Out-of-home (OOH) advertising is not only staying alive but thriving! Unlike many of its traditional media brethren, which are flat or declining, eMarketer projects single digits growth in the $8+billion OOH ad market in the US over the next few years.
A few trends are contributing to this renaissance of sorts for the medium. First, the displays are becoming digital and more versatile, delivering interactive ads or venturing into other content, such as transit updates, weather and other information useful to passing consumers. The larger audiences for such content are in turn creating new sponsorship opportunities for advertisers and transforming the OOH companies from real estate holders to publishers.
Prompted by the consumers’ rising expectations for more responsive and personalized ads experiences, brands are getting more creative with their displays. Technology is helping turn just about every surface, from escalators and sidewalks to manholes and airport security bins, into eye-catching and often engaging advertising space. An added bonus to advertisers is the fact that OOH ads can’t be skipped or blocked and are never viewed by bots.
Finally, brands are leveraging location data to deliver the right message to the right consumer at the right place and time via digital OOH displays. Industry experts credit the success of such hyperlocal mobile campaigns to the availability of rich location data and the flexibility to change the displayed messages dynamically, based on factors such as search patterns and the type of mobile devices present.
These innovations are fundamentally changing the perception of OOH advertising in both consumers’ and advertisers’ minds and restoring the medium’s vitality and effectiveness.
