Outdoor Media Centre by made agency

CREATIVITY WITH RESPONSIBILITY Introducing Outdoor Advertising

“This brochure tells the inside story of the outdoor industry”

Outside In Twitter, Facebook, IPads, Smartphones, more TV channels than you can shake a stick at, and the daily newspapers only available on line. Well, almost. In the whirlwind of the media revolution, outdoor advertising is - in some respects - an oasis of calm. Outdoor is the oldest medium in the world by far: you can still see the Romans’ posters in Pompeii. Not surprising, given that it is universally accessible, cheap to produce and very powerful. It is a medium that has diversified to take advantage of the fast-changing urban environment: traditional roadside posters and street furniture are complemented by transit sites like bus and taxi sides and now - alternative forms like petrol pumps, building wraps, and elevator risers. People love outdoor advertising because of the way it entertains and amuses, because it brings a smile to the dreariest of tube journeys between Cockfosters and Piccadilly. And as people love it, so do advertisers. It is the fastest growing traditional advertising medium. With annual revenues nearing £1billion, it’s not so small, either.

Mike Baker, CEO, Outdoor Media Centre

If it is the past and the present, it’s also the future. It has benefitted from the digital age. For instance, copy changes that once took weeks are now accomplished in seconds, and that makes it as much a real time medium as TV. Digital sales are soaring. Up eleven-fold in nine years. This brochure has been produced by the industry’s trade body, the Outdoor Media Centre. It shines a light on a business whose deliverables are very visible, but whose inner workings are much less well known For example its size, its diversity, its creativity, its charitable activities, and its corporate and social responsibility. we take our responsibilities seriously. Major social issues like protecting the innocence of children and encouraging responsible drinking are ones in which the advertising industry can and does play an active part.

Responsibility also extends to the way in which billboards and posters are placed within the environment. We work closely with local and national Government to ensure our members follow both the spirit and the letter of this legislation. Opportunistic advertising like fly posting is illegal and unsightly. Our system of selfregulation is a successful deterrent to such practices. These times are challenging for the media in all sorts of ways. Our industry is constantly reinventing itself to meet those challenges.

Much more, then, than just a pretty picture: > provides employment for 10,000 people > contributes £30 million in business rates > pays £30 million in corporation tax > provides and maintains 50,000 public bus shelters

> generates £250 million for landlords > r uns supply contracts for more than 500 local authorities > subsidises public services and mass transportation > donates in excess of £10 million of pro bono advertising annually to charities and good causes

“Much more than just a pretty picture”

Outdoor advertising More than meets the eye It’s the poster that catches the eye, but as in all productions - it is surprising just how much goes on behind the scenes. Advertising is of course about generating sales for the companies that advertise. Yet it is also big business in its own right. Worldwide it is a multi-billion dollar industry, and outdoor in the UK generates more than £1billion in media advertising sales. This doesn’t just mean prosperous advertising executives stepping out of the box set of Mad Men. It means money pouring back into the public and private purses.

The industry pays around £30 million in business rates and £30 million in corporation tax. Rental costs on advertising sites put another £250 million in landlords’ pockets and provide jobs for around 3,500. Even more in ancillary employment including print production. 10,000 in all. Advertising monies also fund street furniture like bus shelters and public lavatories, and subsidise public transport by way of advertising in trains, railway stations and on bus sides. Finally, as part of the industry’s corporate social responsibility policy, the UK industry donates in excess of £10 million of advertising space to good causes.

“Freedom of expression is a privilege, and it is one which should not be abused”

Liberty means Responsibility Freedom of expression is a privilege, and it is one which should not be abused. At the OMC, we have had a charter in place since 2007. It sets standards for our members and those who flout the Charter are expelled. Legal compliance goes without saying. Billboards of any nature can’t be put up without planning permission and of course our members work with local government officials when seeking to set up new sites. Fly-posting is illegal, unsightly, and we work with local councils to eliminate the practice. Labour used for erecting sites and for changing copy has to be accredited with the OMC Safety Training Scheme and the industry takes the health & safety agenda seriously. Roadside structures pose potential dangers both for contractors working on the sites and road users. The industry approach mitigates these hazards.

Once they are up billboards have to be kept in a good state of repair. Damaged or defaced ‘copy’ has to be replaced as soon as practicable. The advertisements themselves – like any others in the UK – follow the codes of the Committee of Advertising Practice. Some advertisers ignore these rules. Persistent offenders can be prevented from using the medium for up to two years. We also have a complaints procedure for the benefit both of advertisers and the public. If an offense is upheld, our members have five working days to rectify the situation.

