To watch the full interview, click here.
For most consumers, bars are a place to drink, socialize, and be entertained. But for one Stockholm-based media owner, bar networks represent an immense opportunity for reaching audiences with engaging digital out-of-home advertising campaigns. Enter TVM DOOH, a DOOH media company lighting up screens with eye-catching ad experiences across bar scenes in Sweden and the United States.
We recently spoke with Tom Yates, Chief of Product at TVM DOOH to get his insights on everything from the company’s expansive OOH network to how programmatic advertising is helping create the most engaging ad experiences for audiences.
A pioneer in bar advertising
Founded in 2017, the company quickly became an integral part of Sweden and the USA’s OOH market with strategically-placed digital signage in over 2500 venues. Today, TVM DOOH is expanding throughout the United States with over 6000 screens across both markets, earning them over 1.5 billion impressions per month. Describing the company as a fast-growing ‘scale-up’, Tom’s role ensures the successful implementation of screens in venues, which can now be up to 200 new locations per month.
According to Tom, a key factor that sets TVM DOOH apart from other publishers is its ability to add a layer of entertainment to advertising environments in its network. Once the DOOH screens are installed, bar owners are given an application that allows them to use the screens as a digital marketing platform for their bar. Bar owners can upload personalized content to the app, which is then displayed on DOOH screens in real-time. Content can include food and beverage promotions, sports news, live Twitter feeds, and more, creating a fun and interactive environment for audiences that doesn’t feel like traditional advertising.
As Tom explains, these interactive screens are very compelling from a bar owner’s perspective as they can display fun content that adds to the overall atmosphere of a venue. “We want our visitors to love our screens,” he says. On the buy-side, advertisers can ensure that screens are always on and well-positioned in an age-gated environment. As bars are prime social settings with long-dwell times, the ads that run across TVM DOOH’s screens capture audience attention for more extended periods compared to subway screens, for example, resulting in good, high-quality display impressions.
Creating ad experiences with pDOOH
One medium contributing to the company’s growth is programmatic DOOH, with programmatic ad spend across their network reaching tens of thousands of dollars per day. “We’re very passionate about programmatic,” says Tom, “I believe this is the future of advertising.” For Tom, what sets pDOOH apart from traditional OOH is its ability to deliver targeted, contextual impressions. “Today, people are looking at impressions and want to know that those impressions are real,” he says. All of TVM DOOH’s screens are individually rated, giving buyers confidence when it comes to impression metrics.
Additionally, pDOOH ads can be adjusted based on factors like inventory, events, time of day, and more. The team at TVM DOOH can communicate with venues to find out if a particular product, like a certain alcohol brand, is in stock. If the venue has inventory, it can automatically be targeted through pDOOH platforms, and the advertiser can display ads in that particular bar within minutes. When it comes to campaign success, the company has evaluated several brand lifts for alcohol and iGaming campaigns. “We’ve found up to a 400% brand lift and up to 400% more deposits for gaming companies,” says Tom. “We’ve been told that [DOOH] has been 5x more effective than other channels for an iGaming campaign that ran in Sweden.” With beverage sales in bars specifically, the company has observed a 200% increase in sales for a major alcohol brand.
In the U.S., the publisher also works with iGaming companies in 21 states. Media buyers can choose their ad spend by state and can make changes on a day-by-day basis, adjusting spend per location based on how well each campaign is doing. “The good thing about programmatic is that the buyer can change their creatives themselves based on each campaign or location. For us, we can start earning revenue from day zero. Inventory is uploaded to the platform and we, along with advertisers, can start earning money right away” says Tom.
Entertainment giants such as Live Nation and Madison Square Garden have also worked with TVM DOOH to run programmatic campaigns that allow them to change ad spend based on ticket sales, availability, and other factors. Additionally, the company has worked with US government agencies to deliver anti-drinking and driving messaging in bars, displaying a live map of available taxis or Ubers in the area.
The future of programmatic DOOH
With the looming elimination of third-party cookies, Tom predicts that new privacy regulations will push ad spend onto other channels. “I see the future going 100% programmatic,” he says. Geolocation, and the analysis methods that rely on geolocation, will be extremely important when it comes to measurement as it will allow advertisers to analyze targeted groups of people on a macro level.
According to Tom, there are also some skill and tech barriers that the industry as a whole needs to overcome to support the wider adoption of pDOOH. There need to be improvements in data analysis, for example, so buyers and media owners alike can better understand which venues have the best impressions and which venues are the best to target.
Working with Broadsign Reach SSP
To help with the company’s rapid expansion across Sweden and the USA, TVM DOOH turned to Broadsign Reach SSP to scale its network of strategically-placed digital screens. “Quite often, media buyers and brands will want to choose their own programmatic platforms, so we allow them to do that by ensuring that we’re available on the biggest DSPs and SSPs,” says Tom.
“We’re very proud to be one of the first place-based publishers in Europe to be integrated onto Broadsign. Broadsign is a name that I’ve wanted to cross off my list for several years because it’s always been its own player, which is an awesome business model. Now we have access via API, we are excited to jump on board!”
Tom Yates, Chief of Product at TVM DOOH
As TVM DOOH continues to create advertising experiences across bar networks, the Broadsign platform will help ensure that the company can fully leverage programmatic capabilities while working with advertisers to create engaging and impactful campaigns for both advertisers and audiences.
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