That pain is already being felt by Global’s rivals. Clear Channel Outdoor, the Texas-based advertising giant with 450,000 displays across 31 countries, is stripping out costs of $125m (£98m) after revenue fell 39pc to $199.7m during the second quarter.
Revenues at JCDecaux also dropped 41pc to €1.1bn (£1bn) for the six months to June.
Brian Wieser, GroupM’s global president of business intelligence, said outdoor advertising was suffering in popular tourist areas. “[Outdoor advertising] is more heavily skewed towards luxury because it targets tourists in prominent locations,” he added. “As a marketer, you want to be in prominent locations, but if the tourists you are trying to reach aren’t there, then you are not going to be there.”
Global response
Global has responded to the crisis. At the beginning of the month, it launched Fast Flex: a service that places adverts on buses within 72 hours of booking. Global claims it will hand advertisers “greater date flexibility” and “absolute peace of mind” around further lockdowns by guaranteeing campaigns can be removed within 48 hours.
Macleod says his group has also been helping companies like Global by using TfL advertising to fill vacant spaces. Even with this support, the outdoor advertising industry will have to make sacrifices to keep companies on side. Yet there are only so many cut-price deals a business can do before it starts to hurt the bottom line.
John Lyttle, the chief executive of fast-fashion retailer Boohoo, has halted all advertising on the London Underground despite paying for big campaigns in the past. “We still have been booking outside billboards in key traffic areas, but definitely not the tube,” he added. “We have held train station and airport advertising even though traffic has been reduced, due to attractive pricing. No doubt bigger spending is going the digital route and still some TV, depending on markets.”
The way ahead will bring new challenges for Global, a rare media company that has been on the front foot for the past decade. Tabor-King and chief executive Stephen Miron began restructuring the business in July, warning staff of “substantial” job cuts due to the “dreadful situation” and “revenue challenges” that would be “longer and deeper”.
With lockdown measures tightening and cases on the rise, it may be some time before the interference is over. After building an empire, for the first time Tabor-King may be forced into retreat.