Sydney, Australia — Work operating system (OS) platform monday.com has unveiled its first-ever Australian out-of-home (OOH) advertising campaign that was launched in different locations around Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. From city centres and airports, the billboards were done in collaboration with OOH ad companies Ooh! Unmissable and JCDecaux, and transit OOH specialist Torch Media.

monday.com’s aim with the campaign is to raise brand awareness of its Work OS and how it enables seamless collaboration. Truly walking the talk, the campaign was coordinated across the various agencies using the monday.com platform.

The creative concept behind the campaign, which is running through mid-April, uses cliches to support monday.com’s ‘work without limits’ ethos, highlighting common workplace pain points and how its platform addresses them, such as saving time and effort, customising processes and workflows, ease of use, automation, security and flexibility.

Sydney, Australia – Out-of-home (OOH) media company JCDecaux has announced the launch of a new programmatic trading and a new audience measurement system at the Sydney Airport, where it gives advertisers the ability to enhance engagement with airport travellers by delivering more relevant and timely campaigns.

The introduction of programmatic trading and Airport Audience Measurement (AAM), JCDecaux’s proprietary airport audience measurement system, is considered a first in Australia.

The introduction of programmatic trading is through VIOOH, a global digital out of home marketplace. Combining VIOOH’s programmatic offering with an evolved measurement system at Sydney Airport, makes the capabilities of this channel more accountable, flexible, and precise for advertisers with near real-time intelligent trading driving campaign efficiency and effectiveness.

Max Eburne, chief commercial officer at JCDecaux, said, “There’s a sense of positivity in the air as Australia re-opens its borders and restrictions ease. We expect a step-change in the volume and diversity of travellers passing through Australia’s busiest airport. The addition of programmatic trading and improved audience measurement capabilities means advertisers can leverage almost real-time data insights to target and engage audiences more effectively than ever.”

Global digital security company ESET is the first brand to trade programmatically across JCDecaux AIRPORT through The Trade Desk.

Meanwhile, Brad Palmer, national programmatic director at JCDecaux, commented, “Programmatic out-of-home adoption in Australia has been strong and we expect demand to continue to build as more supply is made available. Airports are the last environment in the JCDecaux Australia portfolio to be offered programmatically with digital large format, street furniture and rail all available.”

JCDecaux has debuted several OOH campaigns across public transport systems in ANZ, including in the Adelaide Railway Station and for Air New Zealand.

New Zealand – Out-of-home media company JCDecaux New Zealand today announced the launch of programmatic trading across its roadside digital large format network, nationally across New Zealand. The new offering is in partnership with VIOOH, the premium global digital out-of-home (DOOH) marketplace.

JCDecaux PROGRAMMATIC is DSP agnostic and, through VIOOH, is currently integrated with Vistar, Yahoo and Hivestack. The entire suite of JCDecaux’s digital large format portfolio – over 40 sites nationally – will be available to trade programmatically. 

Furthermore, to ensure that every potential advertiser can access JCDecaux’s full suite of inventory, JCDecaux is guaranteeing supply for programmatic advertisers by setting aside five per cent of the share of time on every digital screen to programmatic campaigns published via the VIOOH platform. The company said that this allocated share of time is expected to increase as demand for the offering grows.

Kurt Malcolm, trading and innovations director at JCDecaux, shared that they’ve had considerable interest in the roadside portfolio being made available to trade programmatically and are seeing huge potential in this product. 

“Our programmatic offering will deliver increased campaign flexibility and measurability, and make JCDecaux’s Digital Large Format network accessible to more advertisers than ever before,” said Malcom. 

JCDecaux’s roadside programmatic offering follows the launch of JCDecaux PROGRAMMATIC in airports in New Zealand in November 2021. In the same period, the company has also won the tender to be the exclusive OOH advertising partner for the Adelaide Railway Station in Australia. 

Australia – Australia’s Out-of-Home (OOH) industry has launched its second annual healthy eating campaign, which will run over the next four weeks. This year’s pro bono campaign is donated by the members of the peak industry body Outdoor Media Association (OMA), and delivered in partnership with Health and Wellbeing Queensland and Nutrition Australia.

The new campaign deems to be the second campaign run in partnership with the government to encourage healthy eating. It is also part of OMA’s National Health and Wellbeing Policy that aims to meet community expectations and support government efforts to tackle overweight and obesity in the country.

