In today's content-saturated digital world, marketers are constantly seeking the most effective way to get their brands’ content to stand out and stay in front of their target audiences’ eyes. This has brought forward pDOOH (Programmatic Digital Out-of-Home) advertising, allowing marketers to target audiences with dynamic and personalised digital ads while on the go. With the industry’s rapid growth, over two-thirds of marketers are considering incorporating pDOOH advertising in their upcoming marketing campaigns. There’s no way you should miss either. This article will explore various concepts of pDOOH advertising and how important it is for brands to implement pDOOH advertising strategy to effectively reach audiences. Continue reading to learn more!

1. What is pDOOH advertising? 

2. Why pDOOH advertising?

1.  What is Programmatic digital-out-of-home (pDOOH) advertising?

In short, programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (pDOOH) advertising refers to automating the buying and selling process of DOOH ad, allowing buyers to bid on ad spaces when certain conditions are fulfilled. pDOOH advertising is a dynamic and interactive digital media on digital billboards and can be found in places such as airports, transit stations, or shopping malls.

New York Times Square pDOOH billboards

Data, algorithms and automated bidding play important roles in a pDOOH campaign, which pDOOH marketers set specific conditions (also known as triggers) so contents can be served on the screen at the right time to target specific highly-targeted audiences, optimise campaigns, and deliver dynamic content on DOOH screens in real-time.

Since the beginning of 2023, pDOOH ads has become one of the fastest-growing media sectors globally. According to Statista, over 76% of marketers are planning to allocate more of their budgets to pDOOH campaigns. With programmatic, it introduces an innovative and data-driven form of advertising that not only allows brands to seamlessly connect with consumers, but also allows marketers to utilise programmatics for better pDOOH ad campaign tracking, measurement and analytics for future optimization.

To launch a pDOOH ad campaign in real-time, marketers would be required to purchase pDOOH inventory using a demand side platform (DSP). AsiaPac has access to top global DSPs, such as The Trade Desk (TTD), Hivestack, JCDecaux and VIOOH. Get access to our premium pDOOH and inventories with over 290 billion monthly impressions across Asia-Pacific regions to exclusively connect your pDOOH ad networks in the marketplace. Contact our pDOOH expertise team here to learn more!

Captivate, Connect, Conquer with pDOOH Advertising!

2. Why Programmatic digital-out-of-home (pDOOH) advertising?

PDOOH has made it possible to reach people wherever they are. While there are myths about pDOOH that make marketers hesitant to step their foot into this medium, we can guarantee that they are all misconceptions.

Myths and misconceptions of pDOOH advertising

Thanks to better targeting, flexibility, and efficiency, pDOOH advertising is a worthwhile marketing approach in reaching consumers in the physical world, especially compared to DOOH or outdoor ads. Let’s dive into the details of why you must consider pDOOH advertising in your marketing strategy.

A.  Hypertargeting pDOOH ad capabilities to reach your target audiences in real-time!

Programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) allows marketers to precisely target desired audience groups in various ways.

• Trigger-Based pDOOH inventory bidding

  Marketers are able to bid and select specific pDOOH ad placements based on the needs and conditions and get your creative ads delivered under specific triggers. By strategically planning and sequencing your pDOOH ad content beforehand, you are able to reach a precise targeted audience most efficiently. Examples of such conditions or triggers would be weather, time of day, daily stock market performance and location.

• Geofenced points of interest (POI) targeting

  PDOOH ad offers location-based geofence targeting based on technology radio frequency ID (RFID), which allows businesses to accurately track and measure when a person entered or exited the virtual geographical location, known as a geofence. With location tracking, marketers can pinpoint and measure the POIs of their target audience, such as the areas they frequently visit, the day of time they visit, or the duration they spent. After, they can geofence these POIs and set up nearby DOOH screens to show relevant ads if a target audience is detected close to the POI.

• Behavioural Targeting, Retargeting & Online Remarketing

  Marketers are also able to leverage data collected to analyse and retarget a more personalised pDOOH ads to maximise brand recall by segmenting target audiences based on demographics, behaviour, movement patterns, and interests.

  With the integration of various data sources and insights, marketers can optimise pDOOH ad campaigns in real-time by adjusting their targeting parameters, creative elements and messaging based on the performance, and audience feedback. This increases the frequency of audiences being exposed to your brand’s pDOOH ads, thus creating memorable brand experience due to the frequency of your brand’s exposure through multiple touch points within a short period of time.

Here is a great example of how McDonald’s fully utilises pDOOH ad targeting capabilities to reach their target audience.

McDonald’s UK promoting their new drink products through a reactive DOOH campaign

In summer 2019, McDonald’s UK promoted their McCafé Iced menu through a reactive DOOH campaign, featuring 2 cold drink products, “Strawberry Lemonade” and “Millionaire’s Frappe”. McDonald’s UK had set specific dates and weather triggers which took advantage of the hot weather of 25 degrees Celsius to market cold drink products. The brand promoted them during the hottest time of the year, from 27th May to 28th July and the advertisement was specifically played out when the temperature rose above 22 degrees Celsius. The brand also updated the ad creative in real-time with weather API feed to create various creatives based on the live temperature and city name, giving a more personalised creative for audiences.

B.  Sophisticated pDOOH Ad Campaign Measurements

One key advantage of pDOOH ad s the effectiveness of real-time performance tracking of ad campaigns. Compared to traditional DOOH, it has limited options for tracking the success of an ad campaign due to the difficulty of knowing who has viewed the ads and accessing campaign data in real-time.

