Out-of-Home is present in every market with strength in the ability to target by specific geographic location. Add in the fact that it gives advertisers a big, bold canvas to showcase their creative and you get a medium that can deliver huge brand stature. However, this view of OOH is one-dimensional in the current world we live in. The medium is evolving, and as we see convergence across all media and the increased importance of audience engagement over pure awareness, we are challenged to redefine the OOH landscape and explore its extended capabilities and effects. Find out the many reasons why OOH should be included in your next media plan.

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WHY
Out of Home is the oldest form of advertising; a medium that continues to permeate our daily lives.
It’s almost impossible to go through a day without encountering some sort of OOH media format,
as ubiquity is one of its key benefits. OOH is present in every market with strength in the ability to
target by specific geographic location. Add in the fact that it gives advertisers a big, bold canvas
to showcase their creative and you get a medium that can deliver huge brand stature. However,
this view of OOH is one-dimensional in the current world we live in. The medium is evolving, and
as we see convergence across all media and the increased importance of audience engagement
over pure awareness, we are challenged to redefine the OOH landscape and explore its extended
capabilities and effects.
What does convergence mean?
In its simplest form convergence is where different infrastructure evolve to meet at a common point
of delivery. In other words, we can now watch TV on our mobile device or connect online through a
Smart TV. Technology combined with the convergence of media has dramatically affected the way
in which we now view OOH and its capabilities.
Poster
Video
Audio
Online
Gaming
Storefront
Opinion
Search
Play
Buy
Redeem
Share
Contribute
Participate
Champion
Historically OOH was primarily seen as an awareness driver in the form of posters that delivered
rapid, mass coverage. However, the digitization of OOH has now allowed us to look at a much
broader range of objectives and deliverables. The development of digital screens allows us to view
videos, websites and transform a pure branding vehicle into a brand narrative. Interactive screens
have allowed for a more active consumer experience where users can search, play and even buy
through the use of touch screens and other engaging interfaces. Finally, digital screens can be
synced to other media allowing users to share and contribute through social media, participate or
champion a brand, creating proactive engagement.
These key drivers have created a connected community with a much higher expectation and
control of what he/she is willing to tune into, take away and act upon. As the number of connected
devices increases the phenomena of a spectatorial culture continues to give way to a participatory
culture.
1M+
screens in USA
64%3G/4G
subscriptions
mobile subscribers
on smartphones
55% 36%smartphone
users made
mobile payment
OOH?
Source: Posterscope Prism Screen Source: NielsenSource: Informa/KBCASource: Informa

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Redefining Out of Home
OOH is now more than just a series of posters and screens that
deliver advertising. The infrastructure that makes up OOH is much
broader and includes a variety of things people are exposed to when
out of home. This includes client owned media such as delivery
trucks, store windows, experiential spaces, buildings, retailer
partnerships as well as portable devices such as mobile, tablet and
laptop. With this wider infrastructure we suddenly see an enormous
range of capabilities for OOH media beyond traditional branding.
It can provide services such as public Wi-Fi or local information on
touch screens, broadcast branded content on digital screens, bring mobile and digital screens
together to provide a gaming platform, allow retrieval of coupons or even product purchase straight
from a poster site. In fact, there is a whole host of technologies that can be integrated into this new
infrastructure, redefining OOH from a series of posters and screens to an entire ecosystem full of
interconnected and interdependent parts.
In today’s increasingly complex world OOH needs a much more advanced positioning that keeps it
relevant to consumers and advertisers alike. As convergence continues to transform the medium,
we strive to understand the connections between OOH, technology, content and the platforms we
can operate across. Understanding implications from bought media to owned assets and earned
media enable us to transform and pioneer brand communication capabilities out of home.
The Opportunities For Out of Home
There are many different roles that OOH can play in an integrated
communications plan, which we have classified under 3 key areas
for consideration.
OFFLINE TO ONLINE
OOH was traditionally only thought of as an awareness driver
or as a final push to purchase close to point of sale. But in a
connected world, OOH can now influence all sorts of digital behaviors, regardless of whether
the infrastructure itself is digital or not. It can drive web traffic, search or social media as well as
enable sharing. With a growing number of consumers connected while out and about they are
more willing and capable of acting immediately based on exposure, allowing OOH to influence
digital behavior such as:
Driving Website Traffic
As the connected consumer has the ability to go online we are seeing them not only actively
seeking out information, but 1 in 9 people actually go directly to a brand website upon seeing an
OOH poster or screen (Source: OCS 2012).
Driving Search
Time starved consumers are more likely to search for a website, even when they know the URL,
than type in the website address directly. In fact, 23% of 18-34s search on mobile while out of
home on a daily basis (Source: OCS 2012).
Driving Social Media and Enabling Sharing
OOH can go beyond straight search for a product or information and transcend into consumer
advocacy through social media, using public feedback and participation to form the content for the
poster itself. This was evidenced in campaigns like Nivea’s Times Square kissing booth which ran
in the lead up to New Year’s Eve.
Offline to
Online
Contextual
Relevance
Gateways to
Mobile
Content

