We tend to spend a lot of time outside and on-the-go, getting from one place to the next. It’s no surprise, then, that the average global consumer is exposed to various Digital Out of Home Media for 14 minutes per week, and investments in the space are expected to grow 14.2% year-over-year between 2011 – 2017. New York City’s Fulton Center in Lower Manhattan has recently reopened, accommodating up to 300,000 daily riders and boasting more than 50 digital screens available for marketers. The largest and most expensive digital billboard debuted in Times Square this past November, with just as many pedestrians expected to pass though the area daily. The overlapping powers of digital, mobile, outdoor, and Out of Home content seem to be stepping up.
Digital Out of Home (or “DOOH” as the channel is commonly referred) encompasses a variety of screen shapes, sizes, and levels of interactivity. From digital billboards and signs on taxis, to digital signage at airport gates and gyms and waiting rooms, these varieties underline a necessary bridge between context and location in relevance and favorable recall – vital components of any media campaign. The IAB sees norms and expectations from the online advertising world informing and expediting the growth of DOOH, and the IAB’s Digital Out of Home Taskforce launched this past fall with aims to define the DOOH channel while positioning its place within the larger interactive advertising industry.
As we collectively say “hello” to 2015, the Taskforce shares its thoughts on the Top 5 Trends in DOOH.
“Top 5 Trends in Digital Out of Home”
1. Cross-platform targeting opportunities are on the rise. As mobile devices become more advanced and ubiquitous, the proliferation of captive digital screens in home and out of home has been growing. Interactions with consumers have become more prominent via new mobile technologies like NFC, beacons and more accurate geofencing capabilities. Such technologies may allow a marketer to personalize the consumer’s experience and even allow for immediate interaction.
2. DOOH will provide increasingly relevant messages in locations that matter. The amount of time spent outside and in transit is increasing in many regions. New forms of targeting and subsets have made the art of reaching specific audience segments in ideal locations easier – and in our highly distracted modern experience, a consumer’s receptivity to new concepts outside the home can be highly impactful. In fact, a recent study by YuMe and IPG Media Lab found that consumers are 41% more receptive to advertising in public places than at home, and 16% more receptive at school/work than at home. As a consumer, the device you carry with you creates a natural tie-in to your visual experience outdoors, and relevant DOOH messages enhance the value via existing screens throughout popular locations.
3. Data is (literally) where it’s at, locally and programmatically. According to BIA/Kelsey, marketers spent $1.4 billion on location-targeted mobile campaigns in 2012. By 2017, spending on location-targeted mobile advertising will reach $10.8 billion, representing a 52% share of all mobile ad dollars. (In fact, next month the IAB’s Location Data Working Group will release a primer on using location data for attribution and ad effectiveness.) DOOH is benefiting from this rapidly growing segment, using big data to reach the same mobile consumer on larger, higher impact screens and enabling marketers to craft cross-screen, location-based strategies to maximize the impact of advertising to consumers outside the home.
At the same time, finding scale and ease of buying in DOOH is being made easier through programmatic conversations and data-driven media buying. Programmatic solutions are developing in DOOH, and are leading to a deeper connection with the mobile and interactive marketplaces. Programmatic DOOH has the potential to drive standardization and reduce overall fragmentation in the marketplace. The 1st and 3rd party data sets that allow buyers and sellers to better define audiences exposed to DOOH media is also rapidly evolving. Programmatic bidding enables buyers to more accurately target the most appropriate audience, while sellers benefit from yield optimization of their media assets.
4. Out of Home creates a unique canvas for top-notch creativity. From street furniture and cinema ads to augmented reality and live experiences on outdoor screens and vehicles – the ability to build awareness and drive impressive results is getting easier in DOOH. Whether it’s part of a larger cross-media effort or a locally focused campaign, DOOH offers opportunities to reach a unique audience, creating unexpected parallels between location (as content and backdrop) and messaging. DOOH has huge potential to drive immediate impact and scale close to point of purchase; it also can garner award-winning praise and even the Direct Grand Prix at Cannes.
5. There is a rise of new measurement and addressability opportunities in DOOH. New location and mobile data sets are leading to new ways of measuring attribution in experiential and out of home media. Location, as an audience definer, is just as important to DOOH as it is to mobile advertisers. Retargeting in the real world is more than just copying the online model; the best context is location – where we are and who we are. It is about delivering real-world context and campaign messages that are close to point of purchase. A consumer’s exposure to these mediums can now be verified beyond the self-reported opportunity to see, improving marketers’ confidence in their ability to isolate the impact of DOOH from other mediums in the cross-channel mix.
Looking forward, the space is heating up. The number of digitally connected screens is growing, and all signals indicate that inventory and creative options in digital out of home media will continue to grow. Watch this space as the IAB and its DOOH Taskforce combine the talents of key players with out-of-home, mobile, local, and video expertise to build and expand upon this growth.
