OOH advertising spend is nearly back to prepandemic highs as of Q3 2022. This rapid rebound and growth are creating an inflection point for the category – one that’s driving a renaissance for OOH and digital OOH ad experiences going into 2023.
People have never been more excited to be out of their homes than they are right now. But their expectations for experiences are different than they were back in 2019. This is one reason why the growth of DOOH is now outpacing traditional OOH advertising in the US. For marketers, this means not just a deepened investment in DOOH advertising, but also a reinvention of it.
Let’s take a look at a few guiding principles for up-leveling the OOH experience in 2023 and beyond – particularly rideshare advertising and DOOH experiences.
Distraction-worthy
Break-through DOOH advertising experiences should be both experiential and memorable. That’s where the power of digital shines. While traditional OOH can create a visual experience, what marketers should strive for is a sensory experience – one that incorporates and engages the viewer in multiple ways. Sight, sound and touch experiences attract and engage people in entirely different ways than the standard billboard, often driving higher returns for marketers.
Also, size matters. Marketers should consider the broader context in which their DOOH experiences are happening. Is a brand’s ad being featured on the largest screen in the room? And is this screen disproportionately large compared to either the size of the room itself or other available screens in the room? Likewise, is the experience unavoidable? Does a brand’s ad cause a natural environmental shift that drives a “can’t miss” moment? These considerations should inform a brand’s DOOH media buying.
Interactive and entertaining
Consumer expectations for how products and services are delivered continue to be up-leveled, and this extends to basic out-of-home activities like taking a rideshare or standing in a waiting room. Where a person might once have expected and accepted a moment of boredom, they now want more – and advertisers have an opportunity to deliver in the form of entertainment.
When building a modern DOOH experience, marketers should also consider interactivity. Today, everyone has a screen in their pocket that can engage them at any given moment. How can brands offer something more exciting than that, particularly when they have access to a captive audience in a rideshare, waiting room, elevator or other out-of-home environment?
A popular multimedia entertainment network recently came to T-Mobile Advertising Solutions to test our popular rideshare advertising offering. Following the release of new programming for five of its entertainment brands, the company wanted to survey rideshare passengers about their favorite one to measure lift across program awareness, watching intent and content preference. The survey received over 218,000 responses and nearly 17,500 direct sign-ups during the 90-day campaign, which translated to a conversion rate of over 8%. This helped drive massive engagement, brand recall and unprecedented insight into what consumers prefer to watch.
Gamification has also proven to be a great way to engage people in ways that are unique from the ones being immediately offered by the device in their pockets. Short games like trivia or photo hunt provide people with a break from reality while giving advertisers an opportunity to present interactive ads in between games.
By mimicking the interactivity of gaming, brands can provide clickable CTAs that encourage deeper brand engagement and, ideally, encourage their audiences to opt-in to receive offers, rewards or additional experiences.
For example, when a popular US grocery chain pivoted from interactive ads to branded games within rideshares, it achieved a 6.82% click-through rate while creating a multisensory experience for passengers.
Relevant and data-driven
Let us not forget the nature of that “digital” that we’re putting in front of “OOH.” According to eMarketer, US DOOH ad spending was $2.06 billion in 2021 but is expected to reach $2.96 billion in 2023 – a nearly 44% increase.
Because the modern OOH experience is becoming more digital, marketers have the opportunity to tap into dynamic ad insertion and real-time analytics capabilities inherent to the digital sphere. For example, screens within a rideshare can be tailored according to time of day, neighborhood, weather and many other elements to create more relevance. Plus, due to the interactive nature of these experiences, advertising can be tailored on the fly based on information received from the person engaging with the ad and content.
The world is emerging from an unprecedented period of societal change, and their expectations have changed. Audiences are eager and willing to engage, but the bar for what constitutes a worthy DOOH experience is higher than ever. It’s time for brands to rise to the occasion.
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