The question is not whether an
asset can be sold.
The question is whether the buyer
misses it when it is gone.
Independent judgement on pricing power, dependency and revenue durability in Out of Home.
THE REMOVAL TEST / A COMMERCIAL DIAGNOSTIC FOR OUT OF HOME
Most OOH analysis focuses on what can be sold. The Removal Test focuses on
what buyers actually protect, remove or continue funding under pressure.
That distinction matters commercially.
Take a medium out of the plan and observe what breaks. If nothing breaks, it was a substitute. If reach, credibility or pricing power collapse, it was structural.
The test applies to formats, relationships and routes to market. It is not a forecasting model.
It is a dependency test.
01
What does this revenue depend on?
02
What happens to the buyer's plan when it is removed?
03
What is left when the relationship or route to market changes?
Premium is what buyers protect.
The revenue follows the buyer, not the environment.
THE REMOVAL TEST PRIVATE ARCHIVE
The archive is for senior operators, investors, infrastructure owners and acquirers of OOH businesses or assets who need to understand where revenue is structurally durable and where it is supported by workflow, supply growth or market convention.
It is designed to help decision makers identify structural strength, substitution risk, pricing pressure and revenue dependency before those conditions become visible in reported performance.
The work is organised around recurring commercial questions. What holds, what is carried and what survives pressure.
Archive access includes:
Full published briefing series
Archive compendium
Executive summary of the complete archive
Contents map by theme
Board level reading guide
Special briefing papers
Global OOH Market Opportunity
Private notes
Series updates for 12 months
Named user access only.
Individual access
£750
One named user.
Personal access only.
Corporate access
£2,500
Internal use by up to 5 named users within one organisation. Not for external distribution.
Apply for archive access
COMMERCIAL DIAGNOSTICS FOR OOH DECISIONS
Commercial diagnostics are fixed scope written outputs for specific OOH decisions.
Used when a business, investor or owner needs an independent view on pricing power, revenue
dependency, route to market or structural risk.
Structural Verdict
A written commercial verdict on a specific asset, format or revenue position. Used before acquisition, refinancing, renewal or structural change.
Revenue Position Review
A structured assessment of where a business sits in the OOH market. Covers pricing power, route to market, dependency exposure and revenue durability. Used when a board, investor or operator is facing a consequential commercial decision.
Work is accepted only where the context is clear and the question matters.
RICHARD BLACKBURN
More than four decades inside the commercial mechanics of Out of Home.
The work has spanned media ownership, specialist planning and buying, sales leadership, infrastructure concessions, route to market design and board level commercial decisions.
What became clear over time is this: most outcomes are not determined by creative, buying, or short term performance. They are locked in by structural decisions made early: agreements mistaken for demand, cost bases built on rates buyers will no longer accept, and revenue that appears stable until substitution makes it visible.
The Removal Test emerged from watching how buyers behave when pressure arrives: when budgets tighten, plans are rebuilt, and substitutes become easier to access.
The question is rarely whether something can be sold. The harder, more commercial question is whether the buyer still protects it when it matters.
That distinction is the work of Let’s Play On.
CONTACT
If the context is right, the next step is
straightforward.
Commercial Diagnostics
Email richard@letsplayon.com with a short note outlining the context and question.
Private Archive
Requests for access should be sent to brief@theremovaltest.com.
Let’s Play On Limited
Company number 16804276
Registered office: C/O Lawrence Rose Ltd, 7 Basepoint Business Centre, Rivermead Drive, Swindon, England, SN5 7EX