Middle East & North Africa Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Middle East & North Africa Digital Out-of-Home Market was valued at USD 21.9 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 53.81 billion by 2026 at a CAGR of approximately 19.7% during the forecast period (2021 - 2026). The primary factor driving the growth of the market in the MENA region is the gradual and ongoing shift toward digital advertising owing to the increased spending on Smart City infrastructure in the countries.

Key Highlights

• Regionally and globally, Qatar has been on the frontline of a major digital transformation towards safer smart cities. This has been proved through the policy briefs issued by the Arab Monetary Fund, showing that 43% of Qatar cities are smart cities. Also, Dubai and Abu Dhabi lead the position in smart cities in the MENA region.
• The region is also witnessing strategic partnerships and collaborations, which are expected to accelerate the growth of Digital Advertising in the MENA region. For instance, BackLite Media, a premier out-of-home (OOH) advertising company based in UAE, has partnered with IQ Data to launch BackLite Intelligence, the innovative wide-scale OOH advertising measurement platform to utilize 'big data' on a local scale.
• However, the Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising industry like several other industries is also expected to face a negative impact of the global coronavirus outbreak. Due to quarantine and lockdown, people in several countries are avoiding public or crowded places, which is eventually impacting the advertiser's desire to advertise using Digital OOH tools. Countries like Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, amongst others, are facing the impact of coronavirus on the Digital Advertising industry.
• Elevision Media launched an initiative to provide AED 4,000,000 in free advertising to help market and promote small local businesses, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the SME community.

Key Market Trends

Commercial Digital OOH Expected to Grow Significantly

• The commercial digital OOH market is expected to grow with increasing construction of shopping malls, multiplexes, and commercial complexes. Consumers see mall advertising, viewing posters, and digital screens as a prominent way to stay up to date with the latest trends and products.
• Also, the market for commercial digital OOH is anticipated to benefit from digital advertising in stadiums. With the increasing popularity of sports among the audience, the scale with popular sports is being conducted has widened. Following the increase in traction to capture demand for their brand and products, many companies are actively spending to advertise in the sports events.
• In November 2019, Adzily, a Cairo-based indoor advertising platform, which is a network of digital ad screens spread across cafes, restaurants, and gyms, that runs ads, raised USD 12.2 million. Also, in January 2020, BackLite Media won an exclusive 5-year deal with Novo Cinemas to supply on-screen advertising and branding for customers across the GCC. Such initiatives by the market players are expected to boost the adoption of digital OOH for commercial purposes in the region.

United Arab Emirates Expected to Dominate the Market

• The United Arab Emirates is expected to dominate the digital OOH market in the MENA region among the GCC countries. With the increasing and ongoing shift toward smart city infrastructure throughout the region, the adoption of Digital OOH media is expected to rise. Several global companies are expanding their presence in the region by extending partnerships and collaborations with the digital OOH providers in the region.
• In May 2020, Microsoft introduced the first cloud data centers in the Middle East region through an OOH campaign. The company collaborated with the providers of digital billboards solutions in Dubai to introduce its cloud datacenter services through an OOH campaign. Also, in August 2019, the agency arm of LAFFAZ Media, the Digital Mafias, which is a Delhi-based news-hailing startup, launched its services in the United Arab Emirates.
• Also, retail giants are using digital OOH to advertise on a large scale, while achieving high ad recall and brand association in an extremely competitive market. For instance, in July 2019, M&M's advertised on over 200 digital screens located across all concourses of Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, on JCDecaux’s Drive-to-Store network. The tactical campaign was focused on incentivizing passengers to positively influence them and buy their products before they fly. M&M’s ads demonstrated the effectiveness of the campaign, leveraging creative artworks catching passengers’ attention.

Competitive Landscape

The competitive landscape of the Middle East & North Africa digital out-of-home (OOH) market is moving toward moderate fragmentation owing to the entry of several new market players and the increasing activities, such as product innovation and product development by the regional market players, are expected to provide growth opportunities further. Also, the vendors are viewing strategic partnerships and acquisitions as a lucrative path to capture maximum market share in the region.

• February 2020 - BackLite Media partnered with IQ Data to launch BackLite Intelligence, the region’s highly innovative OOH advertising platform, to utilize ‘‘big data’ on a local scale. The finest technology, deployed across BackLite’s whole OOH network, will add exemplary value to advertisers across Dubai and Abu Dhabi with an avant-garde audience measurement data, centered around behavioral data linked to the millions of people who see BackLite’s signs daily.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support