Pictured left to right are Jacqueline Demchuk, marketing and communications director for OMAC, and Rosanne Caron, president. Photo courtesy OMAC
By Stephanie Gutnik
On November 14, the Out-of-Home Marketing Association of Canada (OMAC) hosted ‘Ignite,’ a one-day conference that drew excitement and enthusiasm from attendees by showcasing new possibilities of out-of-home (OOH) advertising in the Canadian market.
As discussed at the event, Canada has a lot of room for growth when it comes to OOH media. In many of its cities, according to OMAC’s collected data, workers commute an average of 65 minutes each day by public transit and/or car. During this period, they willingly seek distraction in the form of OOH advertising.
OMAC’s previous conference took place in 2011 and focused on research and business models, with BrandScience—a business and marketing consultancy—showing how the ROI of OOH had increased compared to that of other, more heavily financed media, where it had been flat or declining. The event drew more than 100 attendees during the season’s worst snowstorm.
This year, OMAC reports 340 attendees took part, chatting with exhibitors and taking in various presentations. While some exhibitors were mainstays of the local market, such as Newad and Pattison Outdoor, others took the opportunity to extend their prominence in Canada, including OutdoorLink, a member of the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) that provides remote wireless controls for exterior illumination on commercial properties.
OMAC’s agency and advisory councils had suggested Ignite should demonstrate how marketers are using OOH effectively in an age when it can be difficult to keep up with advances in technology and with demand for ‘cross-channel’ advertising integration. So, the event’s speakers provided a host of positive anecdotes and advice.
Lisa Tompkins, director of marketing and communications for the CN Tower, explained how augmented reality (AR) was used in a campaign for her facility’s Edge Walk experience. Hope Bagozzi, director of creative and media for McDonald’s Canada, discussed the need to respect all forms of media and what they can each achieve. And Dmitri Melamed, general manager (GM) and vice-president (VP) of production for Fourth Wall, called upon the OOH industry to develop rewarding ways to engage consumers on a more individual basis without reminding them of the privacy-invading billboards of the film Minority Report.
“One of the biggest challenges for the OOH industry in Canada is it represents less than five per cent of total advertising dollars,” says Rosanne Caron, president of OMAC and a member of Sign Media Canada’s editorial advisory board (EAB). “These types of events are great to champion the industry, provoke people to embrace change and ignite a passion for the medium and its further development.”
Stephanie Gutnik is a marketing copywriter for BroadSign International, which develops digital signage software in Montreal. For more information, visit www.broadsign.com.
