The out of home (OOH) advertising industry is experiencing strong growth and offers promising investment opportunities. The rapid adoption of digital and data-driven strategies, coupled with the growing importance of technology and direct-to-consumer brands, makes OOH advertising an attractive and lucrative sector for investors looking to capitalize on its expanding market share.
According to the OAAA, in 2022, OOH advertising industry experienced significant growth, as revenues increased by 20.7% compared to the previous year, reaching $8.6 billion. This marked a new milestone, as 2022 surpassed the previous record set in pre-COVID 2019, demonstrating the industry’s resilience and rapid recovery from the pandemic.
A critical driver of this growth was the digital out of home (DOOH) segment, which saw a 24.2% increase compared to 2021. This marks the second consecutive year of over 20% growth for DOOH. Additionally, all four OOH categories – Billboards, Street Furniture, Transit, and Place-Based – witnessed double-digit growth, indicating a broad-based expansion in the sector.
The OOH industry’s growth outperformed other core advertising mediums in the past year, even surpassing digital media formats such as search and social in a market that expanded by over 7% overall. This success can be attributed to the industry’s adaptability and ability to tap into digital and data-driven opportunities, providing marketers with scalable, addressable, and brand-safe advertising channels.
The top 10 OOH advertisers in 2022 were Apple, McDonald’s, Amazon, Panera, Google, American Express, T-Mobile, Disney, Coca-Cola, and Universal Pictures. Apple took the top spot with a 27% increase in investment over 2021. Impressively, 88% of the top 100 OOH advertisers raised their OOH spend from 2021, with 24% more than doubling their expenditure.
Technology and direct-to-consumer brands made up 26% of the top 100 OOH spenders, demonstrating the growing importance of these sectors in the advertising landscape. Key players included Airbnb, Amazon, Apple, Audible, BetMGM, Carvana, ClickUp, Comcast, DoorDash, Expensify, Facebook, FanDuel, Google, GrubHub, Hulu, Intel, Live Nation, Netflix, Peacock, Pinterest, Samsung, T-Mobile, Uber, Verizon, VRBO, and William Hill.
