DOOH: The New Favourite Tool for Digital Marketing

What is DOOH advertising?

DOOH allows you to deliver moving and even interactive ads to large audiences in public spaces. It’s a new take on an old classic of print or OOH advertising. OOH was once only used for use on such things as billboards. However, as more and more screens are in public spaces, advertisers can now bring their previously static OOH to the digital sphere (hence the D in DOOH). You can find DOOH advertising examples when commuting to work in specific and commercial locations, such as digital signage at train stations, bus shelters and escalators. It’s an exciting time as DOOH advertising continues to emerge and evolve. So, get ahead of the curve and utilise this new method of advertising to reach a wider audience than ever before.

Previously, we discussed the possibilities that would come from programmatic DOOH marketing. Recently there has been plenty of coverage covering the massive growth spurt that DOOH is about to have! In fact, if you were to ask “65% of advertising executives,” they’d tell you that “the market will be worth $50 billion to $55 billion by 2026.”

How is DOOH different from Social or Banners?

While DOOH, Banners & Social are usually lumped together as digital advertising, you need to consider some very important differences when putting together a campaign. For example, social and DOOH are both video (Mp4) formats meaning that the producer that creates your social content can usually help you create your DOOH content and vice versa.

How does this differ from HTML?

On the other hand, banners contain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript—the same tools you use to build your website. And while you wouldn’t get your website development company to produce your television commercial, you can’t usually get your HTML5 banner producer to build your DOOH campaign. But, again, this is because they are completely different formats and require completely different expertise.

Luckily, at TBM, we have producers who work across all different formats. So, unlike other companies, we can handle DOOH, Social & HTML—helping you keep consistency across your digital campaigns.

Can I repackage my Social Campaign “as is” as a DOOH campaign?

Since Social MP4s and DOOH MP4s are the same formats, you may have the temptation to use the exact same video across both. However, it’s important to keep in mind that despite using the exact same formats (MP4 video, 15-30 second animation), the context of the different placements means they come with widely different restrictions.

Advertising with Social Videos

Imagine scrolling through your social media page, and you notice a fast-paced, bright animation with flashing text and music. This online ad catches your eye. You see it is advertising a sale for your favourite shoe brand. Great! The impactful and high energy advertising encouraged you to take your attention away from the task at hand (i.e., scrolling through images of your friends’ new babies) and possibly purchase a new pair of shoes. Ta-da! Advertising works.

Advertising with Digital Out Of Home

Now imagine the same impactful advertisement but playing on a digital signage screen at a bus shelter. Again, the ad encourages you to take your attention away from the task at hand (i.e., driving). You then crash and injure multiple pedestrians.

Now perhaps you can see why, despite using the exact same format (video, Mp4), DOOH & Social have wildly different restrictions. While DOOH wants to get your end-users attention, this advertising goal must be carefully calibrated to ensure public safety. This is less relevant in the social media sphere.

Can I serve the same video across all DOOH placements?

So, now that we have determined that Social and DOOH usually require different video animation, you might be wondering if you can serve the same DOOH video across all different placements. An experienced producer knows that while Facebook and Instagram have slightly different audiences and require slightly different sized videos, the same animations will usually work for both platforms. For this reason, it’s easy to assume that the blanket term DOOH might imply the same one video for all DOOH placements. However, the reality of DOOH is quite different.

Why are DOOH digital campaigns different?

For instance, you may notice that an advertisement you saw on the platform waiting for the train is markedly different from the advertisement you saw on the screens by the escalator. And those videos were significantly different from the advertisement shown at the bus shelter.

Despite showing what looks like completely different advertisements, each of these placements is considered a DOOH placement. And each is carefully formulated and carefully controlled with public safety in mind.

How do I know what animation is acceptable for all my different DOOH placements?

So, how do you know which restrictions apply to which DOOH placements? The easy answer would be that your media partner or publishers should supply the exact criteria to you. However, those of us who work in the industry know that the answer is never that simple.

What are the DOOH guidelines?

Generally, DOOH guidelines will have a vague reference sometimes contradictory requirements. For example, 1) “subtle motion” or 2) “single animated object”. The real-world application of those guidelines, however, can lead to confusion.

For example, if your advertainments have text that slowly fades in and clouds that move slowly in the background, would they more likely accept or reject it? It seems very subtle, but does having both the cloud and text animation mean that there are two animating objects?

The reality is that despite the seemingly straightforward requirements for DOOH placements, it often takes years of experience to understand what they will likely accept and what you should leave on the cutting room floor.

This is where TBM comes in

Even if you follow DOOH best practices to the letter, you will inevitably find that they reject animations at the last minute (the evening before they go live, for example). To stop this from happening, you will need a producer with experience in all different kinds of Digital Out Of Home. A producer that knows what they will likely reject and who can quickly update animations at the last minute. TBM are here to help.

Other production companies can take days to make simple updates for you. Meaning you will be wasting your ad spend waiting for updates. TBM supports you the whole way through the campaign and has 24hr support that can update your animations the very same day. We make sure you have the appropriate video to serve no matter what happens.

Are you interested in learning more about DOOH media?

Then contact your media partner to see if it’s the right fit for you. However, if you want help building the creative, contact TBM today!