Australian advertising agencies have embraced Programmatic DOOH (pDOOH), with almost one-quarter of Australian agencies trading DOOH inventory programmatically for the first time during 2020 and a further 10 per cent of agencies increasing their programmatic investment in an otherwise depressed OOH market.
The results, which come from IAB Australia’s inaugural Attitudes to Programmatic DOOH Report, are based on a survey of 183 media buyers and advertisers in the Australian market conducted in May 2021.
The agencies named flexible buying options, operational efficiency, and enhanced data targeting options as the key drivers for their interest in pDOOH but also self-reported cross channel planning potential as critical. This bodes well for the OOH industry seeking to tap into revenue opportunities from cross digital campaigns.
Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia said: “This important new piece of industry research provides very clear guidance from media buyers and advertisers on areas where they would like further education and support from the industry to help with their investment, measurement and assessment of programmatic DOOH activity.
“I have every confidence that the programmatic DOOH market will boom through 2021 and 2022, embracing the benefits of programmatic while also retaining the long-standing agency approach to developing fit for purpose OOH creative for different environments and placements.”
Ben Allman, Chair of the IAB Australia DOOH Working Group and APAC Sales Director at Broadsign said: “This is the first piece of research to come from the IAB Australia’s DOOH Working Group. There has been plenty of chatter regarding the willingness of brands and agencies to embrace the programmatic buying of DOOH and the findings of the report confirm this.”
“The report enables us to pinpoint exactly where industry effort is required to maximise investment in the space. Overwhelmingly, brands and agencies are telling us that there is still a lack of understanding when it comes to pDOOH. The Working Group is committed to improving education and we have a number of exciting resources and initiatives which will launch later this year.”
The IAB Australia DOOH Working Group will shortly release a DOOH Buyer’s Guide to the market, with an agency roadshow and training program to follow.
The Attitudes to Programmatic DOOH Report also found that while the key focus areas for OOH and DOOH industry development revolve around measurement and tracking, agencies and advertisers are calling out for education to gain a better understanding of the pDOOH offering and mechanics.
Other key findings from the Report include:
- The prediction that the sector will see greater creative experimentation in FY22 and beyond as advertisers start to expand their creative suite beyond static executions, with a range of agencies intending to use other formats for the first time (HTML 40 per cent, video 37 per cent and dynamic creative 36 per cent).
- Agencies are still working out where pDOOH fits internally in their planning and buying with just 37 per cent using the same team to place and buy OOH and pDOOH and almost half of pDOOH decision marketers planning and buying independently of other media.
The Attitudes to Programmatic DOOH Report was launched to help the industry understand the current use of pDOOH, the needs of the market as well as opportunities and barriers for advertisers, agencies, media owners and technology companies. This report will be run annually and play a similar role to the IAB Australia Audio State of the Nation Report.
The IAB DOOH Working Group member organisations include: Amobee, Bench, Broadsign, Cartology, Hivestack, IAS, JC Decaux, MediaMath, MiQ Digital, OIS, OMA, QMS Media, Seedooh, Shopper Media Group, Tonic Media, The Trade Desk, Val Morgan Outdoor, Veridooh, Verizon Media, Verve Group, Vistar Media
