I grew up in Invercargill and Christchurch, so can have this view with a bit of context and maybe get some all-time Aucklanders to re-think their approach.
The dynamic where Auckland is “the big smoke”, with the lion’s share of the population, followed by Wellington with its political influence and then Christchurch. The view that everywhere else is non-existent, or less important.
This was the 2000s view of the market, and for a long time our media landscape reinforced it. For national brands, TV did the national job, big brands would invest in premium Out of Home in Auckland, Wellington, maybe Christchurch, and probably radio. Maybe you’d consider some summer hot spots in January. The regions would get the bare minimum of investment, and many brands would skip them entirely.
Because of this, regional Out of Home was low, placements were compromised and formats often felt more like a patchwork of leftover inventory than a platform fit for modern brands.
Returning to NZ in recent years – and alas, to Auckland, says the Southern me – and spending more time in regional centres, I found myself looking at regional panels thinking this doesn’t reflect the people who live here, and it certainly doesn’t reflect the brands we’re asking to invest.
Most big brands made the rational call – they largely sat regional Out of Home out.
That equation has changed.
JCDecaux SMARTFRAME is now live across regional New Zealand, and it fundamentally resets what’s possible outside the big three cities.
SMARTFRAME is designed as a premium, national Out of Home asset: seven time the size of Street Furniture, elevated along main arterials or within retail precincts for clean visibility, close to the road for scale and presence, and fully digital for dynamic, responsive creative.
The digital part is key; with many scrappy statics being what was left in the regions, a digital offering means brands can tap into the effectiveness that comes from running contextual, data led creative – a 17% uplift across attention, recall and sales metrics says JCDecaux Research*.
These are the ingredients brands have come to rely on in the main mets to deliver impact, emotion and effectiveness. The difference is that you can now apply that proven recipe in places that were previously written off as “provincial”.
The old provincial stereotype doesn’t match reality anymore.
Regional centres today are busy, diverse and economically diverse. People run businesses, work in farm tech, manufacturing, universities and research centres, and increasingly work remotely for organisations based all over the country – and the world.
Us city dwellers need to remember that around 25% of our GDP and two thirds of export earnings are based in the regions and provinces; and the people running these industries and businesses**.
Life in the regions isn’t a step behind the metros; it’s actually ‘better’ if you compare quality of life. Here at JCDecaux NZ we’ve done a deep dive into regional audiences**** and how they compare to the main mets and found this and it supported by recent Ipsos research.****
What does exist is a series of powerful, distinct pockets of demand. Disposable incomes move around farm payouts and commodity cycles – milk, beef and sheep prices– and you see that reflected in confidence, investment and consumption patterns at a regional level. Into 2026, beef and lamb prices are holding near record levels, milk payouts are above $9 and woold prices at record index.**
Many immigrants settle into secondary mets and add lifestylers who’ve chosen regional centres as their base, and you get something that looks a lot more like a modern city audience spread across the country, not just concentrated in one or two postcodes.
From a media effectiveness perspective, we know that the strongest returns come when TV, digital and Out of Home work together. For years, the weak link has been regional OUT OF HOME: gaps in coverage, inconsistent quality and formats that don’t justify the creative or the investment. With JCDecaux SMARTFRAME now deployed in the regions, that weakness becomes a strength.
You can now….
- • Plan Out of Home nationally with a single, premium standard – mets and regions
- • Run one set of creative across more than 50 SMARTFRAME sites in over 10 locations across New Zealand, with a footprint that continues to grow.
- • Deliver the same high‑impact, emotionally engaging experiences you expect in the big cities, now extended into the regional centres where New Zealand’s growth – and those pockets of demand – are happening.
- • Reach larger share of the 50% of Kiwis that live outside of the main mets, with every impression working harder due to less clutter, fast penetration and with research showing strong receptiveness to digital Out of Home.
For media agencies and marketers, this is the moment to rethink how you treat regional Out of Home. It’s no longer a box‑ticking exercise or a nice‑to‑have add‑on; it’s a scalable, premium channel that completes the national picture and enhances the ROI of your TV and digital investment.
Building the future whilst returning to my roots
As someone increasingly spending time in regional New Zealand as a weekend tourist, I’ve felt regional Out of Home wasn’t keeping pace with the people actually there.
Ex-yuppies like me who now prefer slowing down, enjoying wine, galleries and the outdoors over shopping centres or theme parks and those who have gone one step further, and made these beautiful locations their homes.
SMARTFRAME is a genuine step change. It looks and feels like the modern New Zealand you see when you spend time in these centres.
This summer, as brands compete for attention, the opportunity is clear: be first to occupy this new regional canvas while it’s still relatively uncluttered. JCDecaux SMARTFRAME has brought metro‑level Out of Home quality to the rest of New Zealand.
Coming full circle for me, Q1 2027 will see JCDecaux’s first digital site in Invercargill, another SMARTFARME, go live in one of the fastest growing regional economies. Touche Auckland.