Every month, OAAA’s editorial team sits down with an industry leader to discusss the latest insights, trends, and best practices for the OOH industry. This month, we sat down with Michael Provenzano, CEO, Vistar Media, who shared his message for brands who haven’t bought OOH before and his predictions for the industry (Hint: It’s got something to do with dynamic creative).
“OOH is experiencing a renaissance in advertising and for good reason. The channel is more agile, creative-centric and data-driven than ever …” Read Michael’s Q&A on The Drum.
OAAA: What excites you about OOH right now?
Michael: OOH is experiencing a renaissance in advertising and for good reason. The channel is more agile, creative-centric and data-driven than ever and is opening up new possibilities for not only brands and agencies around the world, but also media owners — equipping them with advanced technology to optimize yield and streamline network operations as a whole. It’s been an exciting journey watching OOH transform into the insights- and results-driven canvas it is today.
What’s even more encouraging is the advancement of audience data available through trusted first- and third-party providers, allowing us to get smarter and more targeted with our campaigns. Brands aren’t just slapping creative on a large board near a highway, hoping it will reach the right people. Instead, they’re placing creative in strategic locations where their target audience is most likely to be, actually influencing consumer behavior, and we know this because of the advanced measurement solutions and metrics at our disposal.
OAAA: What message do you have for brands that haven’t bought OOH before?
Michael: Take the time to understand the full scope of capabilities the channel now offers. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the technology and stick to what you think you know about OOH – so perhaps primarily leveraging eye-catching billboard placements, or only considering how you can repurpose existing creative assets for the medium. While those are effective tactics, OOH can offer a lot more if you take the time to learn about what’s possible in the ecosystem today. For example, did you know you can tailor your OOH campaign around weather conditions, seamlessly activating creative when local weather hits a certain temperature, pollen count and more, when it will influence consumer behavior most? Or what about strategically swapping out creative messaging based on time of day, to ensure your messaging is resonating with your audience? Or even feeding in live tweets from consumers who are raving about your product to drive additional buzz? OOH has so much to offer regardless of budget size, campaign flight, creative and target audience, so it’s key to keep tabs on today’s capabilities.
OAAA: What’s the next big thing for OOH?
Michael: Bigger, bolder, and more personalized creative campaigns transacted programmatically. We’ve reached a point where we have the technology to support almost any campaign goal you can imagine in the most efficient and streamlined way possible. However, now that we have the necessary suite of technology and data capabilities, brands are beginning to push the envelope of creativity in OOH – and they’ve only just scratched the surface. With capabilities like dynamic creative, weather-based marketing, video OOH and more, I think we’ll continue to see brands put a stronger emphasis on their creative strategy when it comes to digital out-of-home in an effort to innovate, stand out from the competition and capture market share.
Published: May 30, 2023