Publicis brings OOH media buying in-house

Publicis Media has migrated all out-of-home buying to the jurisdiction of its in-house agencies with immediate effect, drawing a 27-year relationship with Dentsu’s Posterscope to a close.

Publicis brings OOH media buying in-house, ending its relationship with Posterscope

What’s the deal?

• Publicis believes that only by taking direct control of all out-of-home (OOH) planning and investment can it offer clients a true end-to-end solution.

• The changes bring outdoor advertising into line with Publicis’s other media services, allowing it to directly pool all data, insight, commerce and content in one place to better engage with consumers.

• Moving swiftly to cement the new system, Publicis already has the bones of its OOH division in place, drawing together staff from agencies such as Starcom, Spark Foundry and Zenith under the leadership of Pannie Hopper, head of OOH at PMX.

• Hopper remarked: ”The integration of our full OOH services has been 18 months in the making and means that we now have the capability and a robust framework to deliver end-to-end location-based media solutions for our clients.”

Why it matters

• The shift marks the end of an era for Publicis, which for the past 27 years has relied on Meridian Outdoor, a 50-50 joint venture with Dentsu’s Posterscope, that was first established by ZenithOptimedia (now Zenith, part of Publicis) back in 1994.

• This relationship was founded on an understanding that a dedicated outdoor buying specialist would benefit from better data and tools to manage poster and screen sites.

• Now Publicis believes itself to be better equipped for the job, leaving Omnicom and Havas as the last major UK advertising companies which still rely on external partners to carry out the bulk of their OOH media buying – both of whom utilise Talon Outdoor.

• Both WPP and Interpublic Group have already made the shift to employing in-house agencies in the form of Kinetic and Rapport respectively.

• Publicis Media UK chief executive Sue Frogley commented: “By completing our integration journey, we now have the opportunity to evolve our offering further and make location-based marketing more connected with the strategies in place for our clients.”