‘Out of home never looked so good’, says New Zealand’s outdoor body in rebrand campaign

The newly-rebranded Out of Home Media Association of Aotearoa (OOHMAA) has launched a campaign to celebrate the strength of out of home as a broadcast medium as New Zealand’s restrictions reduce following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Formerly the Outdoor Media Association of New Zealand, the new title, including recognition of the Māori name for New Zealand, is aimed at better reflecting the media – everything that you see from the time you step outside – and providing a better local connection.

The new brand identity was created by local brand strategy and identity design company Unsworth Shepherd. Creative director John Shepherd said that understanding and harnessing the effectiveness of out of home is about connecting directly with audiences through the medium.

“We enjoyed the challenge of balancing comms and craft to create a unique identity for OOHMAA on such a visible platform. It’s bold, engaging, and eye-catching, all the things that encompass what out of home advertising achieves for brands every single day,” said Shepherd.

“The campaign reflects upon some of those key day-to-day moments that Kiwis never thought they would miss following the country’s nationwide lockdown period, such as running errands, doing the school run or being stuck in traffic and we used this to connect audiences with the freedom of ‘out of home’.”

New Zealand’s out-of-home industry has seen a four-year compound annual growth of over 16% and increased its share of the country’s advertising spend from 5.34% to 6.29%. In 2019, revenue year-on-year increased by 22%.

OOHMAA general manager, Natasha O’Connor said that the continued growth of the industry and the shift towards the platform encompassing more than simply outdoor advertising necessitated the change.

“Out-of-home media reaches people on the street, in shopping malls, retail outlets, universities, airports, ferries, rail and bus terminals – the minute you step outside your door, regardless of where you go, you’ll be reached by an out-of-home message so the shift from ‘outdoor’ to ‘out of home’ encompasses this,” said O’Connor.

“It was only fitting that we launched our new brand identity with an out-of-home campaign and having support from both OOHMAA members and non-members continues our journey towards a united industry in Aotearoa,” continues O’Connor.

The campaign will be live for two weeks running nationwide across over 350 sites supported by OOHMAA members (JCDecaux, oOH!, QMS, Media5, Ad-Vantage, and Bekon), and non-members (GO Media, Shout Media, and Phantom).