When most people think of out-of-home, they picture a traditional static billboard on the side of the freeway. But over the last several years out-of-home has become a smarter and more precise channel, responsive to the growing needs of advertisers, writes Thomas Pena, sales manager, Perion (formerly Hivestack).
As for the driver of this growth? There’s no question that digital advertising technology such as Programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) has played an integral role in the evolution of OOH advertising. In Australia, where the majority of its screens are digital, it’s not just another media channel. It’s a quiet revolution. And Perion is right in the middle of it.
Our mission from day one has been to consistently educate the market on the unique advantages of programmatic DOOH—a task that came with its fair share of challenges.
Today, the conversation looks very different. Agencies and brands aren’t asking “what is it?” anymore. They’re asking “how far can we push it?” That’s when it gets exciting. Because pushing boundaries is what we do best, whether it’s RFPs, proposals or campaign execution.
Some of our most memorable projects prove it. Fiji Airways ran a campaign across eight countries using Perion’s advanced targeting tools like dayparting, audience segmentation, zip code targeting and measurement. It showed just how seamless yet strategic and scalable programmatic DOOH can be.
Baker’s Delight, with Nunn Media, The Trade Desk and StreetIQ, tapped into dynamic creative optimisation (DCO). The result was a 61 per cent uplift in footfall in a single day. That’s not just a case study. That’s a perfect recipe.
The possibilities truly are endless in pDOOH, and here are four big trends that are driving the market right now. Cross-market campaigns that let brands run a single campaign across many countries worldwide, using the same buying approach, data signals and creative assets. DCO that enables brands and agencies to automatically serve the most relevant ad creative to a screen in real time, driven by live data signals like location, time of day or weather. Omnichannel strategies where DOOH works seamlessly with CTV, mobile and audio. And, of course, AI. Yes, the word everyone is tired of hearing. But soon it will make campaign planning as easy as autopilot. Less “ugh, spreadsheets.” More “ah, autopilot.”
Looking ahead, location-based targeting will only grow. Advertisers love Perion’s proximity tool, enabling mass searches of points of interest in a given area and instant activation of nearby screens. That means less wastage and more relevance. Add in our Journeys tool, which matches relevant audience routes and delivers DOOH at every touchpoint, and suddenly campaigns feel more like conversations than ads.
For newcomers, my advice is simple: don’t overthink it. The platform is intuitive. Nothing goes live until you hit publish. And resources like the Programmatic DOOH Buyer’s Guide featured on the IAB Australia site are there to speed things up.
What excites me today is how programmatic DOOH has turned out-of-home into a medium that’s data-driven, dynamic and flexible. If something isn’t working, you don’t cry over 500 printed bus shelter ads. You tweak the dashboard and move on.
Out-of-home used to be about size. Now it’s about smart campaigns. In a noisy world, the winners won’t be the ones shouting louder. They’ll be the ones cutting through the noise with messages delivered at the right place and the right time.
That’s the quiet revolution already underway.
