In 2023, the US digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising sector accounts for a substantial 31.4% of the overall out-of-home (OOH) ad spend according to eMarketer. This recovery comes on the heels of a dip caused by the pandemic. Impressively, the US DOOH spending is expected to reach a substantial $2.87 billion this year, and forecasts anticipate robust double-digit growth extending all the way to the conclusion of our projection period in 2027.
These trends underscore the increasing significance of out-of-home advertising in the US market, highlighting its enduring potential for marketers and advertisers.
Which is why Ocean Media invited the top digital out-of-home advertising vendors to present the latest and greatest in trends, innovations, and demos of their capabilities in the wild over the span of three days.
They also answered technical questions from attendees and shared thoughtful insight about the most prevalent topics affecting the industry.
Here, we provide a brief recap of the top vendors that visited us, including their capabilities and offerings and why it’s important to brands exploring OOH opportunities.
Branded Cities
Branded Cities focuses on developing large iconic digital and static out-of-home advertising locations in prime urban areas, distinguishing themselves from companies with thousands of billboards.
They prioritize high-impact, visually striking locations in downtown areas and iconic destinations, making them ideal for capturing consumers’ attention and creating memorable ad campaigns.
They place a strong emphasis on creativity and dynamic executions, including 3D anamorphic displays, live scoring results, and more.
Intersection
Intersection provides advertising that follows the consumer journey, literally. Intersection operates in various markets across the US, with a significant presence in major cities and transportation hubs.
From rail, station, airport, street, and bus, Intersection utilizes digital screens, data analytics, and location-based advertising to deliver targeted ads to a city’s residents and visitors.
Maintaining contextual awareness should be the top priority for brands that are exploring their ad options and devising creative content tailored to the specific persona and location. The overall strategy is to identify chances to present your brand to the ideal audience precisely when they are most receptive.
What Intersection does so well is taking its contextual capabilities and real-time data to present a brand’s message for each leg of the consumer’s journey whether plane, train, or automobile.
JCDecaux
JCDecaux is a global outdoor advertiser with three areas of focus: street furniture, transport advertising, and billboard advertising.
JCDecaux has an extensive range of media types, including static and digital shelters, digital newsstands, and premium synched shelters, strategically placed in major markets. They maintain a substantial presence at major airports with a network of 1,900 digital screens strategically positioned in airports throughout the United States. This extensive reach enables advertisers to connect with travelers who dedicate considerable time to air travel.
According to The Drum, 75% of travelers arrive at least one hour prior to boarding, which gives brands a captive audience to engage with. Brands that are looking to increase brand awareness can utilize the many capabilities of airport advertising.
Outfront Media
Outfront Media is a leading outdoor advertising company that offers a range of capabilities and solutions like billboards, wallscapes, transit posters, street furniture and digital shelters to help advertisers reach their target audiences through out-of-home advertising.
Outfront Media has shown that success of an outdoor campaign can be influenced by both the creative content and the choice of placement while using data-driven insights to optimize campaigns.
They are strategic with the ad capabilities that best fit a city’s architecture. For example, Wallscapes are strategically placed in high-traffic areas of major cities, such as Chicago or New York City, and along busy highways. The locations are carefully selected to maximize visibility and impact.
Vistar Media
Vistar Media is a leading programmatic ecosystem for out-of-home advertising. Vistar Media offers a range of technology solutions, including a proprietary DSP (demand-side platform), SSP (supply-side platform), ad server, and Cortex (a device for digital screens). Their presentation outlined the capabilities and features of Vistar Media’s programmatic advertising platform for out-of-home advertising and highlighted the potential for dynamic and data-driven campaigns.
The company partners with various Omni channel DSPs like The Trade Desk, DV360, and Yahoo, emphasizing the importance of an Omni channel approach for out-of-home advertising.
Audience targeting is a key aspect of programmatic advertising, and Vistar Media utilizes location data to define and analyze audiences using three main methods: behavioral patterns, household data, and first-party data. Consumer movement patterns are analyzed to predict where audiences will be so they can target them efficiently.
Geopath
Geopath is a not-for-profit organization governed by a board of members from various industries, including advertisers, agencies, out-of-home media owners, and sellers. They specialize in measurement, with expertise in quantifying reach and understanding the impact of OOH advertising campaigns.
