Every month, OAAA’s editorial team sits down with an industry leader to discuss the latest insights, trends, and best practices for the OOH industry. This month, we sat down with Cherian Thomas, Head of Marketing &* GTM at T-Mobile Advertising Solutions, who discussed what excites him about OOH right now, his growth predictions for programmatic audience targeting, and what’s next for OOH.
“More people go into a Walmart, Home Depot, Walgreens, Costco, Kroger etc. than visit their respective apps and websites. … In-store screens combined with point-of-sale data can show how DOOH puts the “R” in ROI by connecting exposure to increase in same store sales velocity.” Read Cherian’s Q&A on The Drum.
OAAA: What excites you about OOH right now?
Cherian: I love that brands and agencies are getting more sophisticated about their OOH activations. More and more buyers are looking at OOH as a digital extension by layering audience targeting (similar to mobile) with their DOOH activations. Approximately 30% of programmatic buys utilize audience targeting today and we feel this trend will double in the next two years.
OAAA: Which recent OOH campaign inspired you?
Cherian: “Nada Yada Yada.” This is a new brand campaign from Metro by T-Mobile, which communicates trust and simplicity to our new and existing customers. These activations focus on “wireless without the gotchas and BS fine print” across strategically placed OOH locations throughout the U.S. and inside thousands of Metro stores.
OAAA: What’s the next big thing for OOH?
Cherian: In-store screens. As retail media networks continue to grow, we see a tremendous opportunity in making the OOH total addressable market much larger. Foot traffic far exceeds web and app traffic for major retailers. For example, more people go into Walmart, Home Depot, Walgreens, Costco, Kroger, etc. than visit their respective apps and websites. This, along with the significant decrease in screen costs over the past 10 years, yields opportunities to create in-store retail media networks. In-store screens combined with point-of-sale data can show how DOOH puts the “R” in ROI by connecting exposure to increase in same store sales velocity. It’s a huge opportunity for endemic brands to get exposure at the most critical moment in the purchase funnel.
Best of all, these screens will need connectivity — and that’s something T-Mobile does best!
Published: August 30, 2023