Vigilant, complaints dropped 44% in 2011

Vehemently opposed to illegal advertising

Compliant with legislation

Effective Self-Regulation Self-regulated: Mandatory charter of best practice

OUTDOOR MEDIA CENTRE CHARTER STANDARD OF BEST PRACTICE

Environmentally friendly

2012 Insistent on health & safety measures

Early signatories of the Alcohol Responsibility Deal â&#x20AC;&#x201C; no alcohol ads near schools

www.outdoormediacentre.org.uk

“Outdoor has enjoyed having the eyes of the world to play to. Anyone lucky enough to attend any of the events will have been roused by a well-crafted outdoor execution en route” Arif Durrani, Brand Republic

Olympic Winners The Olympics were a brilliant showcase for Britain, for Britain’s athletes, and for Britain’s Outdoor ad industry. With an audience of around 5 million over the 12 weeks of the Olympics and Paralympics, a host of national and international advertisers did everything it takes to ensure their brand was part of the summer’s great success story. Media spend was up 25% year-onyear, and the creativity on display showed just how much can be done in the most powerful of the visual media.

“The OMC plays its part in ensuring that advertising in the public space does not cause offence through indecent or inappropriate imagery”

Stepping up to Bailey In 2011, Reg Bailey, Chief Executive of Mothers’ Union, undertook an independent review into the public’s concerns about commercialization and sexualisation of childhood. He identified sexual content in prewatershed TV programmes, sexually explicit music videos, and age verification on online sites as areas for concern. He also questioned whether the sexual content of some outdoor advertising might have overstepped the line.

In 2012 we commissioned independent consumer research into the matter so as to better advise our members. This was reassuring in so far as Outdoor advertising was bottom on the list of offensive stimuli the public is exposed to, the public was not unduly concerned about ads for swimwear, perfume, and lingerie etc. The area most likely to offend wasprecisely the area in which the OMC has acted: lap-dancing clubs and sex shops.

The advertising industry as a whole and the OMC in particular accepted the findings of the report. Our immediate response in October 2011 was to adopt a new policy statement on advertising likely to cause offence. This required our members to advise advertisers against running copy for sex shops or lap dancing clubs anywhere near schools. They were also to call on such advertisers to seek copy clearance from the relevant authority.

At a parliamentary debate on the issue of sexualised imagery in the media, hosted by the Outdoor Media Centre in late autumn 2012, Reg Bailey expressed his satisfaction with the way in which the industry had responded to his report. The OMC does not believe the issue has gone away, and is committed to working with the various interested parties to ensure that the responsible industry response to public concerns continues. Meanwhile complaints about outdoor campaigns have reduced by 44%.

Letting Children be Children Report of an Independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood by Reg Bailey

â&#x20AC;&#x153;When your child goes missing, you want the whole world to stop and join the search. Missing People, the Outdoor Media Centre and its members are providing an unprecedented opportunity to help safely reconnect missing childrenâ&#x20AC;? Kate McCann, ambassador for Missing People

“The cross-party parliamentary group for missing children and vulnerable adults is very encouraged by the partnership between the outdoor advertising sector and the charity missing people”

Lost and Found Every year around 250,000 people in the UK run away or go missing. Now a unique partnership between the charity Missing People and the digital outdoor industry gives the public the ability to help trace them. It started in 2012. The idea was simple. Posting pictures of missing people and giving the audience a way of responding would hugely increase the number of people being actively sought. The intent was to find people safe and sound. The strategy was to use high profile digital sites which attract a well-connected audience familiar with on-line response mechanisms.

Trialled over twelve weeks in major cities including London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow, the pilot had a rate-card media value of £240,000 a week, totalling £2.8 million over the 12 week period. The campaign saw a 137% increase in the charity’s call rate and – thankfully – nineteen people found.

“Advertising space worth approximately £1 million has been donated by thirteen outdoor media owners.

The Outdoor digital operators subsequently committed themselves to extend the campaign for a further nine months until the middle of 2013. This is a pro bono contribution of £10 million. Kate McCann, Ambassador for Missing People, declares, ‘When your child goes missing you want the whole world to stop and join the search. Missing People, the Outdoor Media Centre and its members are providing an unprecedented opportunity to help safely reconnect missing children.’

Kate said yesterday: ‘The billboard campaign will have a massive impact. It is something that has been needed for a long time.’”

More than ten million people are expected to see the posters in what is the biggest co-ordinated missing persons appeal ever launched in the UK.

The Sun - 25th July 2012

“It makes our job much easier when we can consult with one body that can represent a whole industry” Department for Communities and Local Government

Working with Whitehall Outdoor advertising is a fully regulated business in which the industry co-operates closely and productively with government.

The OMC also works regularly with various government departments to ensure a policy environment that is even-handed. For example:

The centrepiece of national legislation the Town & Country Act (Control of Advertisements) 1990. Outdoor advertising hoardings need planning consent in themselves and of course the consent of the owner of the land. The industry adheres to these requirements.

