Why programmatic OOH is the disruptor as display’s dominance weakens

Gavin Wilson, chief revenue officer at VIOOH states the case for programmatic OOH

Programmatic Out Of Home (prOOH) advertising has come a long way in the last year or so.

Yes there has been a pandemic ,which impacted OOH more than other channels, but it has also proven to be an accelerant to how the channel trades digital out of home impressions.

In fact, more than ever before, prOOH has had to work hard to justify its place on media plans, at a time where it’s been incredibly easy for brands or agency planners to cite lower traffic volumes and decreased exposure.

We’ve been faced with questions such as where does prOOH sit on a media plan? Which audience am I really targeting? How efficient is it? And aren’t there other channels better suited to prOOH over the last 12 months?

Thankfully, OOH has used this time to robustly answer all of these questions, and cement its value offering. It has a clear role to play in amplifying and enhancing cross channel campaigns at all stages of the advertising funnel.

The demise of display

Other channels are going through an even tougher time than prOOH. Channels like display and performance display advertising are faced with seismic long-term challenges that are yet to be solved, not least the demise of the third-party cookie.

According to Statista, display advertising drives US$92 billion for the American market alone. Once the golden child of performance, it’s been no secret that third-party cookies are being phased out and the industry needs a solution, and fast.

Whether Google’s FLoC is this long-term solution remains to be seen, but display is slowing, and at a sizeable rate.

In my personal view, planners, buyers and marketers are increasingly looking at display advertising with some scepticism.

What will the third-party cookie ruling really mean? Is Google’s FLoC the long-term solution? How will consumers react to alternative means of data capture and will brands make up for that challenge by building their own first-party data assets and strategy?

This creates a degree of uncertainty, which allows for another channel to carve out its role in delivery and fulfilment. In my opinion, the programmatic outdoor ecosystem can fill that gap and drive a viable alternative offering, as a result of many of these issues being non-existent in the out of home arena.

Why prOOH?

There are no cookies, there are no third-party data capture challenges, and prOOH is 100% brand safe.

OOH ads never appear alongside unscrupulous content, or experience viewability issues, all of the additional ‘baggage’ that display advertising is desperate to leave at the door.

eMarketer reports that the appetite for programmatic display advertising is slowing down in the US, with growth predicted to slow from 24% to 18%, equating to a real figure of a 25% drop in advertising spend.

This equates to $23 billion of potential advertising spend in the US alone that needs a new home. The moment is now for us all to help drive the rationale and context as to why prOOH is the viable, reliable and sensible choice for that spend.

prOOH is a relatively new way of trading a traditional media channel and it’s still finding its feet across some areas, such as measurement.

However, as both a performance and brand opportunity, it’s the mass scale that outdoor has been renowned for, coupled with the added efficiencies of programmatic, that is really driving interest globally.

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Buyers are increasingly asking if they can get outdoor ads as a programmatic option.

Why wouldn’t they use it to compliment any direct buying they may still want to secure from their direct relationship with a media owner or SSP?

Outdoor, and programmatic outdoor, become a combination of alternative always-on and trigger-based media to fulfil major launches or sales targets, delivering huge impact. They complement each other but, of course, the additional spend needs to come from somewhere and it needs justifying in every organisation.

Which media channels are best?

What is not in dispute however is the increased use of other media channels by both marketers and consumers alike. Think of your own media consumption… We’re in front of screens for many more hours a day via Zoom, Teams or Hangouts, and often glued to a mobile device when we’re not in front of a larger screen.

However, the Harris Poll confirmed that personal device fatigue is increasing, and with it comes an apathy to media consumption across those devices.

Coupled with an ever growing desire to be out and about with lockdown restrictions easing, we want to move freely around our cities, suburbs and countries, a strong and genuine demand for outdoor media consumption is being generated.

The premium qualities of OOH have never been questioned, with its often superbly located frames in prominent locations. But now, more than ever, comes the perfect blend of location, with a willingness to digest great content and targeting to address audiences in new environments, and all in a newly craved format of delivery.

The merits are perhaps more enhanced now than ever before, as consumers strive for a consumption of media that they’ve been less exposed to in the past year. One that is tailored to targeting many, is relevant for all and different to the norm.

PrOOH yields that flexibility that perhaps other channels also offer and, if we want to give a straight comparison to display, both channels can compete in hyper flexible buying that allows for reactive and proactive planning.

From a data perspective however, prOOH has no third=party cookie challenges, because there aren’t any. It has no data governance or market nuance challenges like GDPR or the CCPA, as all data is anonymised cross-channel or based on multiple generic audiences.

As I’ve mentioned, there are no viewability issues or brand safety topics to consider.

Brand or performance opportunity?

As VIOOH’s Q4 2020 State of the Nation report showcased, the addition of programmatic is enabling OOH to carve out its own positioning stance as both an upper funnel customer awareness driver, as well as offering a lower funnel and direct response and engagement role.

PrOOH has an omnichannel role integral for influencing both new and loyal customers and that’s becoming ever apparent to those that trial the channel.

With 53% of respondents claiming prOOH is useful for brand-led campaigns and 59% stating it was the right channel for performance, clearly some people are still undecided as to its best purpose. Arguably, the channel wears two hats, both of equal importance, both interchangeable to suit a need.

So I’ll leave it up to you to decide. Is this a brand or performance opportunity? What I hope is that prOOH is the channel that explodes as a viable alternative to display, and at a time where display is losing billions of dollars of advertising spend. A perfect recipe? Time to invest? I’ll let you decide.