Titled ‘Better than you remember’, the campaign encourages Australians to rediscover and think differently about how they consume vegetables. It has its own website, aimed at shining a light on how delicious veggies are, and offers tips, resources, and recipes.

OMA said that the value of the campaign is estimated at over AU$3m and will be in the market from 30 January to 26 February 2022. 

Charmaine Moldrich, OMA’s CEO, shared that the campaign aims to support Health and Wellbeing Queensland’s mission to ‘make healthy happen’.

“Our research has proven these outcomes, particularly when it comes to lifestyle changes. The post-campaign study of the first health and wellbeing campaign we ran in January 2021, adding an extra handful of veggies, showed that 86% of parents who saw the ad said they were encouraged to include veggies in their meals or snacks. While 80% said they were encouraged to make healthier choices for their children’s meals. We ran Add an extra handful of veggies last year in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Health,” said Moldrich.

Meanwhile, Robyn Littlewood, Health and Wellbeing Queensland’s CEO, commented that she was delighted to see the work with the Outdoor Media Association and Nutrition Australia come to life on signs in Brisbane, regional Queensland and across all other states in Australia.

“We’re committed to addressing health issues and promoting the importance of veggies in everyone’s diet, which is why it’s so rewarding to be working with the Outdoor industry to achieve this goal,” said Littlewood.

Lucinda Hancock, the CEO of Nutrition Australia for Vic Division, said, “We are thrilled to be involved in this year’s campaign and provide tips and recipes that can make healthy eating tasty and accessible. This campaign is topical as you can boost your immune system by upping your veggie intake. A great annual initiative by the OMA and their members.”

Melbourne, Australia – As the city of Victoria emerges from its lockdown due to COVID-19, energy provider Momentum Energy has rolled out its newest campaign with creative agency Havas Media, which ‘takes over’ Flinders Street Station with human-sized ‘bottles of happiness’.

The campaign encourages Melbourne commuters to ‘Get Happy’, created by Momentum Energy’s in-house creative team, in which the human-sized bottles contain happiness-inducing content at Flinders Street Station, supported across multiple touch points including radio, OOH, online video, digital and social.

Said bottles are classified to the following: one jar contains ‘wishing stars’ that come with a ‘supanova-free guarantee’. Meanwhile, the second is a party pack of brightly colored ‘rainbow seeds’ for those who’d like to grow their own organic, full-spectrum rainbow, and lastly, the third is an 80% unicorn and 20% acrylic blend of ‘warm fuzzies’ to provide relief from 2021.

Furthermore, the campaign will take on a digital form where through bespoke display medium rectangle ads (MRECs) the designs of the human-sized bottles and their corresponding creative content will be shown to ‘spark joy’ as well as social content showcasing how people can make their own DIY ‘bottles of happiness’ at home.

According to the company, they believe that Australians not only deserve a boost of happiness as they venture out again, but that their choice of power company should make them feel good too.

Kate Lightfoot, creative lead at Momentum Energy stated, “We’re stoked to welcome people back to the city with these giant jars of imaginary nonsense. Walking around them makes you feel like a kid again and they’re an impactful reminder that Momentum is here to help Victorians get happy.”

The human-sized bottles are designed to evoke a delightful sense of childlike wonder and excitement, while reminding passers-by they can get similar happy vibes from their choice of power company.

Meanwhile, Sarah Cook, associate account director at Havas Media Melbourne, commented, “Our timing with the station domination is impeccable. It’s a great feeling to help spread some happiness and bring a smile to everyone venturing out via Flinders Street Station and reclaiming the love for our city.

Adelaide, Australia – Out-of-home (OOH) media company JCDecaux has won the tender to be the exclusive OOH advertising partner for the Adelaide Railway Station.

This extended agreement alongside with the Department of Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) will see JCDecaux continue its full motion audio and video XTrackTV screen presence, as well as install new digital small format screens across the station. All new digital assets will be available to buy programmatically.

The JCDecaux XTRACKTV is a large-format video and audio OOH offering usually installed in railroad stations and terminals.

Steve O’Connor, CEO of JCDecaux, said, “Adelaide Railway Station is an important, historical local landmark and one of the CBD’s busiest destinations for commuters, city workers and tourists alike. It’s a privilege to be awarded this opportunity in what has just recently been named Australia’s most liveable city, at such an iconic location at the heart of public transport in Adelaide.”