PDOOH ads use mobile tagging technology to accurately track ad impressions, which allows marketers to monitor the audience interactions and performance of their DOOH ads in real-time, enabling them to make data-driven decisions promptly. PDOOH are also able to leverage third-party data providers to enhance campaign measurements by providing comprehensive audience data, e.g. demographics, behavioural patterns and location-based information. These pDOOH ad features allow marketers track data on impressions, frequency and conversions. After the adjustment and optimisation of campaigns, it will maximise campaign impact, thus increasing conversions over time. A successful pDOOH campaign is Zoom, the video telephony software program, which uses pDOOH marketing strategy to generate over 18.5 million ad impressions in just 2 months to deliver retargeted pDOOH across desktop and mobile to about 120,000 people.

C.  Increased Engagement & Connections in Real-time by pDOOH Ads

More than traditional OOH, pDOOH ads has the potential to increase engagement and connection with audiences due to its personalised ad experience with tailor-made and interest-based content and placements. Various pDOOH ad content placements can boost target audience engagement with real-time updates by marketers, strengthening their connection with viewers.

Many shoppers believe a DOOH ad is influential in their purchasing decisions

A successful pDOOH ad will leave customers an impression and build great brand awareness. By using dynamic and contextual content, marketers can tailor their pDOOH ad content messages based on location and audience demographics to form a more personalised approach in capturing the attention of viewers, thus increasing impressions and engagement with the ads.

Some marketers also integrate interactive elements into LED displays to enhance the advertising experience. Marketers can utilise touchscreens, motion sensors and even augmented reality (AI) features into pDOOH marketing plans, to create a more immersive and memorable experience. With the seamless technological integration with mobile devices, like mobile tagging and QR codes, it enables viewers to engage with the ad further by accessing additional information, offers on their devices, fostering a stronger connection with the brand.

D.  Omnichannel marketing contributes to the effectiveness of pDOOH

In 2023, marketers are seeing the importance of adopting omnichannel marketing strategy in view of proven increased customer retention and loyalty. Omnichannel marketing serves as a customer-centric approach that enables seamless customer experience from one channel to another, across multiple devices and touchpoints.

Differences between traditional, multichannel and omnichannel marketing strategy

A study revealed that 73% out of 46,000 customers use multiple channels during their shopping journey. This indicates that most customers use more than one channel to complete a purchase, meaning it is necessary for brands to create a cohesive advertising experience and connect with customers through various touchpoints and across multiple channels. Thus. adopting pDOOH in your brand’s omnichannel marketing strategy is evolutionary.

By integrating pDOOH with other marketing channels like online, mobile, and social media, omnichannel marketing ensures consistent brand messaging across all touchpoints of a customer journey with an amplified reach and frequency of ad exposures. This consistency reinforces the brand identity and increases brand recognition, making the pDOOH campaign more unified and impactful.

Omnichannel marketing also allows marketers to leverage data from various channels to refine their targeting strategies. For example, data from online platforms and mobile apps can be used to identify specific audience segments for pDOOH campaigns. This cross-channel targeting maximises the relevance of ads and improves the chances of reaching the right audience. Through integrating pDOOH with other channels, it also extends the reach and frequency of ad exposures. By combining the broad reach of out-of-home media with the targeted reach of other digital channels, marketers can amplify their message and increase the chances of engaging with their audience multiple times, reinforcing brand recall and driving conversions.

E.  Budget-friendly for Maximal PDOOH Ad Results

Besides being data-driven, pDOOH ads also have a comparatively low entry budget compared to other OOH advertising options because of its flexibility to minimise wastage and maximise results. Traditional OOH advertising, on the other hand, are known for having high production and maintenance costs, which marketers are therefore hesitant.

• PDOOH has lower production costs compared to which made it more cost-effective. It is easier for marketers to design, produce and update content.

• PDOOH ad campaigns allow marketers to have the flexibility in choosing advertising campaign durations, which it can run for shorter durations, during a specific timeframe or events.

• With precise targeting based on specific locations, demographics and right audiences, it reduces pDOOH advertising spendings, optimise budgets as it reaches the right audience more efficiently and effectively

• Programmatic advertising platforms and DSPs allow real-time bidding and optimization, allowing marketers to pay for impressions based on their pDOOH campaign goals, thus maximising advertising budget.
  

Besides various factors that are beneficial for marketers to consider using pDOOH advertising, marketers should be aware that the budget required for a pDOOH campaign can vary depending on various factors such as the campaign objectives, the chosen locations, the duration of the campaign, and the complexity of the creative content.

PDOOH Advertising Summary

Data is the future of digital OOH advertising! In 2024, using pDOOH as your out-of-home advertising strategy is the way to go! With pDOOH eliminating the need for manual negotiations and streamlining the entire buying and selling process of DOOH ad space. It allows you to save time and money while fully utilising automation, real-time bidding, data-driven targeting, dynamic content, campaign optimisation and many more features.

With over 18+ years of experience in the digital marketing industry and access to top DSPs across the globe, AsiaPac can connect your pDOOH ads on premium global ad networks in the omnichannel marketplace. Based on your ad objectives, we tailor your pDOOH ad campaigns with your other online media channels to form an effective omnichannel marketing strategy, effectively reaching your target audience and market. Therefore, marketers must grasp this opportunity and kick off their first offline and online integration campaign to unlock your brand’s true potential in maximising an omnichannel marketing strategy. Time to propel your brand ahead of the competition!

About AsiaPac Net Media

With an extensive digital marketing experience of serving more than 3,000 clients across the region in sectors such as education, travel and hospitality, retail, finance, Government and others, AsiaPac’s expert team is highly recognized for the excellence in providing performance-driven services to customers from Hong Kong, Taiwan and the PRC, and global corporates targeting Asia markets. AsiaPac has local offices across Asia Pacific regions, including Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.If you’d like to learn more about AsiaPac and the work we’ve done, visit our Cases page. For more information on AsiaPac and our services, please contact us at info@asiapac.com.hk/ info@adtechinno.com.