ANTOINETTE O’CALLAGHAN

Marketing Manager, Exterion Media

WITH the out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry enjoying a renaissance at the moment, and spend on the island of Ireland likely to break €90m this year, Antoinette O’Callaghan, marketing manager with Exterion Media tells

John McGee about the challenges and opportunities that the OOH sector faces.

Describe your role with Exterion

Exterion is a leading OOH advertising company and we market and manage the advertising infrastructure for Dublin Bus, Irish Rail and Bus Éireann and lead the way in Ireland in digital OOH advertising.

Our retail portfolio, meanwhile, includes Dunnes Stores, Tesco, SuperValu and leading shopping centres across Ireland.

I head up the marketing function and I am responsible for leading the overall marketing strategy for the company, ensuring the effective implementation of initiatives that create interest, demand and recognition for our commercial proposition. This includes corporate branding, PR, advertising, presentations, social media and our website.

Research and insights play a significant role in our strategy and I manage all aspects of this function which include OOH industry trading research JNOR, our insights panel workshopplay.ie and bespoke studies on audience behaviour and format efficacy.

What are the points of differentiation between what Exterion offers and its competitors?

Finding a captive audience for advertising messages has become difficult as media consumption habits continue to change and so the tussle for the attention of the consumer has become fierce. Out-of-Home is different from other media in so far as we don’t specifically create content, so it’s all about the advertiser.

Our brand positioning is ‘engaging audiences’ and so our approach to attracting sales and driving revenues is centred on delivering audiences and thus delivering the media brief. The value in our advertising formats is the audiences that they deliver.

What challenges does the industry face?

We have invested heavily in digital OOH networks in Ireland and we have changed the way the medium is sold. We can deliver flexible broadcasting through daypart, time of week and location targeting. Advertisers can broadcast dynamic and contextualised content in malls such as Dundrum Town Centre and rail stations. Content can be targeted by weather, events, time or location.

What are the opportunities for OOH?

The ability of OOH to effectively deliver advertising messages is well-documented and proven. The opportunity now exists to fully embrace the digital world and maximise the connection between the online and offline world. Technologies and mobiles allow us to enhance both messaging and targeting. Collaborations with other media and increased use of data mean that we can develop more distinct communications that deliver cutthrough and gain traction with consumers.