Digital Out-Of-Home Examples
The OOH industry is experiencing rapid change in technology, audience behavior, and economics. At the same time, new research data is changing the way we think about many elements of OOH advertising effectiveness. The goal of this Foot Tag is to provide some examples of these key changes and digital out-of-home examples. As an introduction, it's important to start with some information on how the industry has evolved at a high level from its inception 100 years ago through today.
A brief history of outdoor advertising
This relatively young medium had humble beginnings, with billboards first appearing in highly-traveled areas like busy intersections and train stations around 1885.
Over time, more targeting options were added so advertisers could reach specific audiences by location (e.g., near schools or colleges) or demographics (e.g., only women). Billboard sizes have grown over the years, with current posters measuring 36" x 48", while some digital billboards are up to 6 stories tall.
Billboards started out black and white but transitioned to full color in the 1950s because of advancements in printing technologies. Large-format displays followed suit, gaining resolution by using moving images instead of static images around 1970 along with brighter backlight technologies for better visibility at night.
Though these were big advances at the time, 4K ultra HD displays became available in 2010, offering four times more pixels than traditional HD solutions which increased readability across all distances.
By this point, the print was starting to hit its limits when it came to billboard size so movie screens, a technology that had been in place since the 1980s, were adapted for outdoor advertising in the late 2000s with a number of new players entering this space.
Along with these technical advancements came advances in media planning and buying techniques. The industry has responded to the increase in available media options by segmenting audiences into smaller groups so more businesses can reach their target customers without spending large sums of money on mass-market campaigns.
In addition, total audience measurement solutions have made it possible to measure impressions accurately across all dimensions from brands, products, or brands with specific attributes through to context-based targeting such as travel times, weather conditions, and even emotions.
This greater level of measurement provides better information for advertisers when making advertising decisions including what size displays work best for their campaigns, which media partners are most effective, and how to target specific audiences without overpaying.
These changes have led to a growing number of marketers integrating OOH into their marketing mix with the goal of providing more relevant messages amidst an array of other options including online, mobile, social media, and search.
This type of integrated campaign is delivering better results than traditional advertising channels alone because it provides brand impression immediacy - knowing that someone saw your ad within minutes or hours after you spent your money - along with deeper consumer engagement that has been shown to be 9x greater than digital ads alone. Because OOH allows marketers to connect directly with audiences at various moments in space and time, marketers can choose when they want to speak to consumers through the use of audio, video, still images, and location-based technology.
Digital out-of-home examples
Leveraging these types of advancements in the industry, a growing number of marketers have been using OOH as a channel for traditional, digital, and even interactive types of media. A few examples are listed below:
Conversations with consumers have shown that many advertisers aren't aware that their brand could be running on a digital billboard or that they could do something to increase engagement during the campaign.
New opportunities continue to present themselves as well - including turning static spaces into high impact screens by overlaying dynamic content from various sources including social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter; converting existing screen space into smaller displays through split-runs, or even having screens display individually targeted ads that are relevant to different audiences depending on location.
Other options include the use of QR codes, beacons, and push notifications with in-screen messages in order to provide marketers with deeper consumer engagement metrics including location, movement, and time in order to make better decisions around their media plans.
As more marketers embrace these advancements, OOH will continue to become an increasingly important part of the marketing mix for both B2B and B2C brands alike. By providing direct access to an audience that is estimated to be larger than any other media platform in existence, the future of OOH continues to look bright for not only advertisers but also businesses and consumers alike. Whenever you pass by a digital billboard, remember that it could be tracking everything from your speed when you passed by to what type of clothes you were wearing!
So these were some digital out-of-home examples. To know more about DOOH advertising visit our Fastedege.