Today’s online digital “vanity metrics” are proving a challenge for the biggest in the open companies. When the newest viral video ad gets 2 millions daily views, it’s deemed an stupendous success; but when the location of a billboard ad claims 2 million in footfall, it’s defined as “prime real estate.”
While TV and Print advertising budgets continue to shrink, Outdoor Advertising is the only traditional ad format that is still growing (at a healthy 2.7% in 2017).
Decision-makers in the sector are under pressure to innovate and hold on tight to their market share against other forms of advertising that may be easier to prove and communicate return-on-investment.
The exposure at the moment is all about Digital Out-of-Home and going programmatic. But, companies are realizing that neither Digital Out-of-Home nor Programmatic Advertising can thrive without a knowledgeable data strategy that focuses on effective use of Location Intelligence. Today’s newly installed Chief Data Officers need to go beyond traditional data collection techniques and make Location Intelligence core to their Outdoor Advertising strategy.
1: Digital Out-Of-Home will dominate with the help of third party data.
Todays analysis show that Digital Out-of-Home will account for 39% of total revenues in the Outdoor Advertising sector by 2019 and leaders in the space recognize that the effective use of location data is fundamental in achieving a shift from static to more dynamic Outdoor Advertising.
Clear Channel has exemplified this by making third party data the cornerstone of their recently launched programmatic OOH buying tool, using a wide range of geolocated data from data specialists such as Experian. They’ve also hinted at the use of private transactional data from banks.
Similarly, External Media are also investing in geolocated mobile data insights from Telefónica UK to understand travellers on the London Underground – enabling them to move from simply selling ads to selling audiences by capturing the power of location data.
Both examples show that to deliver return-on-investment on the hefty investments made on digital advertising infrastructure Out-of-Home players expect (and are expected) to source data which enables them to make money digital inventory through time stamped demographic insight – even if real-time is still a long way off in most markets.
An ecommerce company approached us wanting to understand “What is the best place for us to advertise for our new product campaign, based on where our customers are now?”
In the map above, we plotted their current sales and ran a cluster analysis to identify the best NYC bus stops to place advertisements. The company can use this location intelligence app to segment by their target market (male millennials), optimizing their outdoor advertising reach.
2. Programmatic will be propped up by location data.
Programmatic advertising may be an industry standard in the online world – but in Outdoor Advertising there is a still a long way to go to reach the fashionable concept of “moment marketing” with real-time trading platforms.
However, turning billions of location-based data points from transactional and mobile data into insights an agency or brand can digest isn’t simple without advanced spatial analytics platforms. That’s why everyone is working with several players in the Outdoor Media space to build intuitive and robust custom applications that make it easy for them to find insights.
3. Interactivity will make billboards points of sale.
The final piece of the puzzle for Out-of-Home is interactivity – using technology such as near-field comms, beacons, and geofenced promotions to make ads points of sale. When achieved, this will further narrow the gap between online and offline in measuring campaign return-on-investment – again, all through the power of location.
It’s not just traditional Outdoor Media giants thinking about this trend though – the behemothic Google see their gap in the market too. Their specialist Media Lab team have been working with JCDecaux, Ocean Outdoor and Outdoor Plus to bring DoubleClick to a series of premium billboard ads around London – enabling programmatic buying in locations like the London Waterloo train station.
What makes this trial different is that DoubleClick also dominates the internet display advertising space – providing the easiest and widest access to consumers. With the right strategic partners, Google could potentially be the fastest in making interactivity a reality for brands who want to go beyond impressions to interactions.
All in all, it is clear that Location Intelligence is one of the key future pillars of Outdoor Advertising – whether you’re an Out-of-Home specialist, an agency, a brand or a niche adtech startup. Getting your analytics team’s hands on location data sets is extremely important – but being able to apply a geospatial analysis across your inventory will be critical in maintaining growth in a world where consumers are often looking down at their smartphone more than up at a billboard.
