It’s everywhere. Planes, trains, automobiles. We see it everywhere. But do we engage? Does it spark curiosity in us to learn more or do we see it as another obstacle in our busy lives? By now I’m sure you can see that I’m talking about Digital Placed-based media. Digital Place-based (DPb) media, also known as Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising, utilizes strategically placed, networked digital signage displays to reach on-the-go consumers while they are outside of their home with highly targeted messages. These targeted message can be incredibly impactful but we have yet to have it in our conscious mainstream. A foregone conclusion that Pandora or Hulu will have ads in between, why don’t we expect every day?
Financially, advertisers are moving toward it, indicating a great deal of market success. According to eMarketer, advertisers in the US will spend $2.96 billion on digital out-of-home advertising in 2015. Digital will make up 40.8% of total out-of-home (OOH) ad spending, up from 38.1% in 2014. By 2018, digital out-of-home will capture 53.0% of total OOH ad spending in the US, or $4.08 billion. The payoff? Equally high. PricewaterhouseCoopers’ forecast calls for OOH revenue to reach more than $18B in 2019, up from $9.71B in 2014.
But a big issue in this space is the lack of cohesiveness in the buying process. One of the great things about digital out-of-home advertising is that it’s hard to avoid. Unlike television, it can’t be switched off, Tivoed, or muted. You have to face it. So while spending is high and consumers have to face it, why isn’t it in the mainstream yet? One big issue is on the agency side. Many agency strategists view the digital out-of-home environment as a specialty instead of a necessity. This has to do with value, as it relates to the real estate it occupies as well as its broadcast aspects. For these reasons, many agencies plan digital out-of-home media separately from the rest of the traditional strategy.
While EFK has educated itself going forward and created proprietary and simple standards to purchase and design, we are not alone. Agencies around the world will need to react to the new trend in DPb. If not, the $18B waiting for us in a few years will slowly belong to only those who move fastest. This isn’t looking for an expert in archaic CMS or a designer that uses Paint. This is happening right now.