Guest Times: The Ds of OOH – Emerging Trends in Digital OOH

OOH is at the crossroads for something new, as most industry pundits are eyeing opportunities that will shape OOH 2.0. Resilience, permanence and impact are among the many key attributes that make the medium pertinent and still sought after in today’s so-called digital age. But, what is the big change, often conjures up as a question time and again, while appreciating the wave digital technology has brought in its wake touching different media avenues, bringing about their transformation. Perhaps digital itself will turn a leaf in DOOH’s emerging story, redefining the Ds of out of home in DOOH.

The world has become a giant network

There isn’t anything left in the world that hasn’t been untouched with the internet and connectivity. With the ever-increasing users of internet, topped with indomitable usage of mobile phones, the accepted norms of connectivity that define the present are being reimagined and reinvented every day. With this, the DOOH scene too is witnessing the power of connectivity in a highly networked world. The best example to put things in perspective is the media itself being rendered to interactivity with the help of technologies like face recognition, proximity targeting, predictive intelligence, etc. to deliver an overall enhanced ad experience. This evidently makes sense as with evolution in media landscape. Advertisers too are on the front foot to tap into newer modes of communication to know their consumers better. This may take a while to be seen running in the Indian market, but the preparedness and positive sentiment is something that will rapidly drive its inception, maybe very soon.

The growing importance of location for marketers

Growth in digital has impregnated all media channels with possibilities unimagined, opening up new windows of opportunities in which marketers can dive into, very specifically communicating and engaging their consumers. With location based data and captured live instances / moments, brands are now altogether closer to their consumers, leading to OOH’s role being redefined from “one to many medium”, to “one to few”. We were earlier focusing on targeted ads based on audience demography but now possibility of delivering personalised ads for consumers through DOOH is a reality.

Power of the street

The power of the street is vested in four critical aspects, viz. people, places, location and relevance. They form a connecting link which presses the importance of the OOH as a powerful medium in today’s digital world. With people spending more time out of home, proliferation of new infrastructure, importance of location-based communication and lastly relevance driven by data, technology and content, mutually and effectively combine to form an impressive media avenue for investment, both from an advertiser’s and the media ownership perspective.

Confluence in a connected world

The Ds in OOH are being redefined by emergence of technologies and ‘D’ is no longer a connotation prescribed to just digital. With integrative acceptance, the understanding of the medium itself is broadened. Digital will transform into dynamic, data driven and delightful. The dynamic aspect will bring in creative enhancements to capture the consumer’s attention, data will drive contextual communication to specifically target right consumers at the right time and interactive technology and location intelligence will bring in delight, one of the key engagement parameters of communication. Brands like British Airways and Coke have already showcased on DOOH’s world stage the power of confluence. Their award-winning campaigns – Lookup and Drink an ad, respectively – have set industry benchmarks capturing the redefined Ds of OOH. The ante for the next big D is all set to realised very soon.

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Info@BestMediaInfo.com