Could the generation lost to the art of branding building be saved by the oldest medium in the world?

"For a medium that commands over 50% of total UK ad spend, online advertising is but a babe in the firmament of media. At the age of just 22 - despite its many well-documented growing pains - digital media has become by far the biggest line item on marketers' media plans, largely due to its targeting and accountability credentials. Let's compare and contrast with outdoor advertising - we're talking the oldest medium in the world here."

"The ancient Egyptians used papyrus to make sales messages on wall posters; and political campaigns have even been found in the ruins of Pompeii. Wind forward to the 1790s and the invention of lithography was the launchpad for mass produced billboards, and by the 1860s the first outdoor advertising trading companies were formed. Unlike the rest of the print sector today, outdoor advertising revenue has been unaffected by the unrelenting rise of online advertising."

Digital media now accounts for over half of UK advertising spend and has become the largest media line item because of precise targeting and accountability. Despite youth and growing pains, digital channels dominate marketers' media plans. Outdoor advertising is the oldest medium and has a long history from Egyptian wall posters through 18th- and 19th-century lithography and billboard trading companies. Outdoor revenues have been resilient against online growth and are undergoing a digital renaissance. This renaissance may drive healthy sector growth and reinvigorate classic brand advertising, which declined due to recession-era cuts and a shift toward measurable online performance marketing by younger planners.

Read at The Drum