Are you prepared for the Cinderella Moment in Outdoor Advertising?

David Pal, CEO of Ads On Top, draws a compelling comparison with Outdoor Advertising and the Cinderella fairy tale.  Outdoor can ignite its potential for tremendous revenue growth and positioning itself as the Queen of Media .  Pal outlines how Out of Home (OOH) can embrace data, technology, and improved systems, for greater Outdoor Industry revenues.. David Pal on the Cinderella moment of OOH.

We’re quickly approaching a Cinderella moment for the Out-of-Home Industry.

We all know the story of the poor, neglected and overlooked stepsister who turns princess for the evening; the one that finally got the attention and admiration that she deserved.

Of all the advertising mediums, Out of Home (OOH) has the most potential for innovation and significant increases in revenue expectations. It is the only one with a physical presence and has yet to fully realize the benefits of new technologies. As Bill points out in an earlier article explaining Steve Geelan’s thoughts,

“We have not embraced the real differences of static to digital yet. We are using digital as an electronic version of a poster.”

It’s too true – in many networks, everything from the sales process to the reporting & targeting capabilities to the hardware platforms have remained the same for decades. There is more to a digital ad network than just a screen. Screens are being adopted at an increasing rate, with new locations and applications popping up weekly. However, it feels as if using the word “digital” to describe a billboard or a screen network has built this illusion that, somehow, it is interchangeable with other forms of digital advertising.

Many OOH network operators talk about how they feel their screen networks should be able to compete with online advertising and pull ad dollars from online digital campaigns to their networks. The uses of the word “digital” in “digital ad dollars” and “digital signage” are hardly the same. So why use the word digital when describing OOH? Instead, consider something like dynamic, or even electronic?

Online advertising and OOH advertising are used for different objectives in planning campaign strategies and engagement. The goals for online/search/mobile or OOH campaign may all be different and represent important pieces of the bigger puzzle. Hence, it may not be reasonable to think that they are equivalent and easily swapped. There are, however, processes and components of digital online advertising that may enhance the value of the industry and increase the willingness of advertisers to adopt additional OOH spend.

Without beating around the bush, there are 4 main categories that we can focus on to improve:

1. Data and Targeting – The location data space is rife with fraudulent data and half-truths. There is immense value being uncovered by stringing together new location-based data sets and focusing on insights instead of raw data.
2. 3rd-Party Technologies – The use of mobile device analytics, cameras, beacons, touchscreens, VR/AR, sensors and machine learning can be leveraged to build the best campaigns, content and experiences to engage the target audience.
3. Content – Leveraging the Data and 3rd-Party tech opens a huge amount of opportunity in the content space. Campaigns can be more creative, more interesting and leave a more valuable impression.
4. Improved Buying/Selling Tools – The addition of technology is fantastic, but making the friction for buying space can overshadow the value of the technology. Friction in the buying process stems from inefficiencies in the sales process.

If OOH… embraces data, technology, and improved systems, the industry will quickly find a greater adoption and expand its value.

If OOH sets its eyes on pulling ad dollars away from digital buys, it will fall short of its fullest potential. If OOH, instead, embraces data, technology, and improved systems, the industry will quickly find a greater adoption and expand its value. OOH networks must seize the opportunity, shedding the “floor scrubbing, neglected, overlooked stepsister” image and blossom to its full potential as the Queen of all Media.

OOH networks must seize the opportunity, shedding the “floor scrubbing, neglected, overlooked stepsister” image and blossom to its full potential as the Queen of all
Media.

David Pal
CEO, Ads on Top
http://www.theadsontop.com
david@theadsontop.com