Malaysia 2019 OOH Adex Report by AIMs Research shows that while advertising expenditure (adex) for outdoor advertising remains consistent at 8% of the total industry adex, the market share of digital billboards increased from 2% in 2018 to 3% in 2019.

In 2019, the OOH and DOOH adex was RM1.4 billion (US$335m) compared to RM1.3 billion (US$310m) in 2018. Retail recorded the biggest growth (20%) in 2019 compared to 2018, followed by the service industry (19%) and beverage - non-alcoholic (19%).

The report noted a drop in government, social and political organisation spending due to no major political events happening in 2019 compared to the year before when the general election was held. In terms of brands, Samsung leads the pack for OOH advertising, followed by KFC, Coway, TM, and Sime Darby. The rest in the top 10 are Celcom, Gamuda Land, Milo, U Mobile and Astro.

Real estate was the biggest spender for OOH in 2019, followed by retail, service, communication and automotive. The other industries in the top 10 are beverage - non-alcoholic, government, social and political organisation, finance, education and learning, and household and outdoor appliances. Retail recorded the biggest growth (20%) in 2019 compared to 2018, followed by the service industry (19%) and beverage - non-alcoholic (19%).


Key findings for static OOH

There was a slight decrease by 2% in the total outdoor industry’s adspend in 2019 compared to 2018, from RM1,288 million to RM1,267 million, however the report noted that most of the brands have increased their OOH adspend year-on-year (YOY).

  • There are more billboards than any other OOH media formats in Malaysia, taking up 64% of panel count in 2019.
  • In terms of value, however, billboard shrinks to 36% while unipoles make up almost the equivalent in value, with almost 8 times less panels.
  • Main market centres are still the focus area for advertisers for their campaigns.
  • The real estate industry is the biggest advertiser although its adspend decreased by 5% in 2019 compared to the year before. It is followed by the communication and retail industries.
  • Coffee and health food drinks contributed to the 14% adex growth in the non-alcoholic beverage industry – the industry that had the biggest adex growth in 2019.
  • Retail Industry recorded an increase of 3% thanks to fast-food chains like KFC and McDonald’s.
  • Coway has recorded a 61% increment YOY and Huawei has increased by 33%.
  • Only a few brands have recorded a drop in their OOH adex and these are Samsung, Apple and Honda.

Key findings for Digital OOH

In the Klang Valley, total panels increased by 6% to 803 in 2019 compared to 761 in 2018. The number of sites also increased from 152 in 2018 to 177 in 2019. Digital screen spending increased by 42% to RM338,161 million in 2019 compared to RM238,020 million in 2018.

  • In 2019, the top 10 industries have increased their adspend. The service industry leads in terms of adspend volume with an increase of 76% from 2018. This is followed by retail; communication; finance; entertainment; automotive; media; government, social and political organisations; apparel and accessories; and education and learning.
  • Newcomer, Foodpanda (with a 79% share of voice or SOV), leads the F&B delivery industry.
  • The biggest percentage increase for adspend is by the education industry which recorded an increase of 236% in 2019 compared with 2018 - mainly contributed by private colleges such as Brickfields Asia College, Reliance College, Veritas University College, and Taylor’s University.
  • As for the top 10 brands, KFC leads in terms of rental volume followed by Celcom, Astro, Resorts World Genting, Foodpanda, TM, Digi, Sarawak Tourism Board, RHB Bank and Uniqlo. 

Sourced from AIMS Research