing the share to 10%

Published

May 3, 2019

Rajiv Raghunath

Addressing the 60th FEPE International Congress being organised in Dubai on the theme ‘The clock is ticking’, Jean Charles Decaux, Chairman of the Executive Board an Co-CEO, JC Decaux, said the global OOH industry is reaching a tipping point, and that calls for concerted efforts to accelerate the transformation of the OOH business. Referring to OOH’s 6.7% share of global ad spends, Jean Charles Decaux said the industry has been stuck at the level for nearly a decade. While the industry’s share of ad spends has not declined, as has been the case with print and television, there is scope for increasing the share to 10%.

Looking into the future, he said by 2040 Internet and TV would have converged to become the number 1 media, while OOH would likely occupy the second position on that list. To achieve a higher share of spends, he urged the industry to adopt the following 10 steps:

• Face relevant competition
• Disrupt OOH market
• Invest in research
• Educate the advertising ecosystem
• Enhance the value of the media – and not just focus on pricing
• Stimulate creativity
• Self-regulate OOH assets
• Beautify the territories where OOH operates
• Connect the campaigns – using mobile, digital and social media
• Get involved with community development.

An instant audience poll was conducted during the sessions on these 10 suggested steps, and ‘Connecting the campaigns’ came out a clear winner.