The Case for Programmatic Out-of-Home

Originally posted in Italian on Programmatic Italia | October 22, 2018

Programmatic Advertising is now a well-established type of online advertising, which we increasingly value will increase its weight in the digital planning model, thanks to the efficiency that data, targeting and automation ensure to customer campaigns.
Today, however, Programmatic is no longer just related to the digital world . More and more often we talk about using the programmatic linked to traditional considered means. First and foremost with Television , a medium that has started to review the classic planning schemes, the Out of Home and the Radio , which in the last period have become the protagonists of a radical transformation.
If until yesterday these were simple beta tests, today the programmatic planning of these media is a consolidated practice , thanks above all to the trust reserved by our customers to the use of this increasingly successful mode of purchase. As GroupM, we were pioneers with the first campaigns already in 2017, and in the course of 2018 we strengthened our knowledge and experience, also welcoming valuable feedback from advertisers.

In the outdoor world, Digital Out Of Home is growing in terms of inventory and spending .
Globally, according to data from the Market Insights Reports report, the Digital Out of Home market was valued in 2016 over $ 13 billion and is expected to reach over $ 34 billion by 2025.
Incredible numbers that also reflect the Italian trend. From Kinetic estimates, from 2013 to 2017 there is an overall increase of 30% in digital systems and a 40% increase in advertising investments. Today, DOOH's share of the total Out Of Home market in 2017 is 11.4%, a number destined to grow.
Objective data that allowed Xaxis - GroupM programmatic unit -, in partnership with Kinetic - WPP's Out of Home planning agency -, to launch on the market a scalable product for the automated purchase and sale of Digital Out Of Home spaces , grouping in a single marketplace the main operators of the Out-of-Home media and an inventory of physiologically fragmented spaces.
Clear Channel, Telesia, Urban Vision, Exomedia (represented in Italy by MovingUP ) and Grandi Stazioni are some of the publishers currently available via DSP. A very wide choice of digital spaces in the city center, stations, airports, subways and shopping centers, spaces that can be purchased programmatically and with many advantages for advertisers.

The programmatic purchase of the OOH vehicle is released from the classic time logics (7 or 14 days): it is possible to buy only specific days or time slots, with creative changes directly on the platform ; this allows to intercept the reference audience by planning even some specific places and moments of the day in which the customer's target is present. We know, for example from offline sources (TSSP Synoptics and publisher data), that most Commuters moves in the 6:00 - 9: 59 / 17:00 - 20:59 bands only on weekdays: thanks to automation, we can intercept these users at that time, providing targeted advertising on the screens without any loss.
Effective planning also in terms of amplification with mobile . According to IAB estimates, 48% of consumers are more willing to click on a banner after being exposed to an OOH ad. This is why we recommend combining the two DOOH and mobile vehicles, with mobile campaigns near the screens, to increase the memory and intercept even those potentially distracted.
The next evolution will bring next year to associate to the DOOH campaigns the potentials given by the moment marketing and the so-called "Triggers" , that is the possibility to show specific creativities based on climate changes or atmospheric conditions, all in real time.

There are many challenges and improvements to be made in a market that requires education, skills development and regulation . An IAB work table is active, which sees us involved together with Kinetic and which is aimed at defining technical standards and positioning.
The ecosystem has the potential to become globally scalable, but fundamental aspects must be regulated , such as third-party tracking, the identification of standard measures for screens or the measurement of contacts exposed in real time, the so-called Opportunity To See , or how many people have actually seen or are seeing the single passage / spot. Currently on this topic there are many researches and technologies that estimate the count and the number of people around the screens, from cameras to wi-fi, a situation that adds fragmentarity to a non-homogeneous ecosystem, in which it will be necessary to identify a technology or a third-party provider that can act as a univocal certifier of all publishers.