A Boost of DOOH Optimism From Europe

OOH fat cats, JCDecaux in France and Ströer in Germany, have been reporting robust sales, growth, and healthy bookings for their businesses. Despite a war in Ukraine, the hit on each country’s economies from energy shortages and inflation, the indications are that there is a real second half of 2023 turnaround happening.

During the summer of 2022, to conserve energy, the German government had all OOH ads, displays, and LED signage turned off between 10 pm and 6 am (Source: Invidis)

Both companies are pretty dominant in their home territories, but you can safely assume that JCDecaux is strongly internationally, while Ströer enjoys an almost monopolistic control over the Germany market. But, either way, the numbers are very positive knowing that we have, like everywhere else, inflation and energy pricing woes, but with the added impact of the war in Ukraine right on everyone’s step, you would have expected some hesitation.

It may be telling that Ströer leads with the carbon footprint of DOOH as being a driving force in growth. These companies are not display companies, but programmatic advertising engines for a out of home ads. The display is just an output device. The more success that advertisers get from being seen on these displays, the more demand will rise for broader adoption or access to more people.

CompanyStröer
Consolidated RevenueIncreased by 9% to $2.04 billion in fiscal year 2022
EBITDA (Adjusted)Increased by 5% to $622 million in fiscal year 2022
Net Income (Adjusted)Increased by 1% to $198 million in fiscal year 2022
Growth of Digital OOH Media (DOOH) Revenue34% in 2022
Premium Digital ScreensExpanded by more than 1,000 in fiscal year 2022
Total Number of Digital ScreensMore than 47,000
Reach of Digital Out-Of-Home AdvertisingFour out of five people are reached within a week with digital OOH media in Germany
Expected Growth Impetus for OOH MediaDue to the increasing importance of life cycle assessments (LCA) in the context of customers’ marketing and advertising strategies
Expected Positive Growth Impetus for DOOHDue to the continuously improving CO2 values and carbon footprint of advertising campaigns
Expected Organic Revenue GrowthMid-single-digit percentage range for Q1 2023
Source: Ströer

To have an advertising market that is in growth mode right now is also an indication that given the right platform, there’s money in the market. Programmatic DOOH is still in its infancy. We have barely scratched the surface what is possible. It may sound dystopian at times, being pursued by advertisers in every public space, and tracked for performance, but it is kind of inevitable and probably a whole lot less intrusive than what Google and Meta are doing to their users.

CompanyJCDecaux SE
Revenue for Full-Year 2022$3,817.5 million
YoY Revenue Growth0.208
Organic YoY Revenue Growth0.166
Q4 2022 Revenue$1,187.7 million
YoY Q4 Revenue Growth0.081
Organic YoY Q4 Revenue Growth0.051
Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) Revenue31.4% of Group revenue in full-year 2022
DOOH Revenue Growth in Q4 20220.195
DOOH Organic Revenue Growth in Q4 20220.156
Programmatic Advertising Revenue$70.5 million in 2022
Programmatic Advertising Revenue as % of Digital Revenue in 20225.90%
Street Furniture Revenue Growth in Q4 20224.80%
Billboard Revenue Growth in Q4 20226.00%
Transport Revenue Growth in Q4 20225.10%
YoY Organic Revenue Growth by Geography in Q4 2022All geographies grew positively
Adjusted Organic Advertising Revenue Growth in 202218.40%
Source: JCDecaux