OOH advertising reaches $3.5b through Q2 2012

With the Q2 spend coming in at a 4.3% increase, that marks the fifth straight quarter that has seen at least a 3% increase YoY.

"The out of home advertising industry remains on a growth trajectory surpassing most other media," said OAAA President & CEO Nancy Fletcher. "The advertising community has embraced OOH as a proven component of effective ad campaigns."

Some of the increase can be attributed to the 2012 Presidential Election as candidates, supporters and lobby groups increase their spending to get their messages across to the largest number of people.

"As predicted earlier this year, political advertising spend continues to grow this election year," said OAAA Chief Marketing Officer Stephen Freitas. "We've already seen a rise in both candidate and public issues ads as political action groups and campaign buyers recognize the strategic value in targeted OOH messages."

Some interesting takeaways from the report:

• The Insurance and Real Estate categories each increased more than 10% YoY
• Government, Politics and Organization categories saw increased spends of more than 14%
• Retail showed the fastest growth, coming in at a 16% increase YoY

There are some down categories, however. The OAAA reports Financial segments decreased spending by more than 10% while the Communications segment decreased spending by more than 14%.

Tags: ad spending, advertising trends, OOH ad spend, out of home advertising, Outdoor Advertising Association of America