• we were an early signatory to the Alcohol responsibility deal in 2011. • we worked closely with the DCMS and LOCOG on the Olympic legislation. • we have been consulted by the DfE (the Bailey Report) on the sexualisation and commercialisation of childhood See pp 8-9) • we were consulted by the DCLG with regard to the Localism Bill

“Our joint forum with OMC has enabled sharing of knowledge and best practice, leading to a more constructive dialogue with advertising firms” BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL

Working with City Hall At a local level our members work on a day to day to day basis with the governmental bodies which interpret the planning legislation. These are individual metropolitan, borough and district councils, from John O’Groats to Land’s End. The exchange of advertising rights for public amenities like bus shelters and toilets means that this is a mutually beneficial relationship.

Outdoor media owners are now in the process of delivering contracts with local authorities to provide and maintain around 50,000 bus shelters - worth £250 million if paid for out of local authority budgets. Similarly, local transport services are also subsidized by advertising revenues.

Finally, the OMC has established good working relationships with Local Authority Groups in locations including Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Birmingham. We have acted there as an informed and influential consultant at no cost to the local authority.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The future belongs to those who understand that doing more with less is compassionate, prosperous, and enduring, and thus more intelligent, even competitiveâ&#x20AC;? Paul Hawken, environmentalist

Keeping the outdoors great > Use of solar powered bus shelters > Manufacturing bus frames from 90% recyclable material

> Use of LPG vehicles for operational staff

> Turning off poster illumination during the night to reduce energy consumption

> Only using printers who have

an environmental policy in line with ISO:14001

> Use of 100% recyclable

> Exchanging wet-posting glue for

> Recycling of fluorescent tubes

> Use of energy efficient light bulbs

posters and vinyl

> Making all panels compliant with

the European Directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment

dry-posting

for illuminated panels

> Only using FSC approved paper fibre sources

> The fitting of LED lighting solutions, photo electric cells and timers to help reduce the carbon footprint

â&#x20AC;&#x153;52% of people agree that Outdoor advertising adds colour and vibrancy to the cityâ&#x20AC;?

Bright Lights in Dark Places People love ads and of course Outdoor’s no exception. 52% of people agree that Outdoor advertising adds colour and vibrancy to cities. They might have added wit, charm, dash, excitement and cool. Even information. Looking around it’s not hard to see why. Sure, these ads are there to sell. But they only sell because they reward the audience with a great visual, a telling line of copy, or a brilliant combination of both. Without outdoor, the cityscape would be a darker, duller, drearier place. How about the brilliant Mo Farah ads for Virgin Mobile and Jessica Ennis as the Olympics poster girl for adidas? You can’t imagine great city centres like London, Mumbai, Tokyo, New York, Rio and Shanghai without the flash of neon or a giant-sized ad for Coke.

“Police and government agencies can target lost children or deliver emergency information at the drop of a hat using digital outdoor”

The Future’s Bright, the Future’s Digital With TV fragmenting, the web fragmenting TV, and younger upmarket audiences spending less and less time at home, it’s not surprising that consumers are getting harder and harder to reach. That has played into the hands of Outdoor, the medium that caters so well for a world on the move. Close to the retail point of sale, its audience is upscale, affluent and young. That’s why it’s the fastest-growing traditional advertising medium. Digital has been the catalyst.

In the past, Outdoor’s Achilles’ heel has been the long lead times demanded by the print and posting production cycle. All that has been swept away in the science-fiction world which allows digital real-time copy changes driven by anything from football results to temperature changes, face recognition or wifi. The commercial advantage is obvious. And it also means that bodies like the emergency services can post warnings at the flick of a switch, not the end of the month. Which is why digital’s growing spectacularly. It’s shot up eleven-fold fold in nine years, and in 2012 billed more than £180 million.

“The OMC provides Outdoor with a single, authoritative and representative voice”

The Outdoor Media Centre at Work The Outdoor Media Centre is the voice of Britain’s Outdoor Media owners. With members who together take 95% of outdoor billings, the Centre is well placed to make the industry’s case with its stakeholders. It provides Outdoor with a single, authoritative and representative voice. Its work principally focuses on two groups: firstly, national and local policy makers; and secondly, advertisers and their agencies interested in investing in the Outdoor medium.

With policy makers, the OMC represents the industry’s views on everything concerning the regulation of advertising, from planning and the environment to health & safety and ultimately advertising copy. This involves working with a number of government departments responsible for emerging legislation that could impact upon our members’ interests. With advertisers, the OMC provides a platform for developing best practice and promotes the medium as a great way of reaching consumers. Over the past eighteen months we have worked increasingly closely with both advertisers and government. This reflects our ability to provide prompt, informed and well-grounded help and advice.

(source YouGov survey of 1,692 GB adults, May 2011)

T +44 (0) 20 7224 3786 F +44 (0) 20 7486 2406 E enquiries@outdoormediacentre.org.uk Outdoor Media Centre 3rd Floor, 43-45 Dorset Street London W1U 7NA