Out-of-Home Media from Legacy to Innovation: Influencing Economic Growth
Blink and you won’t miss it. That bright light on the horizon, the structure towering over the flyover, all part of the landscape.
LED, transit, banners—advertising you see while standing inside a bus or counting the minutes stuck along EDSA and C5 are out of home (OOH). Once known only for its billboards and static signages, technology today plays a massive role in the unfurling— pun intended—of 21st century OOH advertising.
Spectacular billboards, static and moving LED, 3D LED, transit advertising on land, sea, and air, ambient ads like street furniture, waiting sheds, on-ground advertising displays are under the roster of OOH services. To adapt to the dynamic mediascape, OOH is equipped with adtech, these are programmatic and digital automation that allows audience measurement capabilities.
Leading the top out of home agencies in the country, the Out of Homea Advertising Association of the Philippines (OHAAP) is growing strength on strength. On its 56th year as a trade industry organisation, the 2024 Officers and Board of Directors were inducted in ceremonies held at Marriott Grand Ballroom on 20th of February. Nearly 6 decades of OHAAP guiding an industry and fostering strength and unity is testament to solid management and succession, forward thinking, and wide reaching governance. The OHAAP roster, after all, proudly includes member media owners and agencies from across the Philippines.
Present as both Inducting Officer and Keynote Speaker, Philippine Senator, the Honorable Imee Marcos lauded OHAAP for its support of government and communities, and its pioneering efforts in public safety and awareness. Says Senator Marcos, “We know that you have collaborated with many government agencies in the past and continue to do so in in the present providing advice to even LGUs and the traffic regulators and current laws as well as its resources for the distribution of important public information.”
Fresh into his first official day as Chair of the OHAAP, Daryl Abueva acknowledged the Keynote Speaker’s commendation on the association as a trustworthy advertising medium, saying, “For OOH to be recognized as a trustworthy media is a huge honor. OHAAP leadership has been working on values and responsible nationbuilding for the past 20 years.”
While its 2023 calendar proved jampacked, OHAAP’s 2024 is mightier and meatier, thanks to strategic activations from OHAAP PRO Alpha Allanigui. One is the official opening for OOH industry stakeholder scholarship grant which is a program introduced by OHAAP Vice-president Jun Neri. The program aims to produce the next generation of outdoor media creatives and innovators. Allanigui’s dates for Outreach awareness and CSR events advocating use of modern and safe technology were also rolled out, so too were monthly general membership meetings focused on a mine of current topics that define and shape the industry.
Adds OHAAP President Henry Peñalosa, “The great thing about outdoor advertising is that it meets people where they are, in their everyday lives, and in every circumstances.” He also rallied the association saying, “Despite the inevitability of obstacles and contradictions, I urge my OHAAP family to stand firm and united, and to be strong to face these challenges for the good of our association. OHAAP is here to stay forever!
There are numbers that support leadership claims. Data from Kantar Media shows that when it comes to advertising in the Philippines, consumers rate POS and OOH top under Better quality. Same data shows digital OOH rate high under Innovation along with Online/Mobile games.
Chairman Daryl Abueva said, “The out of home industry was robust for business last year and we forecast its continuous growth. From a business perspective, we urge our clients to stick by your OOH media plans, and keep your OOH sites. OHAAP is here to help you build your business.”
Technology is part and parcel of any industry. For OOH, tech coming in is not just to grow the business, it carries the means and measures to keep OOH safe for the public. Adds Abueva, “Our industry is growing. That carries opportunities and responsibility. We grow the business, and focus safety. That is our duty to the Filipino people who are the consumers. That is our duty to nation-building.”