It’s great to see the progression in this industry over my last 8 years in OOH—especially regarding measurement and data. We’ve definitely come a long way from the days of selling per week and weak estimations of foot traffic on main streets. Sensors stepped in for indoor areas, and location data came in to give us massive amounts of data to crunch and extrapolate the hell out of. All in search of that infamous figure we like to call “The Multiplier.”
The conversation kept moving forward, shifting from precision being the ultimate goal to relevance. We work in a vast environment, with screens of all kinds placed in hundreds of different scenarios. Every screen is a world in itself, so of course a single data collection method won’t be enough. There will be blind spots and there will be instability—I guess that’s the price to pay for playing in the real world. Data needs to portray this reality. Different sources will be valuable across different locations and assets, and each one provides one piece of the puzzle. What’s needed is an orchestration layer that can combine them and paint a close-to-reality image of where budgets are going.
And after last week’s World OOH Congress in London, I’m fairly convinced we’re reaching the final step in this progression. The conversation is now moving toward measuring the outcome. Of course “the multiplier” still matters—you do need some form of currency to transact. But in the end, what budgets are looking for is not a number made for billing. They’re looking for measurable results for each campaign. Something everyone knows OOH delivers, but which is very challenging to prove effectively.
This type of measurement has historically been reserved for the big pockets—those with a multi-million budget who could afford a dedicated agency and team to run it. Buying multiple sources of data, organising it, collecting manual reports for impact, running awareness studies post-campaign, and finally, after months of work, putting together a very good-looking presentation. The challenge now is how to productise this, with an ecosystem of connections that enables it for all campaigns, not just for the ones with a big team working behind it.
Measuring to prove outcome will build a high level of trust in the medium, enhancing what has always been OOH’s greatest strength: trust. As it was marvelously pointed out at the World OOH congress, Trust is our USP.
Over the past couple of years, we at AdMobilize have been building an enhanced infrastructure to support this—a multi-source, ecosystem-driven, and deeply connected platform that helps media owners, retailers, and even buyers understand how their networks perform, how audiences move, and enables both programmatic and direct deals to be data-driven and attribution-focused.
Let’s consider an OOH or Retail Media network that wants their operations to be data-driven. Our platform consists of several parts:
Data Collection
Everything starts with geolocation data as the base. Our ecosystem of partners, available globally, allows a media owner to geofence their locations and collect SDK-based mobile device IDs on a daily basis. Furthermore, each mobile ID runs through ID resolution schemes and a data clean room, avoiding duplication and collecting extended IDs from each household when available. Finally, IDs are matched to behavioural data graphs, converting these simple IDs into audience segments and real categories to be used for planning. With the possibility to add census based data for additional context.
However, this is not a counting mechanism. SDK based, Location data comes with a lot of blind spots: locations where GPS isn’t available, users who haven’t given consent, and areas where signal volume is extremely condensed, skewing the results. This is why for certain areas—and a percentage of each network—media owners should be able to collect real foot traffic data from sensors. Our proprietary computer vision solution allows a media owner to collect real foot traffic impressions, confirmed exposure, and engagement metrics. High precision with maximum privacy, despite what perception might tell you. Other options include WiFi-tapping sensors to provide device volume around the assets—which, of course, we have partners that do it very well.
This combination of location data, profiling, and a certain level of on-field traffic truth provides the most accurate and reliable way to measure a network and power it with data intelligence—covering every need a media owner or retail media network can have. What used to take 3–4 different suppliers, multiple APIs, a data team, and custom-made dashboards is now reduced to a list of addresses on a spreadsheet and some sensor placement. Everything can be running in a couple of weeks, not months.
Data Orchestration
Once all these data points are in, a cloud full of raw data is useless on its own. This data needs to be organised and orchestrated—per site, per asset (whether digital or static), and even by campaign. In DOOH cases, the ability to connect your CMS play log is key to keeping this orchestration up to date and precise. We already work with most of the biggest CMS platforms in the industry. And worth saying: if there’s an API, we can include it.
Easy-to-access tools let you profile each site based on audience segments, forecast reach based on real data, and advise advertisers on where to place their campaign, regardless of the size of their budget. We also offer API access for smart CMS platforms that want to use this tool to play ads in the right place, with the right message, at the right time.
Reporting & Attribution
Since a campaign has already used data at the planning stage, we can now create a specific portal showing only the data belonging to that campaign. Media owners can make these portals their own. They serve as an access point for advertisers to monitor their campaigns, collect intelligence on the audience impacted, and act as the starting point to measure and prove the outcome of a campaign.
Within each portal, there are several ways to prove an outcome. Here are a few examples:
- Foot Traffic Lift: If the goal of a campaign was to direct traffic to a specific area or store, by geofencing that store inside the portal you can quickly visualise how traffic moved pre, during, and post campaign—including mobile IDs that were exposed to an OOH asset and then headed to another location.
- Web Traffic Lift: By adding a piece of code to the objective website, the campaign gains the ability to track web traffic volume, keyword search variance per area and even specific devices that were exposed to an OOH asset and then showed up online.
- Point of Sale (PoS) Data: For in-store or place-based networks, the ability to add sales data for specific products to the portals helps prove the outcome of in-store retail media campaigns right at the last minute of influence—with configurable time windows for attribution, since the consideration time to buy a fridge isn’t the same as for an ice cream. All of this is accessible to both the reporter and the advertiser.
- Upcoming — Brand Studies: Brand awareness studies and keyword search for campaigns, available on demand when needed. As we all know, OOH brings a lot of intrinsic value and long-term reputation that can’t be measured by instant results.
Once again, what used to take high volumes of effort, with multiple people and tools involved, can now be reduced to a campaign manager using our tools to organise this for each campaign. And it can be part of an offer, regardless of the size of the campaign.
Programmatic Connections
Since each location and each asset face now has its own impressions data, we can connect those numbers directly to SSPs—so the media owner can rest assured their programmatic revenue is always up to date with their audience movements. We’re already connected to most SSPs, and can connect to many more as the industry grows.
Retargeting & Enhancement
The final step involves using all of this information captured—across locations, assets, and even campaigns—to enhance online campaigns. We all know OOH is a master channel when it comes to the top of the funnel. Using this initial information to further enhance performance channels will only create more value for both the advertiser and the network.
Whether the advertiser wants to directly retarget or create lookalike audiences from the people exposed to an outdoor campaign or who regularly visit a store, our platform makes this process simple. By using the collected IDs, audience segments, and our behavioural data partners, a media owner can create specific segment IDs—ready to plug into the biggest omnichannel DSPs for instant activation—including specific personas, keywords, URLs, and geography.
By leveraging tools highly accessible in the online world, combined with the power and influence of the Outdoor channel, brands and media owners can now deploy full circle campaigns, telling a single data story from beginning to end, which is the only thing that matters when trying to measure the success of any campaign. Contact us to learn more about how you can start using our tools.
All of this from one single platform. The same tool to collect data, plan campaigns, optimize results, power your programmatic routes, report and build trust with your clients and most importantly to prove Outcome. OOH’s unique selling propositions are Trust and Results. Our platform helps you prove both.
Ready to move beyond impressions? Book a Call.