A real-time approach to ad campaigns

by carly_mchugh | 25 September 2023 3:06 pm

By Carly McHugh

As today’s out-of-home (OOH) advertising sphere continues to evolve, brands have even more opportunities to stand out from their competitors. In fact, even real-time elements, such as the weather, can be leveraged through programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH), to drive consumers towards a particular product.

From last October to this March, software solutions provider Vistar Media partnered with digital agency Spinnn to present a data-driven campaign for Rain-X ClearView windshield washer fluid. Utilizing a weather targeting solution from The Weather Company, the ads aimed to influence consumer behaviour with contextually matched creative based on local conditions.

Titled “No Matter the Weather,” the campaign ran across 13 major metro markets in Canada, delivering nearly 2.5 million total impressions. Featuring creative executions in English and French, it leveraged proximity targeting to surround key retail locations where the product was sold. The overarching creative strategy centred on four conditions—rain, sleet, snow, and any weather—and promoted the product as a universally cleaner and safer option to drivers throughout the country. The DOOH ads ran consistently across a variety of venues, pointing consumers to the nearest locations where they could make a purchase.

At the close of the campaign, data showed 44 per cent of the ads were delivered during inclement weather, and of the consumers who saw them, at least one in three were very or somewhat likely to purchase that particular windshield washer fluid over the next six months.

Vistar’s managing director for Canada, Scott Mitchell, shared his thoughts on what the success of this campaign means for others in the OOH media sphere, as well as the benefits of weather-based targeting and how the use of data is helping advertisers appeal to their audiences more than ever.

Sign Media Canada (SMC): What makes weather-based targeting a new, unique opportunity for media buyers and media owners?

Scott Mitchell (SM): For OOH, it’s something that’s starting to be adopted as marketers think of how they can continue to provide relevant messaging to consumers. Weather-based marketing uses data and analytics to deliver highly relevant messages based on weather conditions. This could be in local areas or specific environmental conditions prone to influence consumer behaviours.

Weather triggers can include anything from air quality to pollen count to temperatures. When you think of what that looks like from a marketer’s perspective, you can start to use these triggers to provide relevant messaging based on different categories, or relevant messaging to reach consumers based on the product. For example, a drug company could show an ad on an OOH vending type that could be triggered when the pollen count or air quality is at a particular percentage.

It’s an opportunity for marketers to have a detailed or contextually driven message which will resonate with their audience. Now, obviously, OOH is not a one-to-one relationship, but having a nuance-based approach and allowing weather triggers to add an extra layer of contextual relevance gives them the chance to have that conversation with consumers and relate to them.

SMC: How does weather-based targeting add value to an advertising campaign?

SM: The value continues to be driven through the opportunity to provide that contextual relevance to the audience. Since OOH ads are seen across screens in the physical world, local weather conditions can really impact a campaign. When the conditions are right, weather-based targeting can drastically increase the effectiveness of the campaign by placing or gauging contextual relevance in front of the right audiences and at the right times.

If we think of how we use data in the OOH space, it’s generally about serving the right ad, at the right time, to the right person. If we take that value approach to marketers and give them the opportunity to utilize what the automation has done in the space—what the value continues to provide—we can start to help marketers get to the forefront of reaching those audiences with that contextually relevant opportunity.

For example, RainX used weather triggers to look at an increase in extreme weather events across Canada. When drivers needed to be equipped with the proper windshield washer fluid, we were able to help them provide that messaging to their audience, in terms of being able to see clearer and feel safer on the road,
no matter what the conditions were. From there, they were able to provide the right messaging which actually spoke to their audience, based on those weather conditions.

After we ran the campaign, we did a brand list study to help the client better understand, not only did we use the right type of data approach to get their messaging to their consumers, but also what their consumers were feeling in terms of brand favourability, where they ranked among their competitors, and whether the campaign was successful. Ultimately, we saw about a 37 per cent increase in consideration, and about a 34 per cent increase in intent, which is a pretty relevant type of messaging, especially for OOH and given the type of product.

Weather triggers are an important part for a lot of different brands, in terms of how they think about the creative messaging they’re putting forward to their clients, as well as the context. It also reinforces the power and the value we’re able to assist our marketers and partners with, in terms of providing them with the opportunity to use data. We know data helps reach audiences more effectively at that right time and that right place, and if we can tweak that to make it even more contextually relevant for a particular audience, that message association is hopefully going to help continue to bring a powerful message for them.

SMC: What role does the creative play in a weather-based targeting campaign?

SM: The weather trigger can be based on a number of different messages. It can be driven based on temperature. It can be driven based on snowy conditions. Say it’s -30 C (-22 F) out and we want to serve an ad that says, “We want to show our winter windshield washer fluid is going to provide the most safety, to make sure you have a clear view of the route.” The weather trigger can do that.

Something that wasn’t part of the RainX campaign—and this is something different, but I still think it’s quite relevant—is the other approach we take, not only with data, but also with dynamic creative. We’ve worked with a few other brands on campaigns where we used data to target their audiences more effectively, but we also changed the creative to have that messaging speak to them in real time.

For example, we did a campaign with the NBA where we were actually able to change the scores for the playoffs in real time through a partner. We also worked with one of the world’s largest retailers to update their creative to include a countdown clock to one of their big launches. Essentially, we would serve an OOH ad, targeted using data the client is aligned with in terms of reaching their audience, and it would have messaging that says, “There’s four days until the big day.”

We have other brands we work with on a retail front where we use a data-driven approach to delivering the ad, and then we can tweak the creative in a dynamic fashion that allows us to show a message that says, “You’re actually only 500 m (0.3 mi) from the closest store.” We can serve that ad based on that OOH screen, and it’ll tell you that you’re 500 m from the closest store. This type of messaging is becoming even more contextually relevant to the consumer our marketers are trying to reach, providing the right type of engagement for them.

SMC: How do you foresee weather-based targeting or similar campaigns emerging in the DOOH media sphere?

SM: It’s really exciting because ad software has continued to help advance OOH. We always get compared to the online digital space, but, of course, online digital is very different. It’s very data-driven. It’s very one-to-one. Providing these different types of capabilities is something we’re just starting to help grow with our partners. However, as consumer habits obviously continue to shift, we need to be able to provide customized content that meets the people where they are, and it’s not in the state of mind they’re currently in. It’s becoming very important.

If you think of yourself as a consumer, you’re much more receptive to being engaged to different brands when the message is actually relevant to you. The marketers that are starting to lean into this see it as an innovative way to continue to target and enhance. Using OOH in a meaningful way—to not only reach those consumers at the right time, in the right place, but also provide that extra layer of relevance, which makes them much more top-of-mind—helps them continue to speak to those audiences when they are taking the data-driven approach.

My hope is this almost becomes second nature. OOH is a powerful medium, and it has some nuances to it. It’s one of the oldest forms of media around, from an advertising perspective. However, I foresee the opportunity for marketers to continue using OOH in more advanced ways, similar to what they would do with some of their other marketing channels—giving them the chance to double down on being very creative with their ads. They can ask questions such as, “Can I make this more contextually relevant for my retail consumer who wants to buy my shoe? How can I continue to think of OOH in the same ways I think of reaching consumers in the online space with very contextually relevant messaging?”

Online, you can set this up in two seconds and get an ad for restaurants in your area. Maybe they’re offering a $5 off component or something. This same opportunity and customization are now available in the OOH space. Therefore, I think it’s going to be a continual approach to education with our partners, as well as helping them prove OOH remains an important part of their marketing efforts—and data’s going to help drive them to show the results they’re looking for.

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/a-real-time-approach-to-ad-campaigns/

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