Outdoor spend on the up

Advertising Association. In the second quarter of the year, outdoor
revenues increased by just 0.6 per cent.

Alan James, the chief executive of the OAA, attributed the growth to
continued investment by outdoor media owners in new sites and
innovations such as digital formats.

He said: "Figures for July to September show a return to the growth rate
outdoor has been experiencing over the past year. Figures for the last
quarter look buoyant, and we are anticipating a full-year result of
around the plus-3 per cent mark."

He added: "As in the previous period, entertainment and media remains
the top spending advertiser category. In terms of top-spending client,
the number one position was held by Vodafone."

However, outdoor media owners are attracting new advertisers to the
industry.

In the third quarter, drinks companies increased investment on the
medium by 20.7 per cent period on period to £18.4 million.

Other sectors to raise their spend significantly include telecoms and
the Government. Spending from companies in the telecoms sector went up
by 10.9 per cent to £24.9 million. Government, social and
political organisations increased their spend by 37.9 per cent to £8.6 million.

Meanwhile, the OAA has announced the appointment of Jeremy Male, the
chief executive of JCDecaux, as its new chairman.

Male replaces David Pugh, who is leaving the outdoor advertising
industry after resigning from his position as the UK chief executive of
Titan Outdoor earlier this month. Pugh has been the chairman of the OAA
for the past four years.

TOP OUTDOOR CLIENTS CATEGORIES (by Volume)

CLIENT pounds m spend % change

Vodafone 7.0 157.0

Unilever UK 6.9 -28.5

DFS Furniture 6.8 46.4

BSkyB 5.2 33.5

Orange 4.1 34.6

T-Mobile 4.1 -17.7

O2 UK 3.3 52.4

Toyota 3.2 148.5

Nestle 3.0 29.4

UIP 2.9 -19.8

Source: NMR.