JCDecaux has been providing advertising solutions in Adelaide Railway Station since 2015. The new six-year exclusive contract commences immediately.

Adelaide Railway Station has an estimated over 230,000 passengers. The partnership is expected to give advertisers the opportunity to engage said audience.

Sydney, Australia – Out-of-home (OOH) media company JCDecaux has announced that it will be launching its first carbon-neutral product in Australia by early 2022. Said product will be applied to JCDecaux’s Transit network, wherein it will be placing its OOH ads across trams and buses in Australia.

“For JCDecaux, reducing our environmental impact is a priority. In 2022 our plan is to launch the first carbon neutral out-of-home media product across our Transit network – a first for Australia. All parts of the Transit product produced by our in-house printing service GSP Print, will be carbon neutral,” said Steve O’Connor, CEO at JCDecaux.

In order to ascertain the product’s carbon neutral feature, JCDecaux’s sustainability team has analyzed the life cycle for Transit, calculating all the carbon inputs end-to-end.

“We have ambitious plans to offer sustainable media solutions to our clients who are wanting to make more responsible choices. We have bold plans for sustainable solutions and our intention is to make our other products carbon neutral in the future,” O’Connor added.

JCDecaux has long been focusing on improving its sustainability endeavors across its products.The company was the first OOH company to join the RE100, a worldwide organisation that advocates for a commitment to 100% renewable energy. In ANZ, this has made JCDecaux the first media company to commit to this and means the entire network, including offices, will be powered by 100% renewable electricity by 2022.

In 2014, JCDecaux renewed its commitment to sustainable development through the implementation of its Sustainable Development Strategy. Priorities are across three components – environment, social and stakeholder, and include reducing energy consumption, reducing environmental impacts, and strengthening employee commitment toward sustainable development.

The company has also been a certified carbon neutral business since 2015 through Climate Active, an Australian Government organisation that certifies Australian businesses as carbon neutral, and is also working to achieve carbon zero status in New Zealand.

Manila, Philippines – In a bid to ascertain a data-driven approach in the Philippine out-of-home (OOH) industry, programmatic OOH company Moving Walls and the Out of Home Advertising Association of the Philippines (OHAAP) had recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), entailing OHAAP to utilize Moving Walls’ platform to step up measurement, transparency, and accountability for OOH.

The agreement will enable OHAAP member companies owning billboard panels, LED screens, and other outdoor advertising platforms to have a valuable and easily accessible audience measurement, which makes planning static and digital sites easier, and provide the weight necessary to justify OOH ad spends.

Furthermore, members will be able to plan static and digital OOH (DOOH) campaigns more holistically while adopting a data-first approach to its programmatic campaigns with advanced capabilities such as dynamic ad-content serving, audience retargeting, use of various triggers such as weather and time-belting.

“Having a common currency makes the medium more responsible. Advertisers know exactly what they are spending for and this helps to generate trust. Location Intelligence strengthens the OOH media platform as an effective media channel, which aligns it to other measured media such as TV, Radio, Print, and Digital. This agreement ushers in the era of digital and uplift the profile of the OOH industry and deliver substantial value to clients of various revenue sizes,” according to Alex Montanez, chairman at OHAAP.

The development is also seen as a positive reinforcement of the goal of the Media Specialists Association of the Philippines (MSAP), establishing a common OOH currency using the ad-tech company’s data. Previously, Moving Walls had also teamed up with MSAP for OOH measurement solutions.

OHAAP President Ramil Gutierrez comments, “The OHAAP Board is delighted to partner with Moving Walls Philippines to provide OHAAP members with transparency, accountability, and measurability to its campaigns through the use of location intelligence. It’s about time our members level up the playing field and experience the full potential of planning and buying OOH media.”

By connecting to Moving Walls network of 35,000 global connected sites, member companies will be able to plan Outernet campaigns in an automated manner as the platform enables the collection of location intelligence data for both static and digital outdoor media sites.

“We are moving forward into digital transformation and we at Moving Walls commit to further support OHAAP and its members not just with data but also with advanced capabilities needed to future-proof itself,” said Norman Davadilla, CEO of Moving Walls Philippines. “Our next step in planning is to onboard OHAAP members, equip and enable them to understand and utilize the Moving Walls tech stack,” Gutierrez adds.

