Programmatic DOOH in 2021

2020 was a year which brought big changes for every person, company and business. DOOH was not exempt from this, so we would like to discuss what happened during the year and what we hope to see in 2021.

Our CEO of Splicky, Sven Ruppert, had an exciting conversation with Oliver Schönfeld, CEO of media agency TWMedia. The two of them discussed the status and outlook for the fully automated booking of digital out-of-home advertising in the DACH region and what we can expect to see in the upcoming months. 

Grab your cup of coffee and enjoy the post!

A very interesting part of this conversation was about the importance of advertising locations and how programmatic DOOH is performing in these different areas. The topic of “area coverage” and how it impacts programmatic DOOH is very important, as Oliver mentions that they have a much wider coverage for Out Of Home Advertising (OOH), than for Digital Out Of Home Advertising (DOOH). Despite OOH still being a very popular medium for advertising in Switzerland, there is a keen but hesitant interest in progressing towards programmatic DOOH. Many agencies perceive it to be a potentially risky bet on the future, seeing as it is still in the early stages of acceptance in Switzerland and other regions. 

If we compare programmatic DOOH with the classic OOH advertising and look at the amount of inventory available in Switzerland, we get interesting results. Oliver mentioned that, in the past few years,  despite there having been a doubling of available DOOH inventory, it is still incomparable to the amount of available classic inventory. An example would be the 60,000 poster sites in classic OOH compared to 1500 digital sites. With DOOH being very dynamic and allowing for great creativity, it is thrilling to see the speed at which it is gaining momentum. Although it will be a while before companies become more aware of and open to DOOH, it largely complements classic OOH and we look forward to seeing its expansion in the upcoming months and years.

Sven has high hopes for the DOOH industry and founded knowledge of how successful it can be in specific situations. The automation and efficiency of this advertising medium brings a lot of value and benefits to customers, thanks to mobile data, addressability and customisation ability. The main benefit of DOOH is often misunderstood by potential users, as it is a common misconception that DOOH is a one-to-one medium, rather than a one-to-many. Here at Splicky, we use a multiplier with most of the SSPs we work with. This means that a playout of an ad is always multiplied by a certain number of people. This does not occur with mobile and desktop, as one playout only reaches one person, but opportunities to advertise in outdoor locations can have a phenomenal reach. Depending on the location, it is possible to achieve a reach of three-digit figures per playout.

There are still a few hurdles to overcome before programmatic DOOH can really excel, but these are already in the works. Price still plays a big role as the platform prices are relatively high compared to classic OOH, which can sometimes be a setback. However, when examining just how high (and accurate) the reach of your playouts can be, the costs become justifiable. Another small hurdle to overcome is the planning and airing of programmatic DOOH campaigns. In order to ensure that the playouts of the adverts are not mistargeted or played at impractical times, the campaigns need to be monitored regularly by a strong team of colleagues. This is not always very practical, but there are actions in the works to simplify this process.

Apart from the uncertainty of the current pandemic-situation, both Sven and Oliver see programmatic DOOH as a very positive area for 2021. Outdoor advertising is a medium of future and growth. There is a constant increase in mobility and urbanisation which certainly offers great potential for outdoor advertising.

Overall, the topic of digital and programmatic OOH is still relatively new but very promising. We have some homework to do in the DOOH area but the future is bright!

You can watch the videocast in German here: