Out-Of-Home (OOH) is often described as the oldest advertising medium, a broadcast channel reaching 98% of the UK population. Yet this channel has seen significant change over the last decade. Led by technology and data, OOH’s evolution from a reach-generating, awareness-building channel, to a tactical and adaptable play is an exciting one. With WARC predicting that the OOH sector will see growth of $11.5bn in 2023, surpassing expectations of any other channel, appetite for OOH continues to go from strength to strength.
It is no secret that growth in the market has been partly driven by the increase in digital formats. Digital panels increased by 11.5% between Q3 2022 to the same period in 2023 (Outsmart). This rise in digital inventory has cemented OOH’s place in the omnichannel media mix by welcoming new approaches to how the channel is planned and bought. Technology and data have enabled new spenders to dip their toes into the OOH market by amplifying digital-first campaigns with the required targeting and flexibility that wasn’t previously available.
Programmatic OOH adds another layer of opportunity to access digital inventory, thus also driving growth. The Trade Desk and Google’s DV360, two of the largest demand side platforms, now offer programmatic OOH buying within their ecosystems. Programmatic ad spend alone is set to double over the next two years.
With this evolution, we see tech and data now playing a large role in many OOH planning and buying decisions.
Starcount is proud to be part of the data-driven approach in this channel. Our data enables OOH clients from both the sell side and the buy side to create a more targeted approach in identifying inventory that reaches more of the right audience.
We offer the ability for OOH users to build custom audiences based on what they love and care about, identified through their social media behaviours, where they spend their money via Open banking data, and who they are demographically using census. As our data is mapped to a full UK postcode, users are able to understand the best areas to place their OOH campaigns to reach their target audience by using these unique data sets. What’s more, the data we offer can be applied to both classic OOH and digital campaigns.
Starcount’s data has been proven to drive an increase of 72% in exposure to target audiences. An impressive stat when considering that the OOH channel is not a 1-1 medium, it is one-many. This means that data application, from a targeting sense, will never allow you to solely reach your audience but instead should be used to help you reach more of them. Working with our partners we have created the opportunity to do just that.
In addition, our data helps OOH media owners to carve a more interesting audience-first sales story by identifying their site locations and profiling the areas they fall within. Starcount’s data is also being used to identify white space analysis for development purposes, creating a thorough data driven approach to finding new sites.
Mobile location data is also being used within OOH to go one step further in identifying best performing panels for the advertiser’s target audience. Our data can be used in conjunction with mobile location data through integrations with partners such as Adsquare to facilitate this granular approach.
That said, data and tech’s role in OOH should only be used when relevant. There will always be the need to cherry pick OOH panels for their fame driving and creative abilities – Think Ocean’s Piccadilly Lights or JCDecaux’s Waterloo Motion – both great examples of sites predominantly bought based on their location and their capability to drive stand out creative executions. Data and tech will not change this and nor should it.
As well as offering more targeting opportunities, mobile location data has also accelerated measurement capabilities. Measurement in OOH has historically been challenging, the difficulty often sits with identifying campaign exposure and matching it back to consumer action. Location data allows you to identify when OOH exposure has taken place and if that exposure has led to a change in footfall during and after the campaign period. However, its limitation comes when trying to attribute spend and measuring a financial impact of your OOH campaign.
Starcount’s open banking data can add the missing piece to this puzzle by identifying whether a campaign has led to a change in customer spend. This data is available down to a brand level for both online and offline brands and has been mapped to geo, creating an opportunity for clients to understand whether an OOH campaign has driven an uptick in metrics such as the number of transactions, transaction amount and frequency of spend (to name but a few) in the exposed geos. This data can also be compared to the brands competitors to show whether a change in market share has also been realised.
In terms of using data to identify effects on customer spend, it is also important to note OOH’s role in positively driving upper funnel metrics such as awareness, trust and consideration. It is imperative to identify the role of the channel in the wider media mix and to measure it accordingly before diving head first into using customer spend as a metric of success.
In conclusion, the OOH market is embracing its new found ability to offer clients a wider range of opportunities to access the best inventory for their audiences. Whether that be selecting sites for their impact, digital amplification through programmatic or using data to reach more of the right people. New measurement opportunities are leading to the channel becoming one of the most measurable medias (The Drum x Vistar Media). Both areas present a welcome and exciting opportunity for new and old users of the channel and Starcount are able to support across all avenues.
Please get in touch with us to find out more about how we can support you in this channel.
