The OOH in the Digital Era.
The OOH (out-of-home) advertising industry is buzzing about the new trends of digital out-of-home (DOOH) and programmatic digital OOH advertising (PDOOH). In 2020, we saw an enormous uptake in the use digital of out-of-home during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, increasing the need for businesses to enhance their digital transformation strategies and look for new and creative ways to maintain their ad spends during uncertain times.
According to Insider Intelligence ad spend in U.S.A was expected to increase by 37.4% ($2.17 billion) in 2021 for DOOH & PDOOH. However the increase was only 31% of the total U.S advertising spend. All of the remaining 69% was allocated to traditional OOH, showing the value of the media format. So, what is the power of the static OOH in the era of Digitalization?
In a recent campaign that KFC launched in the U.S using traditional OHH, has been the talk of many marketing & advertising outlets in all over the world. The brand took competition seriously and leveraged large-format billboards, in locations like parking lots or on rooftops of major competitors advertising their new Chicken sandwich. Locations which played a critical role in KFC’s campaign were in New York McDonalds, Los Angeles Wendy’s and Burger King Miami. With the combination of their TikTok campaign, they created a viral effect tin producing a humoristic approach using their brand mascot in order to appeal to a younger demographic. Other social media platforms were used such as LinkedIn, Twitter & Instagram, thus increasing the overall impression efficacy and exemplifying the impact of the three strategic locations.
On the opposing side, the advantages to DOOH and PDOOH are their similarities to native online ad execution. Purchasing audiences and impressions and delivering dynamic content that is served up based on worldly conditions such as traffic volumes or weather. The flipside of using DOOH or PDOOH, ads are sharing their message or campaign with multiple advertisers. This is where static OOH is an incredibly powerful force. The impact of the KFC campaign, was leveraging only three static OOH in three geographically different locations, becoming familiar across the marketing and advertising industry. If they chose three DOOH locations, KFC would have lost the impact. However, they still brought in additional digital assets, such as social media, to amplify their results.
Both media formats have their place in the media mix. The value of static OOH in the digital era is immense. Its powerful voice, trust factors and efficacy that consumers notice are hard to beat. Marketers in Cyprus have to leverage the opportunity of integrating static OOH in Cyprus, since we are still lacking in the use of DOOH. The ads are becoming stale and there is no “rivalry” between businesses to create a buzz. Integrate the “rivalry” in your static OOH and your social media and become a winner in the Cypriot Market.
