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Things are looking up for outdoor suppliers in Lebanon. With the country emerging from three years of a political and security morass, its relative tranquility and its economy’s sustained buoyancy amidst the international financial downturn are good omens for 2009. Add in new decisions taken by a few Lebanese municipalities – including Beirut’s – to settle the issue of illegal billboards, and suppliers are smiling. “It will be business better than usual,” says Antonio Vincenti, head of Pikasso. The founder of the largest billboard network in Lebanon, Vincenti sums up the overall mood in the country’s outdoor industry. “We’ve been touring all major ad agencies; they say the crisis hasn’t made an impact on them and they are optimistic for 2009,” he says.

Ad spend monitoring firm Ipsos pegs the revenue generated by outdoor advertising in Lebanon last November at $7.5 million, a 22.3 percent increase year-on-year and 11 percent of the country’s total $68.5 million monitored ad spend (that also increased by 40 percent compared to November 2007). Closing 2008 with gusto after three years of war-torn limbo, during which outdoor generally did better than other media but didn’t have any significant prospects, suppliers are now showing confidence. “All indicators are good,” says Vincenti. “We expect 2009 to be a formidable year.”

IMMUNE TO CRISIS? Unlike those in the UAE or other Arab countries, Lebanon’s outdoor players haven’t been exposed to the financial strife that is rattling the region, partly because the country’s troubles have kept it at arm’s length from the global economy. In an unlikely twist of fate, this has turned out to have a positive side. More importantly, the industry didn’t rely on the major real estate clients that provided suppliers in other Arab countries with the bulk of their revenues.

“In Dubai, for example, real estate developers have used outdoor advertising heavily for the past five or six years,” says Najah Abi Assi, CEO of RLP, a network that sells billboard space. “So the industry there just lost some of its most important clients. But in Lebanon, there are no really large real estate developers. Here, this business sector doesn’t spend millions of dollars to sell projects. And those who advertise do it moderately and usually by using classifieds or newspapers, not outdoor.” Although he’s aware a slight “correction” might be unavoidable eventually, Abi Assi says he is fairly confident there won’t be any dramatic changes in business and that everything will remain under control. “Outdoor advertising in Lebanon is doing just fine,” he says. “It’s efficient without being expensive, and clients have immediate results. They like it.”

For newcomers to the outdoor market, such as Elephant, established three years ago, shortly before the July 2006 war with Israel, these positive outlooks are more than welcome. “Outdoor advertising is one of the branches of media with the fastest growth,” says Bernard Elrahi, marketing director at Elephant. “We expect it to boom now.” Struggling to get a good grip on market shares in an unfavorable environment until now, Elephant has just launched a wide campaign promoting its services in the greater Beirut area. “In 2009, we’ll focus on our marketing,” says Elrahi. “Our objective is to build a strong corporate identity.” Maybe the market will now     allow the company to do so.

AN END TO ANARCHY? Moreover, some municipalities that have long let anarchy prevail on the outdoor advertising landscape – leading to a chaotic jungle of billboards mushrooming along the coast – seem to be taking matters in hand. “It’s a three-level issue,” says Abi Assi. “The original law that organizes the whole industry is not implemented, mainly because the municipalities, who grant the permits, disregard it.”

The second issue is that some suppliers work without any permits at all, Abi Assi says, and, thirdly, those who do have them often try to skirt the law. “For example,” he says, “they apply for ten billboards and install more, or go beyond the area they’ve applied for. Maybe three or four of the 10 Lebanese outdoor suppliers are involved, and in Beirut, 15 to 20 percent of the 400 billboards are illegal.”

Possibly prompted by the parliamentary elections scheduled next spring and by general popular discontent, Beirut’s municipality announced at the end of November that all unauthorized billboards would have to be removed by Dec. 25. Otherwise, offenders wouldn’t be issued new permits and their expired ones wouldn’t be renewed.
A few months earlier, the municipality of Jounieh, a large coastal city 30 kilometers north of Beirut that was disfigured by chaotic advertising, took an even more radical decision, removing all panels except for unipoles and rooftops. “It was a major loss for suppliers,” says Elrahi, who admits that Elephant was among the outlaws and had to dismantle around 17 billboards installed in the wrong places “by mistake.”

But things won’t be as drastic in Beirut, where illegal billboards have blossomed only recently. “Beirut used to be a model of order,” says Vincenti. “There never used to be that many illegal billboards. Over the past six months, around 50 new ones have been installed illegally. These are the ones targeted by the Beirut municipality. But the capital must be protected, not to mention the fact that the market is disrupted.”

Though the announcement surprised few – in Lebanon, such decisions are occasionally announced but don’t stay implemented for long – the directive is still perceived as a good sign. “We pay a major amount of money to work legally, so there’s no reason why others shouldn’t,” says Elrahi. “Besides, it’s not acceptable that some suppliers keep installing panels randomly, destroying the environment. So this type of decision helps us move forward and helps the industry as a whole. We support it totally.”

“Provided the decision is really implemented, it could possibly lead to an increase in prices, even though that would probably be marginal,” says Abi Assi.

Following a meeting with the industry, the deadline was postponed to Jan. 5. The companies involved pledged to take the necessary steps in order to respect this decision.

In this context of reorganization and of burgeoning hope, suppliers are now looking forward to establishing a long-awaited syndicate to better organize the industry. “It’s near completion,” says Vincenti. “ We’re just waiting for the approval of the labor ministry.”

Good things come to those who wait, they say. Lebanese outdoor suppliers have been waiting for three years and – unlike those elsewhere – now seem convinced that 2009 will be a rewarding year.

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