EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO OUTDOOR EMERGES

The pushback against the digital out of home (DOOH) assets in Sydney comes as city residents around the world are beginning to challenge the preponderance of outdoor advertising in their living and working environments, threatening the multi-billion dollar industry.

In Australia alone the outdoor sector is now worth approaching $1bn, with some $375m of that spent on print. Not all is on the streets, but much is. Residents and commuters are now speaking out against the intrusion of corporate sales message onto their cities.

Until now outdoor advertising has had a free run, with city authorities largely only concerned with safety issues before giving the nod to asset deployment, enjoying the big fees the ads generate for city coffers. The rapid growth of digital outdoor media, which has grown from virtually nothing to approaching two thirds of all outdoor ads in the past five years, has proved the catalyst for people pushback.

Brazil’s largest city Sao Paolo has already banned all billboards, taking some 15,000 out of action, while in the UK activist group Adfree Cities is piling on pressure on city authorities to take ads off the street. Some activist groups are taking matters further, and vandalising or covering up outdoor media.

Some cities have already banned certain types of ads, Sydney itself will not accept fossil fuel ads, while others ban ads from fast food companies, gambling operations, payday loans or alcohol brands.

Major urban centres in Europe including Amsterdam, Bristol, and Grenoble are among those that have already instituted partial or full bans on outdoor advertising. The ban in the French city of Grenoble came when the advertisers proposed switching the print media to digital.