How to De-Mystify Digital Out of Home

As technological advancements and big data change the ability of legacy media to compete in the new ecosystem, we are finding that digital out of home (DOOH) is becoming a competitive option for advertisers and brands.  But how does one overcome old mindsets, ingrained buying prejudices and still-to-be-solved challenges in this space?  That was the focus of a recent Advertising Club panel titled De-Mystifying Digital Out of Home.  From the agency side, Andea Campbell, Partner and Director, Analytics & Insights, MEC and from the platform side, Ian Mirmelstein, Senior Vice President, Digital Engagement, AdSpace Networks shared their views on the opportunities, challenges and future of DOOH.

Opportunities and Advantages
More and more, DOOH is being discussed in the same conversations as digital and social media and that, according to Campbell, is a good sign for its growth and acceptance because it creates a "natural similarity."  Also a plus:  Malls are valuable end points for advertising because they offer recency messaging that occurs close to the end of the shopper consideration funnel.  In addition, Campbell noted, DOOH is "100% viewable and offers a fraud-free space."

Through its use of mobile location data, DOOH is able to track the daily consumer journey which takes it down to a close one-to-one measurement. "If a consumer enters one of our mall locations, they probably saw the ad and we can then push messages," Mirmelstein said.

Growth in both mobile and programmatic can benefit DOOH in the future.  "Mobile can be used for different types of measurement," Campbell stated.  "Programmatic developments and developments in mobile provide the perfect storm for an evolution in this space that can translate into bigger dividends for the channel."

Challenges and How to Overcome Them
So, in a world where media planners are spending valuable time policing their buys, why isn't DOOH more than a last on/first off media spend?  One of the big challenges is data and measurement, though Mirmelstein believes "measurement is getting better through the mobile device."  But a bigger issue is that DOOH is not able to get the exact return on ad spend which hampers its ability to fully compete with those media platforms than can post against this information.

"Brands need to be able to report back to their clients, and the market mix modeling in DOOH won't look good," Campbell asserted.  "It doesn't perform in the ad spend paradigm.  We need to look at sales lift and we can talk about attitudinal studies and brand awareness."

Of course, old mindsets are the hardest to change.  "A big challenge is the status quo," Mirmelstein said, noting that media spending is often a history of who has been bought in the past.  So it becomes more of a rote exercise of repeating what was done before.

To change that, "you need to have the right people in the room," Campbell said.  In addition to the usual participants, try to include analytics, investments and planning, for example.  "Also," she noted, "big holding companies have approval lists.  Get in the door and become an approved vendor.  Think of yourself as a digital vendor."

These things take time and one must remain philosophical.  "Nothing is perfect," she continued.  "Mobile isn't perfect.  If you are looking to poke a hole, you will find it.  The expectation has to be that we are as possible as possible now."

Next Steps to Success
The best way to overcome the status quo is to change the conversation.  "Don't talk about foot traffic," Campbell warned.  That is an old metric that is antiquated in today's digital world.  "Talk about viewability, reach, no fraud, the funnel and attribution."  There also needs to be transparency in measurement.  Be open to doing more custom research.

When it comes to the creative, "cater it to the environment," Mirmelstein suggested.
Getting in front of the planning cycle is another consideration, although, as Campbell explained, planning cycles vary by agency, category and brand. "Agencies also have lunch-and-learn meetings, so go in and present," she said, adding, "agencies have a test and learn budget," which can help introduce the value of DOOH for an agency.

"Not only do I see DOOH as an integral part of video strategies at agencies in 2018, but it will be viewed more so on a neutral playing field with other forms of digital video," she concluded.  "At the end of the day, the closer it leans into the science part of the art and science (which is at the crux of edia buying and planning) the more opportunity there will be for the medium."

Being open to the possibilities and getting out the message of the promise of DOOH as an addition to the current buy may, in fact, be the best route to success.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

Targeting “Decision Making Moments” Interview with Adspace Networks’ Ian Mirmelstein

Hiring a digital-executive for an Out-of-Home, location-based-video company is not as counter-intuitive as it may seem. Ian Mirmelstein, Adspace Networks’ new Senior Vice President, Digital Engagement, is a digital native who began his career in the late 1990s, working for such companies such as Microsoft, AT&T, and The New Republic. 

In this new role he’s leading the transformation of Adspace into a digital & programmatic vehicle. "Adspace sits in an ecosystem of media owners with digital screens that are out in the physical world. Our niche is inside of America’s top shopping destinations. Companies like Captivate own elevators. Zoom owns health clubs,” he explains. “We own the video story inside of malls across the US.”

Charlene Weisler. Tell me about your current job and what you’re working on?

Ian Mirmelstein: My job is to lead the transformation of the company from what has been an Out-of-Home play on the buy-side to a digital opportunity with all the addressability, measurement and performance attributes that the category demands. Our screens are in front of audiences that are in “decision making moments” in their lives. My job is to help craft the narrative for Adspace that speaks to the mindset of our audience. It is also to set up, from a technology perspective, platforms and partners that can help us make our offering smarter. Today a brand can come to us and say ‘I want to buy this audience’ and we can do so in a way that feels like a digital buy. At the end of the day, we are audience targeted :15 and :30 second digital video and that is an enormously transacting category.

Weisler: What data are you collecting and how are you using it? Do you use standard metrics and if so, what are they?

Mirmelstein: Through several partnerships, we are in the process of collecting data but it is very early for us. It is a priority for us as we enter 2018. Right now, location and crowd-sourced data are the most important for us as we sell our audiences. This helps us to see where our consumers have been throughout their daily journey and what type of consumers are in front of our screen at given times. This way we can say to an advertiser that we can help them reach, for example, ‘Women 18-35, with a certain household income, who went to a car dealership in the last 2 weeks and who drops their kids off at school daily.  Location tells us so much about our audiences that we can use to inform our targeting recommendations.

Weisler: How do you plan to operate cross platform?

Mirmelstein: We are unique in that our audiences are open-minded and receptive to advertising. In many cases, they’re either steps away from purchasing or they’re, at the very least, in the mindset of where they are going to spend their money. . Brands who use our screens in these critical moments, are taking advantage of a unique opportunity for that consumer to be influenced. Advertising on our screens is similar to re-targeting or intender cookie pools online. In the digital world, every advertiser is competing for the consumer who has been to their website or shown a behavior that indicates purchase intent, because that visitor is more likely to purchase. So too, are visitors to a mall indicating their purchasing intent.  It is not an exact proxy but for our category it is a powerful place to own and we’re going to be developing products and our platform to leverage this differentiator as we evolve.  

Weisler: What are the biggest challenges in Out-of-Home? 

Mirmelstein: The status quo is our biggest challenge. You’ve got an Out-of-Home buy side that is used to doing things the way they’ve always done it. You’ve got folks like me who are coming in and saying that there is another way to approach this ecosystem and it’s through addressability, mobile amplification and attribution. Infusing the category with these digital attributes will elevate and strengthen OOH, allowing it to command a greater overall percentage of media spending. In the end we all want what’s best for our clients and we want to make our category smarter and easier to buy.

Weisler: Please give me some predictions for how you think the media landscape will look in the next 3-5 years.

Mirmelstein: In the next 5 years you’ll see a continued acceleration of the digitization of media and a shift towards a video agnostic approach for reaching audiences. I also believe there will be a greater premium on experiences. For example, I am excited about the ability of brands to activate AR & VR inside of our environment. From an engagement perspective, there are some really cool opportunities to help brands deepen their connections with consumers, steps from the point of sale.

This article first appeared in www.MediaVIllage.com