DOOH adex in Malaysia rises 42%, Klang Valley sees increase in panels

Digital out-of-home (OOH) and OOH adex in Malaysia was RM1.4 billion compared to RM1.3 billion in 2018. According to the recent Malaysia 2019 OOH Adex Report by AIMS Research, Malaysia’s high traffic volume has made OOH a logical choice among many advertisers. More specifically, DOOH adex on screens in Klang Valley increased by 42% to RM338,161 million in 2019.

Additionally, the total number of DOOH panels in Klang Valley increased by 6% to 803 in 2019, while the number of sites also increased from 152 in 2018 to 177 in 2019. Last year, the service industry came out on top in terms of adspend volume, followed by retail, communication, finance, entertainment, automotive, media, government, social and political organisations, apparel and accessories, and education and learning. According to AIMS Research, the biggest percentage increase for adspend was by the education industry which recorded an increase of 236% in 2019 compared with 2018. This was mainly contributed by private colleges such as Brickfields Asia College, Reliance College, Veritas University College, and Taylor’s University.

When it came to the top 10 brands, KFC led the pack in terms of rental volume followed by Celcom, Astro, Resorts World Genting, Foodpanda, TM, Digi, Sarawak Tourism Board, RHB Bank and Uniqlo. Meanwhile, foodpanda led the F&B delivery industry for rental volume, the report found.

On the static OOH front, adex for the medium remained consistent at 8% of the total industry adex. The previous year saw a 2% decrease in static OOH adex from RM1,288 million to RM1,267 million. There are more billboards than any other OOH media formats in Malaysia, forming 64% of panel count in 2019. In terms of value, however, billboard's value shrank to 36% while unipoles formed almost the equivalent in value, with almost eight times less panels, AIMS Research said.

The real estate industry is the biggest advertiser, although its adex decreased by 5% in 2019 compared to the year before. This was followed by the communication and retail industries. Coffee and health food drinks contributed to the 14% adex growth in the nonalcoholic beverage industry – the industry that had the biggest adex growth in 2019. Meanwhile, the report noted that the retail industry recorded a 3% adex increase, mainly contributed by fast-food chains such as KFC and McDonald's.

Overall, AIMS Research said most brands have increased their OOH adex year-on-year (YOY). Coway posted a 61% increment YOY while Huawei's increased by 33%. Only Samsung, Apple and Honda recorded a drop in their adex, the report added. Nonetheless, the report said Samsung led the pack for both static and digital OOH advertising, followed by KFC, Coway, TM, and Sime Darby. Celcom, Gamuda Land, Milo, U Mobile, and Astro were also listed in the top 10.