By Alex Mardikian

DOOH has emerged as the savior of businesses struggling to catch the attention of a wary and jaded audience that is increasingly becoming dependent on peer recommendations and customer reviews for making purchase decisions.

If your business wishes to invest in DOOH, then you need to have perspective on what the technology can do for you. At a conceptual level, it is easy to understand. Basically, static OOH has gone digital and with this shift in technology, advertising is seeing many benefits.

The media landscape today is fragmented because the consumer is everywhere, often at two places simultaneously – online and offline. So how does one target a consumer who’s on the move, distracted, and also very demanding about where he or she places trust?

Digital OOH provides solutions where these situations can actually work to an advertiser’s advantage. Clear understanding of what DOOH can do for you will enable you to come up with creative solutions that leverage the abilities of DOOH to achieve brand objectives.

DOOH can use real time data that is authentic, and based on this information it can drive connectivity and interactivity. The messaging can be localized.

With a mobile in hand, a consume is truly mobile. He can be anywhere and still stay connected. Digital out-of-Home advertising is poised for growth because of this single factor. Today, Americans are spending nearly 16 hours-17 hours a day outside their homes. This is a 50% increase over the past twenty years. Tablets, apps, and apps are the main media that people are exposed to. DOOH can interact with these media types. For example, VODXS technology that uses faucet-based advertising in washrooms can obtain information from devices via NFC and present information most suited to the viewer.

According to OAAA, billboards command the largest market share of traditional OOH inventory – 67%. Street furniture accounts for the lowest – 5%. In 2015, eMarketer figures suggested that DOOH advertising attracted nearly $3 billion in advertising. This was around 41% of the overall spending on OOH ads. Ad spend on DOOH is growing steadily while that on static OOH is under pressure because of operations in a mature market.

DOOH works with different screen sizes and offers you choice in terms of degree of interactivity.

You can choose from many different formats that have evolved to cater to mass communication needs and to reach out to a niche audience, and very often to individuals.

Large format ads are placed at a height of more than 50 feet and are the classic billboards of yore, only today you may come across digital versions of these at high traffic junctions on highways.

Spectaculars usually carry full motion videos and are placed in areas with high footfalls and pedestrian traffic.

Custom formats can be created for different venues, such as schools, malls, casinos, and even washrooms in diverse locations. In fact, one of the best locations for a one-on-one communication with a viewer is when the person is using the faucet. The LED screen above VODXS faucets can inform and also influence viewer decisions. Even non-profit organizations, for example, churches can save on space and money with digital signage, as against regular posters, pamphlets, and billboards.

DOOH is a powerful communications medium and you need to have a plan to use it properly. Having a strategy will also allow you to purchase intelligently.

In order to strategize and incorporate DOOH into your overall marketing mix, you must first have clarity on the capabilities that DOOH puts at your disposal. You need to figure out how to use these capabilities to influence behavior. Since DOOH can make your brand omnipresent wherever the customer is when outside, you need to plan the nature and sequence of messaging for maximum effect.

Businesses that invest in DOOH appreciate analytics that can help them make informed buying decisions and plan how to integrate DOOH with online, print, and TV ads. Two agencies working toward creating standard measurement techniques for DOOH parameters include Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA) and the Digital Place Based Advertising Association (DPAA).

Businesses can access weekly impression reports collated by the Traffic Audit Bureau (TAB). These reports detail weekly impressions and ratings for DOOH and cover more than 200 demographics. With a report like this, you can make an informed decision about zones on your location that will deliver the best dwell times, interactions, purchases, etc. The data can be used for street furniture, kiosks, VODXS faucet ad platforms, and other forms of digital signage. You can adjust variables based on results that you achieve. These variables include the length of the ad, time of the day, season, distance of the signage from the audience, etc.

Nielsen conducts its own studies for data gathering from DOOH networks across diverse venues. It uses transactional inputs and on-site counts to realize traffic data. Demographic data is similarly collected.

DOOH ads are priced based on impressions and share of voice. Location plays an important role in calculating costs. Digital signage billboards carry multiple ads played on loop. So, if there are ten ads of 10 seconds playing in loop, then each advertiser gets a tenth of the share of voice. Depending on location and demand for a particular type of digital ad inventory, the buyer should be prepared for a fluctuation in rates.

Evaluate rates on the basis of nearness to the point of interest, contextual clarity of message for the intended audience, ad network, and target demographic in the area.

As big data begins to make its presence felt in the world of DOOH buying, both buyers and sellers will have insights available on a central dashboard that will let them take decisions about the purchase and sale of ad inventory across different platforms, including online and offline.

An audience that is present in a given location can be targeted much more fruitfully with behavioral data; even static OOH ads can be made more relevant with such information gathered from different sources that also includes browser cookies.

Even static out-of-home formats such as traditional billboards or venue-based formats in transit are benefiting from a data-driven approach. This presents brands with the opportunity to activate against an audience tied to a particular location, based on aggregated data sets.

You can also derive actionable information from data regarding stores that an individual visits, websites browsed, and TV shows watched. Mobile devices can record these behaviors and give us pointers on where people will head to once they step out. DOOH media units placed at relevant locations will attract suited businesses. Basically, with the ever-expanding reach of data, measurement of all forms of OOH-related activity will become more accurate.

With mobile location technology, you can determine the location of the mobile device and user. You can judge if the user’s device was close to the ad when it ran on the VODXS system, kiosk, or any other type of digital signage. This informs you of exposure.

Latitude/location data can be used to flash a questionnaire that is most relevant to the location, time of day, and activity on offer. If, for example, Monday evenings in the pharmacy section of a mall are a time for discount, then you can run questionnaires related to discounted products and use the replies to make more accurate purchase decisions.

Mobile location data informs about footfalls to a store that have originated from exposure to DOOH. With mobile data providing information on a consumer’s online and offline interactions, businesses can choose ad formats and DOOH locations best suited to their needs. Basically, you have cross-channel data that lets you create a holistic marketing policy to address gaps in communication.

DOOH screens are destined to evolve further, and this technology will take advertising to a new level. Connectedness with the audience will drive the success of DOOH. Standardization of protocols will lead to systematic gathering of clean data. This promises richer interaction between people and DOOH.

By 2020, 25 billion smart devices will be connected to the cloud. There will be a lot of information available for use. Personalized content will become easier to furnish at the right time. VODXS faucet ad systems, already working intelligently will acquire enhanced capabilities. Businesses will be able to pick up the threads of communication with a subject in a seamless and unobtrusive manner.

Growth of mobile data will enable media providers to deliver more personal and relevant experiences to consumers. By empowering these displays with the knowledge of anonymized, aggregate consumer behavior data, audience understanding grows, providing a highly relevant and valuable DOOH ad experience.