Geopath uses state-of-the-art methodologies for audience measurement using advanced technology and data analysis techniques to gather and analyze data effectively.
As measurement continues to be a challenge across all digital marketing and advertising categories, Geopath’s data and insights are designed to instill confidence in the buying and selling process of OOH advertising. This is crucial for advertisers and media professionals when making decisions about their advertising strategies and spend.
The Trade Desk
The Trade Desk provides agency and brand partners with access to the largest programmatic marketplace, offering opportunities for inventory integration and partnerships across various channels. The platform covers various channels, including CTV, video, native display, mobile, digital out-of-home, and retail media, enabling comprehensive advertising strategies.
Due to their objectivity and partnership with inventory providers, The Trade Desk often offers its partners first-to-market access to new inventory opportunities, such as when Disney Plus launched ad-supported capabilities in the CTV space.
The Trade Desk offers a suite of measurement solutions, including API access to reports and partnerships with measurement companies like Nielsen and IRI. This helps advertisers track the performance of their campaigns and correlate them with sales lift and key performance indicators (KPIs).
Clear Channel Outdoor
Clear Channel has an extensive network of OOH advertising assets, including billboards, transit shelters, airports, and digital screens. This wide reach allows advertisers to target a diverse audience across various locations and demographics.
Clear Channel’s capabilities and advantages in OOH advertising stem from its extensive network, digital innovation, audience targeting, measurement tools, commitment to brand safety, global presence, and environmental initiatives. These factors make it an attractive option for advertisers looking to make an impact in the OOH advertising space.
Firefly
Firefly engages in various advertising channels, including mobile, car advertising, and in-car advertising.
Firefly’s primary products are wraps, static tops and digital tops, which are displayed on vehicles, such as taxis. Firefly’s digital tops are larger and offer high-quality displays that can handle dynamic content, such as live traffic updates and distance to stores, giving them a differentiating factor in the market.
Advertisers can customize campaigns based on specific locations, time frames, and creative content, ensuring maximum impact and relevance. The capacity to connect with a customer at or near the precise moment and location of their purchase is crucial.
Uber Advertising
The ride-share giant, Uber, has its own advertising innovations and capabilities.
Uber’s unique selling point in the advertising space is the captive audience of riders who are actively engaged with their smartphones during rides. Riders are typically focused on their destination and ready to take action, which sets Uber apart from social media competitors.
Uber employs three main targeting strategies for in-app advertising: behavioral audiences based on past behaviors within the app, behavioral audiences combined with additional data like business profiles and travel patterns, and geotargeting to focus on specific markets or regions.
Specifically, Uber offers various advertising products, including in-app journey ads, car top ads, and tablet ads. In-app journey ads are sold on a cost-per-trip basis and provide advertisers with a 100% share of voice during a rider’s trip.
Lightbox OOH Video Network
Lightbox’s capabilities centered around capturing valuable audiences, creative execution, and providing engaging out-of-home advertising solutions. Lightbox has an extensive reach of Lightbox in malls, with coverage in 75 markets across the United States, boasting 300 retail venues and 4,500 digital full-motion video screens. They’ve also expanded their network into grocery stores, with coverage in major markets like New York, Dallas, and Houston.
Lightbox is a shining example of the impact OOH campaigns bring to a brand’s message. Their blueprint utilizes mobile location data to pinpoint when the audience is in a particular area and amplifies the message by reinforcing it through mobile engagements at various touchpoints along the consumer journey. Finally, they measure the impact of the ad exposure on consumer behavior by assessing foot traffic and conducting brand studies, enabling the brand to evaluate the attribution of advertising efforts accurately.
Van Wagner SE
Van Wagner is a leading sports advertising and entertainment agency with expertise in global and event sponsorship sales, multimedia rights, and aerial advertising.
Van Wagner’s aerial capabilities offer planes that fly around venues such as NFL stadiums including the Super Bowl, NCAA football championships, music festivals like Bonnaroo and Coachella, PGA tournaments, NASCAR, and more.
Aerial advertising is uniquely valuable because it creates several advantages ranging from high visibility, large-scale reach, and limited competition. It also offers national coverage and opportunities for branding and unique ROI, and is highly effective in creating brand visibility, especially at outdoor events and tailgating experiences before sporting events.
Thank you to all of the vendors that presented to us! To learn more about how you can incorporate OOH advertising into your budget and strategy planning, please contact us!