By Nancy Fletcher, President, Outdoor Advertising Association of America.

A new report from Deloitte – saying advertising boosts the economy – includes a powerful “kicker” about the benefits of out of home (OOH) advertising.

First, the big picture. Deloitte says every euro spent on advertising generates a seven-fold boost to GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in Europe.

Keep reading.

Deloitte goes on to say: “Outdoor advertising provides additional civic benefits in the form of an improved urban environment . . . “

Stateside, the prestigious magazine of the Urban Land Institute makes this point regarding OOH amenities in New York, Los Angeles, and other cities.  Ad revenue from innovative urban partnerships pays for free Wi-Fi, “smart” transit shelters, and more.

A WiFi hot spot/ad panel in New York City

“Imaginative people in the City of Los Angeles and at Outfront/JCDecaux Street Furniture,” said the mayor’s office, “are seeing the greater potential of bus shelters as technological service providers . . . to recharge, literally, with USB charging stations for your mobile devices.”

For a decade, America’s top law enforcement agency has partnered with the OOH industry on behalf of public safety. On January 15, the FBI said it arrested a “Ten Most Wanted” fugitive charged with double murder in Milwaukee, WI. A month earlier, the FBI had activated donated digital billboards in multiple states.

“The success story of ‘wanted’ billboards,” said the late Congressman Jim Oberstar (1934-2014), from my home-state Minnesota, “serves to remind us that billboards are a significant medium of communication. We know that billboards promote brands, sell products, and direct motorists to roadway services. But outdoor advertising is also an important forum for non-commercial speech, helping law enforcement and non-profit groups such as the American Red Cross.”

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