The power of out-of-home (OOH) advertising has never been in doubt. Big, bold and in-your-face but also simple, concise and to-the-point, it’s always been a statement-making, awareness-building go-to for savvy brands. The evolution of technology - and more recent enhancements of digital signage - gave this traditional medium a shot in the arm, with dynamic messaging allowing for smarter, more timely campaigns, along with interactivity.
But now, programmatic buying is proving to be the game-changer. Data allows programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) to hone in on key targets and personalize audiences in real time. Now DOOH is able to compete with online advertising in terms of targeting and prompting consumer action right through the funnel, while also providing big-billboard glory.
As Scott Mitchell, managing director of Canada for Vistar Media, explains: “As consumers become more educated on data privacy and cognisant of how their data is being used, advertisers should consider what their investments look like across mediums that aren’t cookie dependent and are less intrusive, such as out-of-home media.”
Here are five ways the programmatic shift is shaking up both the DOOH channel and the campaigns of brands that are tapping into it.
1 Agile campaigns – by design
Switching messaging and activating campaigns only at the most important times was an impossible dream for our analogue grandparents. But programmatic DOOH means displaying ads at certain trigger points, such as a specific time of day, before peak traffic or when the weather’s just right.
That’s what Rain-X took advantage of in a DOOH initiative to increase awareness, consideration and purchase intent for its ClearView windshield washer fluid across Canada.
The campaign leveraged advanced technology that put static digital and video ads in front of consumers specific to four unique conditions: rain, snow, sleet and any weather. Paired with proximity activations near Canadian Tire and Walmart locations — where consumers could purchase the Rain-X products — the effort sought to drive male car owners, aged 18 to 44, into stores to get the windshield washer fluid they need to see clearly and feel safe on the road.
Research shows that the campaign moved the needle for Rain-X. Consumers were nearly five times more likely to visit a store when exposed to the DOOH ads over static display, with a third of exposed consumers planning to buy ClearView within the next six months. The brand also won the pole position for awareness, preference and message association among its competitive set.
2 Content that’s noticed – and super-relevant
Programmatic DOOH provides the opportunity for fresh and lively creative that can offer contextualized messaging to suit different audiences in different places, at different times — which is essential in our omnichannel world.
Pioneering clothing retailer Levi’s, with a long history in standout creative, developed a localized strategy to boost awareness, consideration, purchase intent and – importantly – store visits at several of its flagship Canadian locations.
By strategically placing its messaging on screens in several Canadian cities, the brand sought to reach consumers when shopping was already top of mind. It targeted billboards, bus shelters and retailers within one kilometer of its flagship malls — including the Eaton Centre, Yorkdale and Vaughan Mills in the GTA, Polo Park in Winnipeg and Rideau in Ottawa — with a data-driven campaign that blended analytics with the strategic placements.
The results spoke for themselves: Levi’s, already a leader in its category, saw store visits increase by more than 50%, while purchase intent more than doubled.
3 When and where – it matters
While other channels might allow for targeted messaging and personalization, programmatic DOOH does all this and more by pairing the use of analytics and data with the ability to deliver unskippable and unblockable messaging directly to a targeted audience.
Alberta Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) is a not-for-profit organization supporting women entrepreneurs. It faced the challenge of both recruiting more members and bringing greater awareness to its organization outside the province at a time when higher inflationary pressures and the cost of living are weakening entrepreneurship across the country.
To achieve its goals, AWE’s first DOOH campaign prioritized geography while layering key audience attributes so its ads landed before a very specific audience: women who are small business owners, aged 18 to 34, with a company revenue under $500,000. The organization broadened its reach beyond Alberta by activating campaign messaging across Toronto, Vancouver, Regina, St. John’s, Winnipeg and Montreal.
The creative focused on key challenges women entrepreneurs face, such as limited funding, scarce mentorship opportunities and underrepresentation in male-dominated fields, with clear calls to action (CTAs).
Post-campaign research showed that it worked, with a +178% increase in brand awareness, plus a +266% lift in consideration and a +273% boost to sign-up intent.
The effort “was an exciting new use of technology for AWE,” said Alycia Benson, AWE’s marketing coordinator, which helped the organization better understand the national landscape for women entrepreneurship while enabling it to collect data that could be used for future marketing
4 Outsized reach – tailored budgets
Programmatic DOOH offers advertisers outsized consumer reach for their investment.
With a wide array of formats on offer, the channel can put a brand’s message in front of a consumer’s eyes at just the right moment — and for just the right price. From billboards and bus shelters to place-based and point-of-purchase screens, a campaign can reach thousands of consumers in a contextually relevant manner, as they travel through their day.
Programmatic technology enhances DOOH by allowing for more frequent placement across multiple premium locations, instead of dedicating a significant spend to a single ad on a high-profile screen.
Consider AWE’s campaign: by targeting its core audience in locations they were most likely to visit — such as office buildings, salons, schools and gyms — while layering in placements on billboards and at transit stations, the organization was able to capture attention throughout its audience’s day to promote key programs. This all played directly into their significant increases in brand awareness, consideration and sign-up intent.
With programmatic DOOH, brands have the chance to make each moment hugely effective if they zero in on a strong concept and nail the delivery.
5 Turbo-boosted creative – with consumers’ help
Programmatic DOOH is easy to integrate into a larger omnichannel marketing plan. Replicating and reinforcing messages from billboards to other channels gives your campaigns greater reach and impact.
But the DOOH buy is also about introducing mass to the mix. If you’re running a weekend of social media activity, for example, programmatic DOOH allows you to serve up a targeted weekday reminder of the same message. Seamless integration across channels is vital, building trust while increasing both engagement and reach.
In fact, no other channel has its ad activations shared across social media as much as DOOH. Your ads become social content, with consumers spreading your message between them.
And this is perhaps one of the most powerful points for where DOOH has arrived. The numbers don’t lie.
According to the Canadian Out-of-Home Marketing and Measurement Bureau (COMMB):
- 70% of Canadian consumers take an action after seeing OOH ads
- 73% of consumers pay attention to outdoor media, 52% pay attention to transit and 68% pay attention to place-based media
- 49% of shoppers are “active, alert and interested” when outside their homes, leading to a higher-than-average retention of OOH ads messages
It’s clear that, for brands of all sizes, programmatic DOOH consistently drives awareness, consideration and action - all the way down the funnel.
“Consumers now expect brands to make personalized and meaningful connections with them, which is completely warranted given the number of ads they’re exposed to each day,” said Vistar’s Mitchell. “With this in mind, many of our clients are now focused on how they can reach their customers in real time in the real world, create highly personalized creative, and accurately measure the resonance of their campaigns — all of which DOOH delivers.”
Find out more about how programmatic is making DOOH more effective for brands.
