New York, Los Angeles, London, Hong Kong,  – what do all these great cities have in common?  Aside from great shopping and far too much traffic, most of the cosmopolitan cities of the world are adjourned by some of the pervasive form of communication – Outdoor Advertising.

From billboards and posters to bus-wraps and taxi signs, stand in the middle of a bustling city and chances are advertising messages will be all around you.

Love them or loath them, outdoor advertising is one medium that definitely catches your attention.

Interestingly, according to research conducted by the Outdoor Media Association (OMA), 80% of Australians are either positive or neutral towards outdoor advertising, and most actually found them interesting and humourous.

Charmaine Moldrich, CEO of OMA says: “ Most people find outdoor advertising entertaining, especially when good creativity is applied to them. We also found that the general public found the medium’s greatest strength to be its constant, 24/7 presence”.

While outdoor advertising has received negative press over inappropriate messages, OMA’s research also found that over the last year, 99.98% of all outdoor advertising compiled with codes that are self-regulated and self-imposed by industry practitioners and the OMA. 

“Although this is a great result, we cannot ignore the remaining 0.02%, and these are the ones that get picked up by the public and the media,” says Moldrich.

Some efforts that OMA will pursue over the next year include training and educating industry partners, providing free advertising space for The Advertising Standards Bureau to promote their services for the community and to offer stricter reviews and advise on content before production.

“45% of Australians feel positive about outdoor advertising and believe it provides a service of keeping them informed about new products and services,” reports Moldrich.

Outdoor advertising furniture, which includes transport shelters, bins, bridges and toilets are also kept clean and properly maintained by outdoor advertising providers.

“Not only does outdoor advertising maintain a lot of crucial public places and facilities, we also contribute up to $13.25million worth of charity each year, mostly in the form of free advertising space”,