US out of home (OOH) advertising revenue rose 4% year-over-year in 2011, growing from $6.14 billion to $6.39 billion, according to figures released in February 2012 by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA). Q4 revenues reached $1.55 billion, up 3% from $1.5 billion in Q4 2010. The top 10 categories accounted for 79.8% of total 2011 expenditures, or $5.1 billion, up from 79.1% and $4.86 billion a year earlier.
This means that OOH advertising revenue in the US grew by more than overall ad revenue in the US, at least according to a February report from Strategy Analytics, which reported 0.6% overall advertising spend growth in 2011.
Local Brands Spend Most
The miscellaneous services and amusements category, consisting mainly of local brands, spent $1.13 billion on OOH advertising in 2011, representing 17.7% of the industry’s total revenue, and up 11.6% year-over-year. It also accounted for the largest share by category in Q4, at 17.5%. Meanwhile, the share of revenue accounted for by the retail category took the second spot in Q4 at 10.1%, compared to 8.4% share for the full year. Media and advertising took the second rank for the full year, spending $626 million on OOH advertising, representing 9.8% share, and spending growth of 14.5%.
Financial Brands Increase Spend
The financial category accounted for 7.9% of total expenditures in 2011 and 8.3% of spending in Q4, with year-over-year spending increasing 12.5% and 4.3%, respectively. According to the OAAA, 4 of the top 5 advertisers increasing out of home media spend in 2011 were financial brands: Chase; Prudential; JP Morgan; and Citi.
Meanwhile, the restaurants category held 7.7% share of spending in 2011, followed by public transport, hotels and resorts (7.6%), and communications (7%).
Other Findings:
- The schools, camps and seminars sector rose 22.4% for the year. Other growth categories were media and advertising, financial, and miscellaneous and amusements. The communications category remained flat in 2011 after falling 12.4% in Q4.
- 5 of the top 20 advertisers increasing out of home spend were in the media and advertising category.