Outdoor ad industry growth hampered by illegal players

CEBU, Philippines - As the outdoor advertising industry continues to embrace latest advancements in technology, players look forward to a thriving sector this year and for more years to come.

But since illegal practitioners are still widely rampant in the business, they eat up to the growing market-base of legal practitioners, said the president of the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP)- Cebu Chapter Mary Ann Alcordo- Solomon.

In an interview, Solomon said that new wave technology will be the future direction of the industry especially here in Cebu as electronic billboards are already starting to mushroom in the busy intersections of the city.

She said that in general, the outdoor advertising industry which is now being coined as “out of home media” (OHM) is gaining more grounds in the market as more advertisers are realizing the need to advertise using this medium.

“The industry is growing and it continues to embrace new technology. We now have more new players which show that the industry remains viable and competitive over the times,” said Solomon.

She said that on-premise signs, which identify the business within an establishment, now hold a bulk of their market but billboards or off-premise signs also continue to bring in more fresh clients as there are now more new products and new services offered to the consumer market.

Solomon said that in terms of cost, out-of-home media is relatively cheaper compared to the traditional mediums like TV, print and radio plus it can provide longer exposure.

She said though that illegal practitioners continue to create a negative image on their thriving industry thinking that the business is a quick buck or can provide them easy money.

“Some people think they can just put signs anywhere they want it to be which should not be the case because we need to comply with the requirements to avoid any compromising situations,” said Solomon.

She underscored that the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP) is the only organization of outdoor advertising practitioners that was accredited by the Advertising Board (Adboard) and so far their chapter here in Cebu only has around 15 members.

Solomon said that after doing an inventory of billboards and signs placed around the city, they have noted that “fly by night” players dominate the local outdoor advertising industry as they have accounted about 100 small time and big time players in the signage business and around 20 to 30 players in the offsite or the billboard segment which shows that illegal players comprise 50 percent of the industry.

“Illegal players do not roll down their billboards when there is a strong wind or depression and when their boards topple down, they are no where to be found and it’s the association that faces public hearings,” said Solomon.

She said that slowly, advertisers are now becoming aware of these illegal players after having learned from previous incidents like the typhoon Milenyo.

“Illegal players do short cuts in their processes of getting requirements. We hope advertisers will continue to patronize legitimate players so that illegitimate practitioners will run out of business and we hope that there will be more professional players and legislators will have more political will in implementing the many policies they have made,” said Solomon.—Rhia de Pablo