Edsa traffic spells profit for billboards, digital marketing

The OOH industry makes a living from billboards lining the 28-kilometer Edsa

BAGUIO CITY—The travails of Metro Manila motorists, who endure horrendous Edsa traffic every day, translate to profits for one sector: The out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry.

“Without traffic, our value goes down,” Alex Montanez, president of the Outdoor Advertising Association of the Philippines (OAAP), said during the recent media congress organized by the Media Specialists Association of the Philippines at Camp John Hay here.

The OOH industry makes a living from billboards lining the 28-kilometer Edsa, Montanez said, adding that looking at advertisements help make the hours spent in traffic more bearable.

According to him, OOH did not die with the advent of the digital age. In fact, digital marketing works well with billboard campaigns.

Montanez cited the billboard advertisement commissioned by businessman Xian Gaza, who posted his offer to have coffee with actress Erich Gonzales, describing it as “a media phenomenon.”

He said: “Don’t talk about the guy who rendered (the billboard). Let’s talk about the guy who affected everyone [online]. [Gaza] is not a creative nor a media guy. He is just an ordinary guy who wanted to have coffee. But it became viral on social media. I’m sure most of you reacted because I reacted. The world reacted because the material was effective.”

“It was a very simple but [effective way of combining billboards and digital media]. OOH plus digital marketing is success,” he said.

With the internet, the OOH industry has become “unstoppable,” he said, because outdoor advertising “can integrate with radio, television and print, and [now] we are moving online.”

“All we have is the site, you have the ideas and we will have the best executions of your ideas for you to be more effective,” he said

“But do not copy Xian,” he added.

The industry, however, will not object to moves by the government to solve the traffic mess, he said, noting that he too was a traffic victim.

But he said, “we have to capitalize on urban community traffic [and] we have to use it.”