European ads are out there

Robert Thurner writes that UK advertisers and agencies are under the illusion that out of home (OOH) advertising gets complicated once you venture beyond Calais (MW December 6, 2001). I don’t agree.

We work with a large number of advertisers and agencies headquartered in the UK and have found that they have a good appreciation of centralised pan-European OOH media opportunities. In fact, we have been planning and buying centralised OOH campaigns for six years. On average, we buy one a month. Usually, these have been planned alongside a “full service”media agency. We are able to do this via our European network.

What is more significant is the appreciation from the leading OOH suppliers that centralised pan-European deals are beneficial and desirable. However, they have not always understood this. We support their initiatives, but would advise caution in believing the “big three” (Clear Channel, JC Decaux and Viacom) can provide a pan-European campaign between them. Coverage gaps are apparent not least in Germany, the largest media market in Europe. We urge advertisers and agencies to talk to an OOH specialist with a pan-European network. Planning, buying and campaign management cannot all be fulfiled by media owners alone.

Mike Segrue

European managing partner

Poster Publicity

London, SW1