DOOH advertising: How can marketers maximize the opportunities in 2024?
Here, IAB UK interview some of the DOOH members to reveal how to maximize the channel's effectiveness this year.
Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising rebounded strongly after the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and is set to form 75% of the OOH advertising market in 2027, according to new IAB Compass findings.
As the shift towards digital-first advertising continues apace, what exciting possibilities does DOOH hold for marketers? And what brands are knocking it out of the park? Here, members of the IAB’s DOOH group share their insights.
What opportunities can marketers capitalize on within DOOH?
Precision targeting in a mass-reach environment
Julia Connaughton (strategy director for DAX Outdoor, Global): “The most exciting thing for me is how programmatic is driving growth in the outdoor market and generating incremental spend from digital media. For advertisers, programmatic DOOH can combine precision targeting with the huge scale and visibility in the real world that outdoor offers.
"The ability to adapt creative campaigns in near real-time, reach target audiences, and overlay data triggers such as location, weather, or a brand’s first-party customer data, enables marketing campaigns to be more focused within a mass-reach environment - so I’m not surprised to see its share increase.”
New methods of storytelling
Matt Baker (OOH director, the7stars): “Full-motion DOOH screens are the perfect storytelling medium. They possess the ability to prime and optimize social media engagement and foster deeper emotional responses according to the latest research from Ocean Outdoor and Neuro-Insight.
"Across the media landscape this year, I believe that attention and tech-fuelled creativity will continue to grow as the gold standard for marketing effectiveness. These unique DOOH screens and the brand-led experiences they can create will become powerful assets in the marketing mix.”
Enhanced creative & climate conscious advertising
Lee Cutter (VP, sales, UK & emerging markets, Hivestack by Perion): “This is undoubtedly an exciting time for DOOH - we’re seeing a huge number of new partners entering the space and increasing interest in cross-border transactions. AI optimization, enhanced creative activations and climate-conscious advertising are also driving innovation and sustainability in the space. With these trends, DOOH is advancing to become an even more prominent and trusted channel within omnichannel strategies.”
Expect advancements in AI & AR
Alexei Moltchan (director of product management, Verve Group): “The beauty of DOOH is that it's a broad category, and this means there’s a lot of room for innovation and emerging sub-categories. CTV OOH is just the beginning: storefronts, cars, and buildings are all turning into advertising inventory.
"Advancements in AI and AR will play a much bigger role in DOOH, creating new digital ad formats (think holograms) and generating creative on the fly. Everything outside your home's four walls will become an ad network.”
The democratization of ad spend
Diederick Ubels (MD EMEA, Sage+Archer \ Vistar Media): “Programmatic DOOH infrastructure has democratized buying DOOH. Any brand with any budget can start experimenting with DOOH, adding data and dynamic creative to their DOOH buy. Digital brands that operate this way can now mobilize the channel seamlessly and directly on a global scale. They’re falling in love with the channel and its power for their brand and performance, which brings incremental ad spend to it.”
A dynamic tool for contextual advertising
Sabarish Pilai (global VP programmatic, Lemma Media): “As programmatic DOOH continues to secure investments from digital brands amid the evolving data landscape - especially post-cookie depreciation - the predicted surge in prDOOH's share to 16% of UK OOH ad spend by 2027 signifies its ascent.
"Beyond a medium shift, it's a revolutionary synergy of first-party data, geospatial insights, and programmatic finesse. This growth trajectory positions DOOH not just as a trend, but as a transformative force. It offers advertisers a dynamic tool for context-driven targeting and creative engagement, and the ability to reshape the narrative of public space connections through outdoor ads.”
What brands are making a mark when it comes to creative DOOH campaigns?
DOOH for social change
Megan Bogatzki (head of programmatic, Zoom Media): “ASICS and Mind joined forces on World Mental Health Day to call out performance-based exercise culture after research revealed that it’s putting people off exercise and harming their mental health. To motivate more people to exercise for their mental well-being, ASICS and Mind sought to redefine a ‘personal best’ – encouraging people to focus on how exercise makes them feel. A great example of the positive impact purpose-driven DOOH advertising can have.”
Results in real-time
Nicole Lonsdale (chief client officer, GroupM OOH): “To promote Elizabeth Line services from Heathrow, GroupM OOH, DOOH.com and Wavemaker combined live train departure times with live flight arrival data to personalize content on screens around baggage carousels. Train departure times were displayed in different languages tailored to the origin of each flight to deliver a campaign that provided genuine utility for travelers. Over 12,960 creatives ran, resulting in a significant increase in passengers using the Elizabeth Line, demonstrating what real-time DOOH personalization at scale can offer brands.”
Turning hard data into powerful creative
Diu Hoang (senior marketing manager EMEA, VIOOH): “On Running’s programmatic DOOH campaign last year, promoting the launch of their first UK store, embodies just how impactful the channel can be. With an unprecedented level of precision-targeting and data integrated from Strava, the campaign was delivered in real-time to premium DOOH screens around the Oxford Street area, during the exact moments runners were passing through - as well as displaying dynamic weather-related or running/ distance-related creatives to direct them to the store. Technology, data, plus location, at its finest.”