Archive for March, 2018

It is estimated that 66% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by the year 2050. Global urbanization is occurring quickly and having a profound impact on the lives of millions. In the US, however, the population is shifting in an unexpected way. This post will examine population distribution in the US and determine its impact on the OOH industry.

Population Trends

The common trend in thought is that the US is undergoing major urbanization. It is assumed that millennials are opting out of the suburban lifestyle in favor of city living at historically high rates. This, however, is only partially the truth.

A deeper examination of the current situation reveals that the US is actually trending towards “suburbanization.” In America, there are 51 metropolitan areas that have a population of at least 1 million. Of those areas, only 9 have experienced growth in their urban cores. Instead, much of the growth that has occurred in America has happened in the suburbs that surround these large metropolises. These areas are experiencing growth at a rate slightly greater than 2%, which is considerably faster than the growth of urban city centers. Although the populations of cities are generally rising, it is not due to a mass migration. This growth instead follows the broader increase in population in the US.

So even though cities aren’t growing as fast as it might be assumed, they are still growing in some areas and among certain demographics. Affluent college-educated individuals are flocking to cities at a historic pace, and cities in the Sun Belt are defying the odds and growing at unexpectedly high rates. In fact, college educated millennials are around 50% more likely to move into an urban area than individuals without college degrees. Only around 32% of people aged 25-34 actually have a bachelor’s degree, so a considerable chunk of this population is still living in suburban settings. All of these trends are creating shifts in the OOH landscape.

Future Impact on OOH

Ads located between cities and suburbs will become OOH gold.

With the general population moving out of the city and into the suburbs that immediately surround it, OOH ads located between the urban core and the city’s outer rim will gain increased significance. These ads will engage this increasing population as they make their daily commute from the suburbs, and capture the attention of tourists visiting the city. Additionally, these locations will also target individuals who choose to live in the city, but work in less densely populated areas.

Suburb advertising will become more popular, and the annual amount spent to purchase it will increase dramatically.

Suburbs are growing, so it is reasonable to think that more ads will be placed specifically in these areas in an attempt to target this growing population. Ad budget will follow the movement of people, and ultimately cause increased spend in these high population, low-density areas. Also, advertisers are gaining more and more access to information that tells them who these people are, and the motivations behind their actions. This coupled with the power of OOH will allow advertisers to create powerful campaigns even in suburban neighborhoods.

Ad formats tailor-made for cities will shift their strategy to target the millennial audience.

As stated earlier, young college-educated individuals are moving into cities at a very high rate. This movement will cause ad formats, such as transit and street furniture, to change their tactics in an effort to target the millennial population. Although experiential may be the format that resonates the most with millennials, as this population moves into cities, transit and street furniture will soon be competing for the top spot.

Whether you prefer advertising in urban settings or suburban neighborhoods you should always start your campaign planning process at DOmedia, the host of the largest database of OOH vendors in the US!

TV viewership habits have seriously changed in the past ten years. Consumers everywhere are forgoing their conventional cable TV subscriptions in favor of over-the-top (OTT) viewing services such as Netflix or Hulu. By doing so, these individuals are assuming the label of “cord cutters“, and becoming a part of the movement that is changing the way advertising dollars are spent. This post will examine the recent shift in linear television’s viewership, and anticipate the ways this movement could impact the OOH industry.

Currently, there ~22 million “cord cutters” and ~34 million “cord nevers” living in the US. This means that in 2018 about 17% of the total US population will have virtually no relationship with linear television. This declining viewership is causing lower ratings and increasingly ineffective ads. Even can’t-miss TV events, such as the Olympics and the Academy Awards, are being seen as less valuable advertising opportunities. Although TV advertising is still experiencing consistent growth, concerns surrounding rising ad prices and potential industry instability have caused some advertisers to shift their budgets away from this once-prominent medium.

One beneficiary of changing TV viewership habits is digital advertising. In fact, 2016 was the first year where digital advertising accounted for a larger portion of US ad spend than television advertising. As less money is spent on television advertising, marketers are pouring their budgets into digital and mobile ads instead. Popular internet-connected OTT networks are benefiting from this shift, but they aren’t the only ones. Digital companies like Facebook, Google, and Youtube are also optimizing their platforms for advertising and creating large amounts of viewable content to compete with both conventional and OTT networks.

With total ad sales expected to increase to by 1.6% in 2018, the race to occupy the space once inhabited by TV advertising is sure to be fierce. Although digital advertising is effective, it is incapable of dominating the advertising industry completely. Digital advertisers consistently combat intense competition, fleeting consumer attention spans, and a host of security threats. These concerns, coupled with out-of-home’s core competencies, will ultimately allow OOH to compete and thrive in the changing industry landscape. In fact, OOH is growing at a rate second only to digital.

The shift away from linear television and towards OTT media is allowing people to decide what they want to view, and at what time they want to view it. This results in many ads being passed over or ignored entirely. Unlike TV or digital advertising though, OOH advertising cannot be blocked or skipped. The physical elements of OOH advertisements make it unavoidable, and play a large role in it being the most noticed and engaged with ad format in the US.

Another appealing component of OOH is that it is one of the most trustworthy advertising mediums. A survey done by FEPE International reported that 24% of respondents found OOH ads to be the “most trustworthy”, while only 3% of those surveyed felt the same way about digital ads. In an age where credible information is becoming increasingly hard to find, consumers appreciate and gravitate towards the honesty of OOH.