Singapore – Air conditioning brand Close Comfort, which has a presence in Australia, Singapore, Pakistan, and Indonesia, has recently launched a new character to represent its brand – ‘Ooh’. 

With Ooh, Close Comfort adds to their beloved mascot family a cartoon character that they aim to appeal to children as to provide an easily recognizable character to customers. 

Close Comfort is a personal air conditioning startup, founded in Australia by veteran engineer and researcher, Professor James Trevelyan. Close Comfort’s main proposition is sustainability – with the mission to provide environmentally friendly cooling solutions. 

Ooh is set to become a familiar face all around Singapore as he appears in Close Comfort’s advertisements. 

The story behind Ooh’s pancake-flat face is its fondness of pressing its nose against store windows in the hope of getting a look at Close Comfort’s nifty units. Over time, it starts to look more and more like the unit itself.

Close Comfort’s CEO and Director James Trevelyan commented that he is thrilled to finally be able to introduce Ooh to their audiences. 

“Ooh is not just the embodiment of our unit but also for all we stand for – sustainable cooling. We hope to reach out to many more families and help them keep cool and comfortable in an affordable yet sustainable way,” said Trevelyan.

New Zealand – As expected, digital advertising, in the middle of the pandemic, is forecast to comprise the larger fraction of ad spend by New Zealand advertisers in 2021 with 59% to comprise their overall media budget, according to a new global report by global media investment and intelligence company MAGNA. 

Although New Zealand, being primarily an island, has been successful in containing Covid-19, advertisers are still inclined to put their dollars into digital channels, which can be mainly attributed to how the media practices have evolved to leverage the appeal and impact of digital formats, whether lifestyles are hindered by the virus or not. 

The projected growth in digital follows 2020’s 3.3% growth rate. According to the report, most of the digital growth will come from spending on mobile devices, which will see specifically an 18% increase and to represent 67% of total revenues within digital advertising. 

Overall, the advertising economy in New Zealand is seen to increase by 7.6% in 2021 to reach NZD 2.8b ($1.8b).

Still in line with changing preferences of audiences, the report said that linear advertising revenues will see an uptick of 2.9% to represent 41% of total budgets, an actual down from taking 49% of budgets as recently seen in 2019. 

Meanwhile, in terms of specific mediums, television spending is forecast to grow by 5.6%, to represent one-fourth of total budgets. The report said that this will bring total spending levels back to 92% of their 2019 levels. On the other hand, radio and OOH are seen to fare slightly worse with a 2% growth to reach 86% of 2019 spending levels, and a 5% growth to reach 68% of 2019 spending levels, respectively. 

Globally, as the economy recovers faster than expected with a GDP of 6%, marketing activity, and advertising spending are likewise projected to demonstrate the same upward growth. With the added driver of rescheduled international sports events, the report forecasts global all-media advertising spending to grow by $78b, a 14% increase, to ultimately register an estimated $657b in 2021, a new all-time high, said MAGNA. 

Meanwhile, in the Asia Pacific, while the rollout of COVID vaccines has not been as aggressive as many Western markets, there were still fewer cases and deaths as well as fewer shutdowns vs. those markets in the west. This has not stopped consumers in the region from changing their behavior in the same ways as in heavily COVID-impacted markets, which meant more indulgence to stream, more adoption of e-commerce, and more integration of digital platforms into their daily lives. As a result, economic recovery and organic digital growth will power APAC’s total advertising spending to a 12.8% increase in 2021, following 2020’s 3.3% growth. This will see total advertising budgets in APAC reach $203b, significantly ahead of 2019’s $186b total.

According to Gurpreet Singh, managing director at MAGNA APAC, digital will continue to be the biggest growth driver across most markets fueling a faster recovery. Singh also said that since linear media was the most affected last year, its recovery back to pre-covid levels is going to remain a big challenge across the majority of APAC markets for the next few years.

“2021 will see higher than usual growth in ad spend bouncing off of the reduced spend we saw in most of the APAC markets last year. This will largely result in regaining lost ground, however, some markets will take more than a single year for their ad spend to recover from the impact left by covid,” Singh said.

APAC remains the second largest global advertising region, behind North America but $59b ahead of EMEA.