Programmatic Buying Thrives with New Targeting and Measurement Opportunities
Programmatic out-of-home is a fast-growing and innovative way to purchase OOH ads in real-time. Harmelin Media was an early adopter and supporter of the technology and has been advocating for this since its introduction a few years ago. As a result, Harmelin’s thought leadership in this space was featured in the recent Trade Desk article Programmatic out-of-home is booming. And it’s driving results for major brands. Leading up to the article, a team of Harmelin employees was interviewed by The Trade Desk, including Michal Komemi, Eve Vitale, Cameron DeFelice, Rachael Ricords, and Shaun Williams, who was quoted directly. While the article features an excerpt of this conversation, the full interview questions and our responses provide more insight on programmatic out-of-home trends.
To what extent are brands/agencies using programmatic OOH as a key part of their media mix at a time when changing or pausing campaigns “on the fly” is critical?
The use of programmatic OOH in terms of changing out creative “on the fly” has been a key opportunity for longer term branding campaigns. It has given clients the flexibility to make last minute creative decisions while eliminating high production fees. During the pandemic, we’ve seen a surge in programmatic OOH buying for these very reasons. Programmatic has provided our planning and activation teams and our clients with options to be nimble while navigating the uncertainties of the current state of the world.
Has the perception toward OOH changed over the last 12-18 months as a key part of a campaign strategy?
The ease of use and broadness of geography covered with programmatic OOH has allowed OOH to more easily and efficiently be used as a mass reach tactic. With one campaign we are now able to use multi-screen formats expanding outside of traditional billboards, therefore we can more accurately target the audiences where they live, work and play.
We’re also seeing planners and clients consider programmatic OOH more as an extension of direct OOH buys and/or an extension of digital buys. We’re taking advantage of the versatility and workflow efficiency of programmatic OOH and including it as part of the media mix in the early stages of the planning process. With the ability to overlay not just geographical data but first-party data and retargeting, OOH has quickly become a more strategic channel that can elevate direct OOH buys.
To what extent has the surge in first-party data allowed advertisers to optimize their OOH campaigns compared to say a year ago, or two years ago?
The availability of first-party data is a huge benefit to running OOH programmatically. We’re excited about new tactics now available including using first-party data for identifying high indexing areas to geographically target and retarget consumers exposed to OOH ads with other channels such as mobile. We are currently testing and learning from the targeting and retargeting solutions as planners see the ability to narrow in on their audience and sequentially message as huge upsides. We’re also excited about the ability to tie OOH exposures to online and offline conversions using The Trade Desk’s identity solutions and are currently advising clients on best practices such as including an online call-to-action to tap into this new layer of measurement.
Thanks to The Trade Desk for allowing us to share our expertise. For more information contact us.