Tag Archives: Outdoor

The great outdoors

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October 26, 2011

This morning at the7stars HQ, we had a bit of a catch up on the outdoor market. Want to know what’s going on?

Well, first of all, we’re buying loads of it. As an agency, the7stars’ outdoor spend was up +233% YoY compared to Q3 last year. We are buying a hell of a lot – and making it work hard for our clients. Recently you may have seen our big impactful Converse sites, Discovery’s ‘Alone in the Wild’ as far as the eye can see, many new album launches…and also keep an eye out for our special builds for Phones4U and our Cocosa Bond Street digiwall in the near future.

Looking at the market more holistically, on a macro level, investment in digital outdoor has increased by 12% in Q3 of this year. This mirrors a trend that has run across the whole year, with spend on traditional sites down somewhat, but spend on digital sites increasing. Overall, avails for Q4 are looking very tight as clients from every industry sector gear up for the busy Christmas period. Other things to keep an eye out for include a roll out of new formats; including digital 6 sheets at bus stops, jazzy new ‘social’ digital screens in bars and nightclubs, and some upgraded large formats, such as those in Euston Station and in Manchester.

So looking forward to 2012, what’s coming up? With a year jam-packed with big events, there’s a lot going on. Many of the Olympics outdoor sites have already been booked up by the official sponsors, with taxis in particular being in extremely high demand.  In addition to this, we have a shortlist of a few trends to look out for, namely…

  • Increased augmented reality interactivity with sites,
  • Social media integration,
  • Interactive gaming,
  • Mobile connectivity,
  • More live dynamic content.

The future’s looking bright – has there ever been a better excuse to get out?

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Relight My Fire

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June 23, 2011

So, our bids for tickets turned to dust. Our chances of seeing the games in our own city are marginally below the odds Will Hill is giving on Ryan Giggs’ knighthood. Surely, at least, we can buy some advertising around this once in a lifetime opportunity?

Well, yes…or no…or perhaps…

The good news for advertisers around the Olympics is not just the expansion of London and UK audiences, but also the new inventory coming into the market, much of which will have real legacy value. This new inventory ranges from Westfield Stratford through to some unique spaces that have never previously carried ads, such as boats on the Thames through to wrapping the exterior of the tower at Canary Wharf.

When it comes to the Olympics, only one media channel will truly dominate – and it’s outdoor. While all of the London media will benefit to some extent, outdoor can get closer, and on a larger and more impactful scale than any other channel. Virtually every spectator will travel to the games via public transport – which makes them even easier to target, without needing to analyse complex journeys and arrival points. And, to be fair, the poster industry has responded by investing in new inventory, especially digital formats, to enable smart and tactical messaging.

But it’s the Olympics and advertisers, like the public, need to get their heads around a complex bidding system to win the best space. The process for poster space began in April, and of course event sponsors are first in the queue.

LOCOG is giving priority to the Olympic sponsors, starting with the top 18 brands. There are seven domestic Tier One partners – Adidas, BMW , BP, British Airways, BT, EDF and Lloyds TSB. Each of them has paid between £40million and £80 million for the right to be an Olympic sponsor. There are also 11 worldwide partners including Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Procter & Gamble, Visa and. The second tier of lower-ranking sponsors will join the process at a later date.

The very best London outdoor sites, termed “vicinity” and “spectacular”, will be sold to the highest bidder. Examples include a brand domination of St Pancras Station (a key rail link to the Olympic Park), a series of posters along the A4 Cromwell Road, and some big digital towers next to the elevated M4 motorway from Heathrow.

One of the challenges for those advertisers who couldn’t afford the price tag to be an event sponsor is the 300 metre exclusion zone. This means that any site within 300 metres of the location of any Olympic event cannot be sold to any advertiser that is not an official sponsor during the 12 week Olympic period. The rule is in place to prevent ambush marketing campaigns, but our view is that it will have a fundamental effect on the outdoor market, not least because events in The Mall, Earls Court and Hyde Park mean that the 300M zone extends to a number of central London tube stations and main line termini.

Our advice? Plan it early – the Olympics will fundamentally change the landscape of the UK media market – particularly in London, and particularly in Outdoor. But buy smart. As with any market, new inventory and new short term regulation creates as many troughs as peaks. It’s possible to win this race without coming first.
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