What’s powering the growth of a legacy medium in the digital era?

At a time when digital transformation and AI are reshaping the advertising landscape and advertisers are increasingly working within a data-led performance marketing eco system, the Out of Home sector is the only legacy medium still growing. In contrast, other legacy media have been badly impacted by the advance of digital online advertising.

OOH has successfully reinvented itself by adapting and investing in the new landscape. But unlike other media you can’t turn it off, change channel, turn the page or re-click. You can’t avoid it, it’s always there but it doesn’t clutter up your life.

Why OOH bucks the legacy media trend

OOH has bucked the media trend. In the last decade, global digital media have grown by a factor of three while legacy media such as TV and press have shrunk by nearly half. And yet within this decline, advertisers’ expenditure on OOH has doubled. The medium has just had its best year to date and is expected to grow to about $50 billion in 2025, an increase of eight per cent.

This performance has been driven by a range of factors: the growth of DOOH screens, which now account for 40 per cent of OOH revenues, better and more effective audience measurement, consolidation of media ownership, outstanding creative innovation and increased AdTech investment boosting the market.

And we believe this performance is set to continue. DOOH has been one of the main drivers of growth and yet it only utilises ten per cent of locations, which means that there are many more locations available eligible for digital conversion, and this will accelerate growth even further.

Accountability with measurement

Greater and more sophisticated audience measurement and automated trading systems will also enhance the medium’s attractiveness to advertisers. They provide improved accountability, a common trading language and a favourable comparison with other media. Furthermore, and most importantly, they build advertiser trust.

The pace of media consolidation, which always boosts investment in the medium and overall efficiency, is also accelerating fast. In the last year there have been major acquisitions in Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala and Europe.

The benefit of collaborations

There has also been a growth in national OOH associations across the world, enabling media owners to collaborate at a higher level. We have found that sector growth from working together at industry level leads to five times more individual bottom line benefit than standard inter-company competition.

OOH is displaying outstanding creativity, from the anamorphic ads seen in major capital cities such as Tokyo and New York, to high impact large format digital screens that provide what we call ROW-Return on Wow. Recent neuroscience-based research suggests that messages viewed on large OOH screens are remembered far longer than those seen online or on TV.

Leveraging the amplification effect

And great creativity on OOH naturally spreads to social media and TV without additional media cost. So more advertisers are planning OOH campaigns with these amplification effects in mind. Given that OOH remains the most cost-effective medium with its CPM ranging from $2 to $16, about a quarter of TV’s CPM, this reinforces OOH’s value for money. We are also finding that brands are increasingly recognising OOH’s strengths and realising the need to shift part of their online activation budgets back into this trusted channel.

Rooted in authenticity 

With the proliferation of fake news on social media and AI-generated manipulated content, audiences increasingly wonder what is real and what is fake.

In contrast, OOH, rooted in physical public spaces, holds the highest levels of trust and authenticity among all media, ahead of TV, social media and influencers, according to one study. And beyond simply delivering advertising, we are enhancing public life through our infrastructure in the cities across the world.

An inherent part of public space

Despite one or two recent efforts to restrict urban OOH, the medium will remain popular within most cities since more than 55 per cent of OOH revenues are transmitted to local municipalities, providing free civic amenity benefits such as high-speed wi-fi, eco initiatives and public transportation schemes. With increased pedestrianisation in many countries OOH is also playing a role in reimagining major shopping streets.

Towards a greener future

The medium is also leading the way in sustainability. It has already been shown that OOH emits less carbon than other media and the sector is filled with sustainability initiatives, from the use of LED lighting and solar power to living walls that purify the air around them, PVC-free banners and the widespread use of recycled materials.

In fact, The World Out of Home Organization is linking up with Ad Net Zero — the global advertising industry initiative to drive growth that’s better for the planet — to refine the Global Media Sustainability Framework (GMSF) so that it better reflects the specific characteristics of Out-of-Home media.

In our view, when you put all these factors together you have a legacy medium that blends the strengths of both new and traditional media, and this is fuelling its remarkable growth.

To sum up, OOH is thriving, despite the challenges of economic headwinds and global uncertainty. OOH is the original mass medium, now supercharged by digital technology, which now stands at the centre of modern communication.