2012 – The year in outdoor
In this roundup from the Encore and Mumbrella Annual, we look back at the year in outdoor.
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In January The Standard Media Index reports a 5.4 per cent increase in outdoor advertising spend for 2011.
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In February, milk brand Big M builds a giant pair of fully functional headphones out of 40,000 empty milk cartons for the St Kilda Festival in Melbourne.
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Pierce Cody, founder of billboard offering Cody Outdoor, resigns from the board of umbrella company APN News & Media due to concerns over its governance. The same day APN announces it will sell half of its out of home division, APN Outdoor, to Quadrant Private Equity in a deal that sees it bank $190m.
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In March the Advertising Standards Bureau bans a graphic billboard petitioning against animal testing. The ad shows a deformed woman with mascara being forcibly applied to her face by a dog paw and is ruled ‘unnecessarily violent’.
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Ten announces it is looking to cast off outdoor arm Eye Corp after a strategic review of the business. This follows news of the exit of Eye’s CEO of Australia and NZ Mike Tyquin.
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Figures released in April show the outdoor ad industry has grown four per cent in the first quarter of 2012. Revenue from sales is up from $112m to $117m.
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Across the ditch, Adshel NZ claims an industry first and brews beer inside a billboard as part of the ‘Wellington in a pint’ initiative, which asks the public to describe what they think Wellington would be like if it was a beer.
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In May, APN Outdoor retains the advertising contract for Adelaide’s buses and trams, and wins the train business. Worth an estimated $7m to $12m over five years, the contract is a significant win for the media company.
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June signals the start of awards season and this year 15 Australian agencies are shortlisted in the outdoor category at Cannes, including Ogilvy for Share a Coke and Clemenger BBDO Sydney for Virgin Australia. Seven agencies secure trophies, bringing home two gold, one silver and four bronze.
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APN Outdoor continues its winning streak and successfully retains Australia’s biggest out of home contract for Sydney buses, worth $100m over five years.
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July sees the launch of a Minority Report-style outdoor campaign for Qantas, as part of its ‘You’re the reason we fly’ re-brand. Via a smartphone app, a digital billboard at Sydney’s Town Hall senses when a consumer is nearby and projects their image on to the screen.
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Ten Announces the sale of Eye Corp to oOH! Media for $145m after months of speculation. Ten’s CEO James Warburton says: “Successful completion of the transaction will be good news for Ten.”
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Early October sees Ten’s Eye Corp sale fall over after prospective buyer Outdoor Media Operations – umbrella company for oOH! Media – terminates the contract. Three weeks later, Ten announces the Eye Corp sale is back on with OMO placing a bid for $110m, $35m less than its original offer.
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Embattled Ten Holdings agrees to sell Eye Corp for the reduced price of $113m. The deal includes $98m in cash with a further $15m to follow. The Eye name will disappear from the media landscape, with all assets to be branded as oOh!.
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- This list first appeared in the Encore and Mumbrella Annual available in the App store and Google Play.
So you get yet another opportunity to run that offensive “Stop animal testing” image despite myself – and no doubt many others – requesting that you no longer show it. Why? Are you trying to make a statement? Do you support the sentiments in the ad? Whatever the reason, just stop it. NOW!
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