Six programmatic DOOH campaigns that rocked in 2024
For the third year in a row, members of the JCDecaux UK programmatic team have selected their standout campaigns of the year. This year’s highlights include always-on campaigns from Boots and TUI, new programmatic DOOH adopters Ramsbury Spirits and Regatta, and innovative creative-first strategies from The Ivy Collection and Eurostar.
Always-on – always delivering results
A data-led strategy enables Boots to benefit from both the precision and scale programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) offers. The brand’s use of JCDecaux’s extensive high street and mall presence drives footfall to stores and ultimately increases sales. Furthermore, thanks to robust insights into performance, Boots has adopted an always-on approach leveraging dynamic creative optimization to promote different products depending on a variety of factors that influence sales.
The ‘Sniffles getting on your nerves’ creative below works really well because it showcases three different products and Boots’ in-store pharmacy services and products meaning it answers multiple potential consumer needs. This is a great strategy for making your pDOOH budget work as hard as possible while adhering to creative best practices.
Advertising that works, whatever the weather
Next up, we have a campaign from outdoor clothing, footwear, and equipment brand Regatta. This campaign came from our Business Growth team, which works with brands that plan media in-house, and ran through our managed service offering and demand-side platform (DSP) Scoota. Regatta was new to pDOOH but quickly set itself up for success by using weather data to dynamically optimize creative based on temperature and rainfall. The campaign has been live continually since April and is a great example of how brands can have an always-on presence without the need for traditional laydowns, and without a direct relationship with a DSP.
The creative below was shown when it was raining and by featuring a family the brand has effectively communicated the fact that they have menswear, womenswear, and kidswear without the need for additional copy. Furthermore, the creative specifies that products are available in-store nationwide and online thus appealing to both online and offline shoppers.
Keeping it real (time)
Sports events provide the perfect backdrop for increased creative relevance in pDOOH, as shown by The Trade Desk with a brilliant campaign for Eurostar that ran during the Olympic games. This was a nationwide campaign that saw the creative updated instantly when Team GB won a gold medal and featured copy that tapped into national pride as shown below.
You don’t have to be a sponsor of a sports team or a manufacturer of sporting goods to reap the benefits of increased contextual relevancy during times of heightened interest in sports. The opportunities to incorporate a sporting element into your pDOOH campaign strategy are almost endless – find out more in this piece by Philippa Evans, Head of Programmatic Operations at JCDecaux.
Give the audience what they want
TUI, one of the world’s largest tourism groups, and its agency EssenceMediacom have worked with JCDecaux’s programmatic team for several years consistently delivering highly effective campaigns. What is particularly impressive is the fact that this is an always-on campaign that uses audience-level targeting and messaging which is activated at scale programmatically.
Audience insights are used to determine the best creative to show in any given location at any given time – which means they effectively have multiple campaigns running continuously targeting different audiences with different product offerings. It’s a relatively simple strategy but it works really well and proves that you can be effective in pDOOH without making things complicated.
The ultimate in contextual relevance
When The Ivy Collection sought to boost footfall at key restaurants, it turned to Scoota for a data-driven, creative-first approach to pDOOH. The team crafted over 40 creative variations, leveraging real-time weather conditions, bold imagery, and snappy copy to make each ad contextually relevant. By highlighting walking times like ”5-minute walk“ or ”10-minute walk,“ the messaging connected directly with audiences near the restaurants, ensuring relevance at the moment of delivery. Additionally, the creative highlighted key features of the nearest restaurant, such as ”Dine al fresco on the terrace“ and ”Dine al fresco in our outdoor garden,“ accompanied by a unique QR code to facilitate instant bookings.
The campaign performance was measured by Scoota and Adsquare footfall attribution and the results showed a 144% uplift in restaurant business for exposed customers vs. non-exposed. The entire campaign was delivered programmatically through with a single point of activation across multiple environments, media owners, and suppliers.
Never out of place
Ramsbury Single Estate is another brand new to pDOOH this year that delivered a fantastic campaign. As a relatively new premium spirits brand, Ramsbury confidently sets itself apart from the competition with unexpected, entertaining creative under the tagline “Never out of place”. The target audience is young and values individualism and the goal of the campaign was to drive sales.
By leveraging JCDecaux’s network of screens at Waitrose stores as well as screens in close proximity to Sainsbury’s the brand maximised attention with creative that featured a range of beautifully shot still images of the brand’s signature gin and vodkas in various locations. This provided a great visual link with the tagline and contrasted really well with the supermarket and roadside environments in which they ran.
Three tips for success in pDOOH
These campaigns all have three things in common: firstly, they use data-driven audience targeting to ensure delivery in the optimal locations at times when consumers are in the right mindset to pay attention to the messaging. Secondly, each creative execution has been designed specifically for pDOOH ensuring maximum impact and results. Finally, they are all measurable. Whether the goal is footfall, in-store sales, online sales, or brand awareness – each one can be measured. This enables these brands, agencies, and DSPs to justify and grow their investment in pDOOH.
Hear about more campaigns that rocked in 2024 in this episode of the Life in Programmatic DOOH podcast.
If you want to learn more about how pDOOH can help you achieve your or your client’s marketing goals, check out our Programmatic Intelligence Hub.
This article originally appeared on The Drum.