Is there a shortage of billboards on EDSA?

While the general public feels that there is an oversupply of billboards on Metro Manila's main thoroughfare, EDSA, brand managers and media planners are feeling the pinch of dwindling billboard supply. "There are less billboards to choose from these days.", says one brand manager who feels that their outdoor advertising plans for 2011 may be disrupted due to their advertising agency's failure to deliver available billboard sites along EDSA.

It is obvious that the billboard industry has already picked up from the time of Typhoon Milenyo in 2006 when Senator Miriam Santiago lashed out with a bill known as the Anti-Billboard Blight bill. Unfortunately, the passage of the law did not see the light of day. Penned at about the same time of the Miriam bill against billboards was Administrative Order 160 which was put into effect by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.



So now the billboards on EDSA are back. Yet, the brand managers are clamoring for more spaces to choose from. Last year showed us that there was an ongoing dispute between two entities who were battling for the concession to operate the outdoor advertising circuit of the MRT. As of this writing, it looks like the conflict is unresolved. And so, with the fate of the MRT concession still unsettled, we are looking at about 700 ad spaces on EDSA which are unused. Hence, advertisers are left with the choices of roadside billboards.

It also does not help that the Mother of All Billboards in EDSA GUADALUPE is currently being dismantled. Word is out that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila is no longer interested in making money off the sacred property at Edsa Guadalupe.

This churns out frustration among media planners who cannot implement their billboard campaigns due to an obvious lack of supply.

---

In case you are looking for an EDSA BILLBOARD, you can CLICK HERE and get a response within 24 hours.