The digitalization of outdoor advertisements are shaking up the way consumers interact and level with brands. Dynamic digital outdoor signage is competing with online efforts to advertise because of their programmatic approaches to target the right audiences for the message. Buying OOH screens to display moving pictures is on the rise, and advertisers are realizing that they can spread their online messages in public outdoor spaces.
Jean-Christophe Conti, the CEO of VIOOH, a global marketplace for out-of-home, stated, “Programmatic trading is a new model for the out-of-home industry, and buying out of home is a new channel for programmatic buyers, so we predict that once agencies and media buyers see the strength of programmatic OOH, ad sales will grow exponentially.” (Joseph 2018). Programmatic outdoor advertising is just one of the ways marketers can breathe new life into OOH.
Before we get started, simply to show how this tech-OOH crossover holds power, a trade organization called Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Management, which has taken into account OOH media since 1933 in the States, changed their name to Geopath in 2016 and now measures and analyzes how consumers interact with OOH ads. Geopath is now powering a smarter OOH marketplace through impressive audience location measures, insights, and market research. Digital technology can be paired nicely with OOH advertising, and this post will explain just how the two can naturally jive.
Creative Change Based on Outdoor Triggers
The first OOH trend that marketers can benefit from is by implementing change in their OOH signage based on the condition of the environment and the surrounding number of consumers. OOH advertising can be reactive based on custom triggers that prompt the advertising to change courses. For example, advertisers are able to change the creative on a billboard hovering over the highway based on the speed of traffic passing through the billboard. If the traffic is moving steady, then the advertised message may be on the shorter side of copy. If the traffic is at gridlock, then the message can change to longer form because consumers have more time to pay attention to it. Digital bus shelters and signage in outdoor marketplaces or meeting points are perfect spots for this trend. Customized signage based on what’s happening around it is both a scalable and dynamic OOH innovation.
OOH Combined with Mobile
Retargeting techniques come into play when OOH advertising is able to communicate to consumers through their mobile devices. For example, digital outdoor signage that is geofenced can retarget drivers that have already left the scene of the OOH billboard by showing them a personalized ad on their phone. If searches for buying a tent are popular in a given area, then a billboard ad for an outdoor product company may tailor their creative to promote more specialized items where the retailer can send the retargeted consumer an offer just for them.
O2, a telecommunications company in the UK, partnered with Dax and Mobsta to track mobile device IDs via Bluetooth when people passed through an OOH space. These IDs checked whether or not these targeted people visited an O2 store. On top of this device ID check, O2’s campaign for Samsung’s S8 handset applied geofencing techniques to broadcast specific ads on digital radio and Soundcloud at people within a 500m radius of the out-of-home spot. This multichannel campaign used a combination of OOH and mobile to effectively grab the highlighted consumer.
Measurement is Better Calculated Through Data
Through engaging digital OOH material, brands now have the ability to see who has been exposed to their campaigns and are able to track the responses from the consumers after they’ve seen it. Prior to this innovation, marketers had to survey consumers about their exposure to billboards but now they can find which consumers saw it and what purchase decisions they may have made afterwards. More specific segmentation and audience targeting stems from these data metrics, which makes the lives of marketers a lot easier.
Automation is King
The purchasing and exchanging of ad space was tedious in the past, but now programmatic platforms allow advertisers to purchase mobile ad space and OOH ad space in the same interface. This steers more location-based developments. Marketers and advertisers are finding it easier to upload files and deliver fast proofs to agencies using automative platforms, rather than have them go through a complicated process of personal confusion. Digital OOH executions can also deliver quick analytics anytime of the day, concluding the effectiveness of automation.
Connected Cities are Growing Cities
It’s no surprise that some of our major cities are getting behind digital OOH trends. Popular city spots offer city-based free WiFi, which no doubt contributes to the advertised messages we pick up on our mobile devices. As our cities are becoming more digitally connected, we have to wonder how marketers and advertisers can make excellent use of this momentum. Kym Frank, the CEO of Geopath, said that, “Eventually these city projects become ad-supported and become part of the out-of-home ecosystem, and we expect that to become more and more prevalent… This is a massive technology data ecosystem that we didn’t have access to 10 years ago and suddenly we have so many new toys to play with as an industry.” (Christe, 2018). And that’s just it, marketers can use these new digital toys to play around with future ad accessibility and targeting that makes the lives of advertisers and consumers even easier than it is today. These collaborations are becoming seamless.
Reflecting on these 5 OOH trends that benefit marketers, it’s understood that the impact of digital tech on outdoor advertising has the tools to heavily influence current and future generations of buyers. So, with that being said, it’s time new marketers go steady with digital OOH and make their relationship public.
References:
Christe, Dianna (12 November 2018). Top 5 out-of-home advertising trends. Marketing Dive. Retrieved from: https://www.marketingdive.com/news/top-5-out-of-home-advertising-trends/541894/
Joseph, Seb (26 September 2018). Outdoor advertising braced for its programmatic moment. Digiday UK. Retrieved from: https://digiday.com/marketing/outdoor-advertising-braced-programmatic-moment/