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Consumers took their picture with loved ones and the photos were then posted to Nivea’s
Facebook page, as well as becoming the creative for the digital OOH. Throughout the 4 week
campaign over 5,000 images were uploaded and displayed, with Nivea generating an additional
500,000 impressions on their Facebook page.
CONTEXTUAL RELEVANCE
Location and geography are two key differentiators of OOH, providing contextual relevance as it
reaches people across multiple touch points throughout their day. This is becoming particularly
relevant as the industry moves towards native advertising. Communications are expected to be
more organic than imposed along the consumer journey, with OOH as the most influential medium
facilitating this change.
Using Data to Provide Content for Digital OOH Screens
To tap into the volume of data that is flowing in real time OOH is evolving to use real time data as
content itself, optimize creative, or inform planning and media optimization.
Marriott Hotels offered public utility in key airports at terminal gates where the weather shown
on the screen was linked to the destination of the flight that was leaving that gate. When that
aeroplane left and the next destination appeared the weather report changed to match it.
Creative Optimization
An example of this can be seen in Asics NY Marathon campaign where they used personalized
messages of support to create real time messaging to boost runner morale. Consumers could
upload a personal message of support for runners they knew competing in advance or on race
day. RFID tags on the runner’s shoes triggered the personal messages to display in real time as
runners went past the sign. Asics replicated this across 17 different city marathons and had over
7,000 personal messages uploaded.
Planning and Media Optimization
Audi in conjunction with MIT created a real time driver frustration index for various cities across
the US. It used weather information, traffic flow data and keywords from Twitter to create an index
that showed which cities were the worst for driving at any given time. Data such as this could
help inform the planning of a digital billboard campaign for brands that claim to make life less
frustrating.
GATEWAYS TO CONTENT AND COMMERCE
The rise in the use of mobile devices and the overall connectivity of consumers while out of home
is allowing OOH to be used as a gateway to directly accessing content and even purchase through
new technology being embedded into mobile phones.
As consumer expectations and needs change, delivering content, and ultimately commerce, in real
time is increasingly important across all media channels. OOH is now facilitating this opportunity
with advances in technology such as:
Near Field Communications and QR Codes
NFC works as a two-way readable chip that is embedded in mobile devices. It transmits via radio
frequency over short distance, and allows for an easy download of content directly to the mobile
device without the need to download an app first. It is commonly linked to payment systems,
allowing consumers to purchase directly from a poster site or buy a product in a store just by
tapping your phone against an NFC reader.
NFC is still a nascent technology and has yet to reach critical mass with limited quantity of devices
in circulation to provide a completely robust platform for interaction in isolation. Nevertheless, in

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the interest of being technologically savvy, we have started to see more campaigns use both NFC
and QR codes, building recognition for the technology amongst consumers.
Although interactions through NFC are still minimal, research conducted by Posterscope and
Clear Channel Outdoor showed that 88% of smart phone owners would consider using NFC to
interact with a poster and that 70% of respondents said it would be an important feature for their
next phone purchase.
Not only is NFC growing but use of QR codes is also still increasing. A recent ScanLife report
showed that QR code scanning in 2012 was 5 times higher than the previous year.
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) is another technology that can deliver content and utility to consumers
through interactions with posters. AR requires the aid of a downloaded app that uses visual
markers from the poster creative to launch further content and enhance what is seen on the ad.
When used correctly within a campaign, AR can generate compelling results for a brand. Cadillac
ATS ran an AR campaign that put an invigorating test drive experience directly into the palms of
consumers. 3D chalk murals were painted onto sidewalks in 4 major cities with an AR App bringing
the ATS experience to life. The campaign delivered over 56,000 ‘test drives’ directly from the
murals and a further 31,000 views recreated elsewhere through the addition of printed cards that
were given to consumers to take away.
Summary
Both advertisers and connected consumers are demanding that OOH be integrated within the
communications architecture given the significant time people spend out of home. The 3 key
opportunities for OOH outlined above all give great examples of how advertisers and brands are
incorporating technology and how the medium is driving overall digital behavior while out of home.
Of course, these elements don’t have to be employed in isolation. Coca-Cola has been running a
campaign across multiple countries under their “Share A Coke” platform that created personalized
advertising in real time, and drove significant earned media across multiple channels. Consumers
could have a can printed with the name of a friend they wanted to share a Coke with, and have it
displayed across huge billboards as well as Coke’s Facebook page. Users could also nominate
their favorite names, which were put into mass production and stocked on store shelves. This
enabled offline to drive online and vice versa, providing a gateway for consumers to interact and
share through mobile content within a contextually relevant space.
Clearly OOH will continue to grow and form a critical ecosystem that is no longer just a media
channel planned and bought in isolation. Key drivers have reinvented OOH’s place in the
convergence ecosystem allowing for the medium to pioneer the way for a participatory culture to
flourish.
To download a full presentation visit on www.slideshare.com/Posterscope/why-OOH