Digital Out of Home (DOOH) is the Hottest Medium to Reach Consumers On-The-Go

The DOOH (digital out of home) industry is thriving, which means location data has cemented its place in technology’s present and future.

Barry Frey Leave a Comment
Digital Out of Home (DOOH) is the Hottest Medium to Reach Consumers On-The-Go

Digital out of home (DOOH) media revenues worldwide are up 13% this year, with the U.S. estimated to expand by more than 10%. In actual dollars, that’s more than $3 billion in the U.S. and $13.4 billion globally.

These numbers are from PQ Media’s 2017 Global OOH Forecast, which also states that consumer exposure to digital out of home (DOOH) screens grew 9% this year.

And there is more exciting news to come, as Media Village/Jack Myers forecasts a 12.8% growth rate for DOOH in 2018.

All of this, of course, at a time when the rest of the ad market is lukewarm at best.

There are myriad reasons for DOOH’s outstanding growth and bullish outlook, but one of the biggest is its ability to not only reach — but actually target — consumers on the go.

Our society is more mobile, active and urban than ever before. And great location data companies like GroundTruth enable the effective targeting and re-targeting of today’s consumers.

Additionally, the audiences for ad-supported media inside the home is both shrinking and fragmenting.

According to Nielsen, traditional television viewing has been decreasing steadily year-over-year across most demographics. Similarly, time spent on desktops is down 12% since 2013.

Which leads us back to DOOH’s ability to actually target on-the-move consumers.

DOOH & Mobile Go Together like Milk and Cookies

Unlike many other media, DOOH is not threatened by mobile; quite the opposite, in fact.

The two activate and enhance each other. Together, they offer data maximization, customer impression targeting, multi-screen re-targeting, geo-fencing and attribution.

From Wi-Fi sniffing, to facial detection, to aggregating mobile IDs (in anonymous fashion), more and more companies are using some kind of location data to gauge who is in front of or near a screen to serve the appropriate ads or retarget the same consumers via their smart phones.

Companies like Intel, Bulzi, SITO Mobile, Hivestack, Vistar Media, Ubimo, AdMobilize, PlaceIQ, Measurence, Quividi, BoardActive, Linkett, Adpack, Imageonix and a host of others are in the location business, and see how location and DOOH lead to more effective and efficient advertising for brands.

And so it’s fair to say that location data is the new cookie, as noted by Andreas Soupliotis, CEO, Hivestack.

Companies like Hivestack and Broadsign with its new programmatic platform leverage valuable location data for advertisers and media owners.

DOOH is Out-and-About

This is not just theory; DOOH networks and their brand partners are using these tools today.

Lamar Advertising, for example, is serving real-time Chevy Challenger ads based on traffic patterns in proximity to highway screens.

Adspace can target State Farm Insurance Campaigns to homeowners or renters or auto owners by leveraging this important data source.

At a recent Advertising Week panel, Scott Marden, Captivate’s CMO, said his company uses facial recognition to serve specific ads based on the mood of the person in front of the elevator screen.

They also measure store and website visitation lift among Captivate viewers, and retarget them via mobile so they can be reached outside the office on nights and weekends, when they are most likely to be shopping.

Related: 8 Reasons to be Pumped for This Year’s Digital Signage Expo

Marta Martinez, CRO of Intersection, said her company utilizes such data as location, temperature, time of day and more to present relevant content to city pedestrians.

Intersections’ screens feature sound and motion-activated content that can be adjusted for noise levels and the number of people walking by the screens.

Escaping the “Smart City”

Martinez refers to this as “physical native” content, and she eschews the term “Smart Cities” for the more consumer-focused “Responsive Cities.”

Chris Polos, VP/GM of Verifone’s Taxi Media, says his company uses dynamic creative on taxi tops to provide real-time data, sponsored by United Airlines, on how long it will take to get from the taxi’s exact location in Manhattan to JFK and Newark airports.

Location data is indeed the new cookie, and it has truly been a game changer for the DOOH industry and the brands benefiting from this exciting technology and the data it produces.

Author Barry Frey will present Session 3 entitled, “Location Data – Making DOOH Smarter,” at Digital Signage Expo 2018 on Wednesday, March 28 at 9 a.m. at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Visit DSE’s website for more information.

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