ADCENTRICITY has released its first quarter report on DOOH for 2010, “a compilation of market data and insight best leveraged as a reference guide for agencies and marketers seeking a better understanding of the DOOH advertising sector”.

“ADCENTRICITY’S review of market conditions coming out of 2009 and heading to the second half of 2010 shows DOOH is maturing and activity is exploding,” said Jeff Atley, VP of ADCENTRICITY. “Our own Q1 booking and spending versus a year ago is up more than 1,000 percent proving this is a medium poised for continued growth.”

The key findings of the report are:

- Networks operating in retail venues are dominating DOOH spending, following the same patterns as traditional media spending – with automotive, financial services and telecommunications by far the biggest categories

- Packaged goods and entertainment brands are not yet moving as aggressively into the DOOH space, owing to traditional caution, demands for extensive testing, and with entertainment, a need for more education on how good creative will overcome cases where audio is not used

- Retail locations (grocery, pharmacy, c-store, coffee shops) were the winners by actual spending through 2009. Of the 70 environment types available across 100 networks, the top six categories accounted for approximately 30 percent of all media dollars and they were overwhelmingly retail

- While mainstream agencies have DOOH on their radar, and are allocating dollars, digital agencies haven’t yet adopted or fully understood this medium’s capabilities. Ironically, there’s a digital divide where there should be a natural fit

“It’s clear that there is a great deal of activity in the DOOH space from our perspective, but there is still ground to be covered to fully lock the medium in as a mainstay element,” continued Atley. “Those who are using the medium are fast becoming effective marketers in the space, however, the need for continued education both at the agency and advertiser level is more apparent now than ever before. In addition, the need for digital agencies to understand the medium’s full digital possibilities is something the entire DOOH community will be tasked with in 2010.”

For the complete Q1 Digital Out-of-Home Market Review, click here.