In the next episode of the "New Face of OOH" series, experts from Media Life magazine predict significant growth in OOH advertising spending in the coming years.

It would seem that the OOH market in the United States, compared to other rapidly developing media, is characterized by rather modest, single-digit growth in turnover from year to year. A closer look at what's happening in outdoor advertising in the US, however, gives a somewhat different picture. Although the year-on-year growth in budgets spent on this form of advertising is modest, the cumulative effect of spending is impressive.

All indications are that this trend will continue and the growth in outdoor advertising spending will be very significant in the coming years. The question is - how quickly will this become a reality and who in the OOH industry will gain the most and who will be the loser?

As we know, rapid growth can significantly change the face of the market. They can be destructive for some, while for others they represent an opportunity to take a leadership position. Such changes reward innovators and punish those who were unable to sense the changing trend and did not adapt to the new, more competitive market.

Let's look at the numbers: in 2002, outdoor advertising (including cinema advertising) had a 3.7% share of advertising expenditure. This year, this share will increase to 5.2% (which is over 9 billion dollars spent on OOH according to ZenithOptimedia's forecast).
The change in share doesn't seem that impressive?
Note that this is a 74% increase in spending!

Just since 2010, outdoor advertising has grown by 18%, and a further 20% revenue growth is predicted for 2014-2018.
Of course, this growth is largely due to the changes that have taken place in the OOH industry - the influx of new technologies, capital and talent, as well as better research methods. Clients now have access to a much wider range of advertising products, more and more clients are using solutions offered by this medium, and they are increasingly satisfied with the results they can achieve through OOH.

Three main areas are responsible for the industry's revenue growth:

• Digital OOH - spending on this form of outdoor advertising increased from $1.1 billion in 2010 to $1.9 billion last year.
• Ambient Media - after a significant drop in ambient advertising spending in 2009
  (37% decrease compared to 2008), it is slowly rebuilding its position. Social media is very helpful. A well-thought-out ambient campaign transformed online
  into a viral campaign can generate millions of contacts and guarantee the advertiser a high return on investment. In 2013, ambient advertising generated $856.5 million in revenue.
• Cinema advertising - spending on cinema advertising, which in the US is classified as outdoor advertising, has tripled since 2002.
  Currently, cinema advertising accounts for 0.5% of all advertising spending and $678 million in revenue in 2013.

Of all traditional media, only outdoor advertising is recording increases in spending.
Other media are struggling with declines. Ten years ago, you could notice the outflow of advertising budgets from print to outdoor advertising. Currently, OOH advertising in the United States is taking advertising budgets not only from the press but also from magazines, radio, and even television stations.

Photo by Michał Kopera / Chicago