Guest Contributor, Ian Reynolds
Given the weight of conversation about DOOH, you’d be forgiven for thinking out-of-home was now a purely digital medium. The media industry is awash with details of DOOH campaigns, with the odd experiential stunt thrown in for good measure. Classic OOH barely gets a look in. But is this really reflective of the market?
Ian Reynolds, CEO, KBH On-Train Media
Late last year, Talon and Brandscience released interesting research which made headlines, suggesting that the optimal proportion of DOOH, as a total of an OOH budget, is around 45%.
That’s all very well, but by our calculations, that leaves classic/established/traditional/static OOH (delete as applicable) as the dominant format.
And the reality is, according to last year’s UK media spend, classic OOH still accounts for seven in every ten pounds spent in OOH. So why does it sometimes feel like DOOH’s less fashionable little brother?
We get it. Digital has breathed new life into our industry. It has helped advertisers and creatives showcase their latest products with ever more innovative campaigns, moving effective direct and contextual relevance into a broadcast capacity. As such, the increased attention is justifiable. But classic OOH is doing very well too, thank you very much, and digital disruption is actually increasing its relevance.
As the viewability debate rages on (the latest is that less than half of digital ads are seen by human eyes, costing UK advertisers £700m every year), classic OOH has an even more important role to play. All of OOH’s views are made by the human eye – there’s no bots racking up the views on the high-street, airport or train carriage. Ad-blocking? Not a problem. And consumers don’t have privacy concerns when they see a static billboard or 6-sheet, which are generally viewed as being unobtrusive.
Classic media enables consumers to ‘opt in’ to digital prompts at a time and place of their choosing. They’re given the information they need in order to go online via the static ad; when they want to find out more, the ball’s in their court.
Digital is also enjoying time in the sun for making OOH contextually relevant. But OOH has always been a medium of relevancy. Classic OOH is made immediately relevant to a group of consumers because they are all exposed to the ad in the same environment, and so the same mindset. The copy doesn’t have to change to adapt to a changing audience, as the audience are all defined as similar by their shared contextual experience. Think car ads on roadside billboards or a Traincard suggesting what to watch on Amazon Prime Video during a period of long commuter dwell time.
But it’s not just media issues reinforcing the value of classic OOH.
Advertisers are feeling the benefits of combining digital signage with its more traditional counterpart to achieve a fully-rounded campaign. Route shows how adding traditional OOH to a digital campaign extends the reach, adds significant numbers of impacts, and increases frequency.
Poster advertising combined with the new era of digital and media convergence is opening up new innovative opportunities for brands and retailers. OOH overall is offering exactly what a brand needs – mass reach complemented with relevant messaging options. The key is combining DOOH and classic OOH to amplify brand messaging in relevant locations with a strong creative. Traincards, for example, augment a DOOH campaign by adding increased coverage and longer dwelltime for a message.
So we love DOOH, it’s an important and exciting part of our industry. But don’t forget about its classic counterpart. Its future is just as bright.
This is a Guest Contribution from Ian Reynolds, CEO, KBH On-Train Media
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