In 2017, the OAAA reported that OOH is the “most efficient medium for driving online activity.” This ability to enhance digital advertising is another feature that will allow OOH to compete in the changing market landscape. As digital becomes increasingly important companies will utilize OOH to maximize their investment. OOH is set to grow alongside digital, and after examining current trends that should definitely be seen as a positive.

Ad budgets will always shift to the mediums that allow each dollar to make its greatest impact. With less attention being paid to TV, other formats will aim to capitalize on this vacancy. Digital might be primed for growth, but so is OOH. Study after study confirms that OOH and digital advertisements are more powerful when they work together. As more advertisers become aware of this fact, the increased convergence of digital and OOH becomes very likely. The void left open by linear TV could very well be filled by both digital and OOH, working together to create more effective campaigns.

If you’re looking for incredible OOH opportunities check out DOmedia, host to the largest database of out-of-home vendors in the US, and find one today!

Redesigned Company Pages

We’ve redesigned our company, product, and asset pages! Aside from the pages themselves looking much sleeker, this redesign also serves some practical purposes. Better SEO will increase search traffic to your pages. Maps are now embedded in the company pages when a buyer is logged in. Anonymous users won’t see a map, but an embedded RFQ form.

Remove Map Clustering

You may now remove all of the clustering on a map. Previously, when two assets were close together you saw a single pin with a number on it:

You can now turn this off and see all individual pins:

Start Proposal from Map

You may now start a proposal from a map! From any map of your inventory within DOmedia, you can select the units you wish to propose and add them to a proposal, going from looking at a list of units, to being able to visualize your proposal before creating it!

A video walkthrough of both mapping enhancements can be found here.

Digital place-based (DPB) advertising is an intriguing OOH format. DPB is becoming increasingly effective as advertisers attempt to adapt to the fast-paced lifestyles of today. This post will examine the unique value digital place-based advertising brings to the table, and explore some of the opportunities associated with this up-and-coming medium.

What is Digital Place Based Advertising?

Place-based marketing is any marketing placed in a specific location, or type of environment. Digital Place-Based advertising follows essentially the same definition but uses digital screens, as DPB is a subset of the larger category that is Digital-Out-of-Home. DPB delivers its messaging through content-based networks displayed on internet-enabled screens, capitalizing on context and utilizing location to target consumers. These networks distribute location-specific content designed to capture consumers attention. They then proceed to follow that content up with targeted advertisements.

What Unique Value Does DPB Provide?

Now that there is an understanding of what Digital Place-Based advertising is, the next question to address is, “Why it is becoming so popular?” A study conducted by the Digital Place Based Advertising Association (DPAA) revealed that there are five primary benefits that explain DPB’s newfound popularity.

Its Ability to Reach Target Demographics: DPB makes it easy to target certain audiences. For example, if the goal is to reach health and wellness-conscious individuals, using a DPB network that is broadcasted in gyms will make targeting that audience incredibly simple.

It Can Connect With Consumers on their Path to Purchase: Digital place-based networks often distribute content in locations where consumers make buying decisions. For instance, a DPB network that plays in a grocery store might advertise the products that reside near the checkout lanes. These ads located near the point of decision making can influence a consumer’s thoughts, nudge them towards a desired behavior, and kickstart the buying process.

Target Consumers by Contextual Relevance: Using DPB allows advertisers to remain contextually relevant. As consumers move through the buying process their wants and needs change. Someone who is just walking into a store is going to react to ads in a different way than someone who is checking out. DPB uses location to capitalize on the different stages of the buying process, making it an invaluable tool that many marketers are only beginning to realize the full potential of.

Geotarget by DMA:  DPB also allows marketers to advertise by DMAs, or Designated Market Areas. DMA regions are defined by Nielsen as “a group of counties that form an exclusive geographic area in which the home market television stations hold a dominance of total hours viewed. Marketing through DPB to capitalize on specific DMAs affords advertisers greater insight into the desires of consumers and, ultimately, allows them to create more powerful campaigns.

Access Hyper-Local Geotargeting: Geo-targeting hyper-locally allows advertisers to tap into the wants, needs, and concerns most prevalent in certain areas. This makes DPB ads more meaningful, and ultimately more impactful.

These various points illustrate the five factors that make DPB the powerful OOH format it is. DPB allows advertisers to be agile when conducting business. It enables marketers to craft powerful campaigns and deliver hyper-targeted messages to specific people, at specific times, in specific locations.

Now that you’ve spent some time learning about Digital Place-Based advertising head on over to DOmedia, host of the largest database of OOH vendors in the US, and get down with some DPB of your own!

Our CEO, Ken Sahlin, was recently published in MediaPost. In The Data Revolution Is Changing OOH he discusses his views on advanced data and tracking in OOH. While many see the out-of-home medium as old-fashioned, he believes with recent improvements in consumer and impression data, it is already quickly catching up with the rest of the advertising industry. And, the data will only continue to get better. According to Ken:

“Old questions around OOH impressions are being answered with increasing sophistication. Previously, the only measure possible for roadside billboards was how many cars are passing a given point on the road. Now the Visibility Adjustment Index (VAI) measures much more, including the number of passengers in a vehicle along with their demographic data, billboard density, positioning, distance from road, and even eye-tracking.

“Even with the improved impression data for roadside billboards, there are more advancements being made in data collection and aggregation. Experts are looking at creating more granular data sets that would still be on an anonymized level. For example, data is being aggregated for smaller areas, such as a square block or per meter, which would help advertisers fine-tune the timing of their ad’s appearance based on the amount and demographic of people in a specific area.”

This article was originally published by MediaPost. You can continue reading the full article here.