Programmatic DOOH Shakes off its Nascent Label and Enters the Mainstream
For the second year in a row, JCDecaux, the UK’s leading out-of-home media owner, has released new research into the programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) landscape in the UK. The findings show that over the past 12 months pDOOH has become more integrated into the wider media mix, is favoured for its operational efficiency, and is widely used as part of an always on strategy to boost the reach of DOOH campaigns and to support other digital channels.
“This is the second year in a row that MTM has partnered with JCDEcaux UK to produce independent, quantitative insights into the world of pDOOH and we’ve seen real signs of increased maturity in the market compared to last year.” said Carrie Condino, B2B Research Director, MTM. “Now we're seeing more strategic implementation, true omnichannel planning, and more sophisticated campaigns. We're seeing marketers feel more comfortable and confident with the channel and they're moving on to an era of leveraging insights and continually refining campaigns.”
Integrated planning and buying
Over three-quarters (77%) of UK pDOOH marketers are always directly involved in one or more other channels (up from 61% in 2023). The top five channels marketers are responsible for in conjunction with pDOOH are video (67%), social (67%), display (64%), DOOH (63%), and CTV (56%).
The most common reasons for including pDOOH in the media mix are operational efficiency (28%, +4 points YoY, now 1st place from 3rd), viewability (27%, -2 points YoY, remaining in 2nd place) and ability to reach incremental audiences (26%, +3 points YoY, now 3rd place from 4th). Meanwhile, the ability to measure performance has fallen from 1st place (33%) to 6th place (21%) showing that marketers are focussing more on strategic reasons for using the channel rather than focussing primarily on the fact performance can be compared to other channels.
“Over the past 12 months, pDOOH has proven its role in the marketing mix meaning that measurement, while still important, is being superseded by delivery focused objectives when it comes to reasons marketers choose pDOOH.” said Dom Kozak, Head of Programmatic, JCDecaux UK. “The strength of the channel lies in strategic, holistic planning combined with a robust, appropriate measurement strategy.”
Marketers opt for an always on strategy with tactical use cases
More than one-third (35%) have an always on strategy for pDOOH. The most common use cases are to boost DOOH reach in specific locations (47%) and times (41%), and to support other digital channels (38%). Brand-side marketers are more likely to use pDOOH as part of an always on strategy compared to agencies (39% vs 30%). Agency marketers are more frequently using real time on/off functionality (42%) compared to advertisers (29%).
Brand- and agency-side marketers have varying motivations for buying pDOOH. A greater number of brand respondents citing audience targeting (both specific 29% vs. 18%, and wide 26% vs 16%) and priming online audiences (21% vs. 11%) compared to agency respondents. On the other hand, agency respondents are more motivated by flexible buying options (23% vs 12%) and measurement capabilities (25% vs. 17%).
Measurement challenges have been overcome
Last years’ research revealed that 45% of pDOOH marketers sought better measurement solutions in order to grow the channel. This has fallen to just 29% of this years respondents. In practice, brand awareness (67%), online sales (60%), and performance of other digital channels (58%) are the most commonly used KPIs for pDOOH campaigns. Brand-side marketers are more likely to use performance of other digital channels as a KPI vs. agencies (64% vs. 53%). More agency marketers are using purchase consideration (54%) than advertisers (45%).
“Marketers are rapidly becoming more adept at buying DOOH programmatically which means they're transferring some of the skills from other programmatic channels, they're optimising campaigns in real-time, they're experimenting with different buying options like programmatic guaranteed deals to ensure quality impressions and reducing wastage. I think all these are signs that pDOOH has become more aligned with programmatic skill sets refined in other channels.” said Carrie Condino.