OAAA Experts: Digital Billboards are a Community Asset

At the 2015 OAAA national conversion in San Diego, Calif., we asked industry experts for their advice and thoughts on how the out of home industry can gain a larger share of advertising dollars.

One theme throughout our interviews was that digital billboards are a game changer. Digitals bring a new platform to the marketplace, and it’s one that is getting results.

Municipalities are even increasingly embracing digital billboards as a way to communicate with the public, boost the local business community, and grow revenues. Gateway projects have been installed in many cities throughout North America, creating public/private partnerships.

Digital billboards have been used with great success in manhunts, Silver and Amber alerts, and severe weather situations. Nancy Fletcher, Executive Director of OAAA, says there have been over 1000 examples of community safety benefit since industry-wide partnerships were launched in 2008.

For operators who have locations that are in high demand by advertisers, digital provides a way for more businesses to benefit from a single location. In smaller towns, a digital billboard becomes as much a place for local news as for advertising messages.

Watch our complete series to gain other insights from leaders in the outdoor advertising industry.