With the introduction of programmatic, digital out-of-home is challenging decades-worth of media buying industry standards. Yet, as with any change, there is a learning curve to truly grasp the concept.
Innovate:NY, a panel hosted by The Ad Club of New York, aimed to ease this learning curve by demystifying digital out-of-home and explaining how media buyers can make the most of this powerful advertising medium.
Our very own director of business development, Stephanie Gutnik, led the discussion, as panelists Andea Campbell, partner and director of analytics and insights at MEC, and Ian Mirmelstein, SVP of digital engagement at Adspace Networks, shared their insights on how digital out-of-home is shaping the future of the advertising industry.
In case you couldn’t make it, we’ve recapped the main takeaways from the panel.
1. Speak their language
Traditionally, the out-of-home industry used a particular lingo to describe their screens and audiences, a lingo that didn’t translate directly to terms digital media buyers were familiar with. This meant that digital out-of-home was treated as a rogue silo, never quite fitting in with its other digital media counterparts.
To communicate with this new audience, it’s necessary to use terminology and language already common to advertisers and media buyers. This will help them understand the benefits of out-of-home and better compare the medium to the media channels they currently work with on a daily basis.
“Speak to reach, speak to the funnel and attribution. Speak their language.”
Andea Campbell
Creating common language is the first step in reining in the rogue silo and ensuring digital out-of-home’s successful integration into the media buying world.
2. Let the numbers tell the story
Adding out-of-home to a marketing campaign can increase reach by up to 300%. However, out-of-home doesn’t follow the same one-to-one reach statistics that marketers are used to. This means advertisers, digital media buyers in particular, can’t necessarily understand the true impact of DOOH.
“Data, addressability, measurability is what marketers care about, simple as that.” – Ian Mirmelstein
The DPAA and IAB are working to standardize the way reach, impression and other metrics are calculated in order to make sure that DOOH can fit into a campaign as easily as mobile, online and social media currently do. This will allow media buyers to see a 360-degree view of their digital campaign.
3. Get ready for the programmatic future
It’s predicted that programmatic will receive the largest media spend in 2018. Yet for DOOH to make the most of this trend, media buyers must prepare their inventory and business processes for programmatic. This includes ensuring language and numbers are in line with what buyers are used to and integrating with an SSP to make inventory available to them.
“It’s the media owners job to help connect the dots to solve their problems and get people to understand what this category offers.”
Ian Mirmelstein
As members of the digital out-of-home industry, we must also remember that out-of-home is a new concept to many media buyers and therefore, it’s important for industry leaders to join the programmatic conversation. There are many benefits to using DOOH in a media campaign and it’s up to us to make sure this is known far and wide.
“It’s never the wrong time to knock on doors about these opportunities.”
Andea Campbell
Digital out-of-home has the ability to challenge the status quo. As a new addition to the programmatic buying package, advertisers have the ability to further tell their story and reach an even broader audience.
