oOh!media offered discounts on billboards to the tune of 95 per cent during the recent COVID-19 lockdown, according to a new report in the AFR.
The story cites recent inventory figures for the company’s road billboards across NSW.
It provides the example of a billboard in Darling Harbour with a usual four-week market rate of $18,000 going for $1,000 and two supersites at Warringah Mall on the northern beaches going for $1,5000, as opposed to the market rate of $36,000.
However, the report does suggest that such ‘market rates’ are often heavily discounted and therefor not necessarily accurate.
Speaking to the AFR, oOh!media CEO said the reduced rates were not necessarily a ‘discount’, rather simply a reflection of the lowered foot traffic and road traffic during the period.
“All media is going to be value-driven to some extent, and when there is less value in the market, we are saying that if audiences are down, how can we make up those audiences for you elsewhere. So it’s not ‘discounting’ in the traditional sense. It’s about making up those audience numbers that we can promise advertisers in other places,” Cook said.
As the lockdown kicked in in March, the outdoor player went into a trading halt.
