In the world of out-of-home (OOH) advertising, it is important for brands to keep their fingers on the pulse of the market. Photos courtesy Vistar Media
By Carly McHugh
In the world of out-of-home (OOH) advertising, innovation is the foundation for success. As a result, it is important for brands to keep their fingers on the pulse of the market, and continuously adapt to the needs and preferences of consumers, to ensure they stay ahead of their competitors.
In the first few months of the new year, the landscape of OOH advertising has already seen a transformation, driven by technological advancements, shifting consumer behaviours, and the relentless pursuit of audience engagement.
With the role of data becoming even more crucial, advertisers are seeking robust metrics to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of their OOH campaigns. This also involves navigating the complexities of audience movement patterns while staying attuned to evolving trends.
For greater insight into today’s ever-changing OOH market, Sign Media Canada spoke to Scott Mitchell, managing director for Canada at Vistar Media. He revealed some of the trends already gaining traction in 2024, as well as emerging strategies and the pivotal role of data and measurement in shaping the future of the industry.
Sign Media Canada (SMC): What are some of the “ins” and “outs” you foresee for marketers this year?
Today’s campaigns should focus on dynamic creative, as well as reaching audiences at the right time, in the right place.
Scott Mitchell (SM): The “ins” are following along some of the tailwinds we started to see pick up in 2023, looking into 2024. One that’s top of mind is putting creative at the forefront. When we think of out-of-home (OOH), a lot of the time, the creative is dull—maybe it hasn’t been created for the OOH channel. Now, what we’re starting to see is the opportunity to dust off the old thoughts about what OOH creative is and infuse it with this new approach, to have a meaningful, driven strategy. It’s reminding marketers of the power of OOH and having dynamic creative, and all of these things that maybe weren’t leaned into as heavily in the past.
In 2024, we’re seeing brands really engaging the OOH channel through their creative. For example, you can now have specific creative that can be updated to say, “The closest store is 1 km (0.6 mi) that way,” or enabled to integrate personalized messaging and provide the opportunity to serve an ad at the right moment, to resonate with the consumer. It’s an engaging way to not only help differentiate your brand, but also incorporate different messaging. This is a really big topic so far this year.
SMC: Which upcoming trends are likely to make the biggest influence on the advertising industry, in terms of standing out and connecting with target audiences?
SM: Creative, for sure, and utilizing it in the right way. A core part to that is using data to better target and understand audience movement patterns, as well as reach them at the right time, in the right place. If we think about how marketers want to engage consumers in the OOH space, using data to do so more effectively and then pairing it with dynamic creative or purpose-driven OOH campaigns is a really good combination.
