Why mobile integration along with DOOH is a perfect blend for brands

Industry heads share how data-led solutions will be of utmost importance as there will be an increasing need for more ROI-driven campaigns in a post-COVID world

by Noel Dsouza
Published - Jul 16, 2020 8:43 AM | 7 min read

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In a post-lockdown world reaching the end consumer at various effective touchpoints has turned out to be of utmost relevance, and this brings into the picture integration of the mobile with DOOH.

This integration has the power to use geo-technology to target consumers, especially in the food delivery category segment. One of the modes to achieve this is through scanning codes to avail offers and discounts. Last year, Coca-Cola executed a DOOH campaign integrated with Snapchat, which allowed consumers to unlock an AR lens and see a promotional content with a mobile marketer.

The integration brings into the picture data-led solutions that is of utmost importance as brands want more ROI-driven campaigns.

DOOH leaders shared with us why mobile integration with DOOH was a perfect blend, and some of the solutions that they have conceptualised in this area.

According to Puneet Giri, COO, Mobile Solutions, Moving Walls, in an era of fast-paced technological advancement, data plus DOOH sites with mobile integration yields better brand communication results.

As per multiple IAB reports from global markets, it has been seen that brand communication has improved by at least 20% because of this integration.

“OOH has proven to be an effective medium, particularly due to the capabilities of digital innovation and the ability of OOH to easily integrate into other mediums. By far, the combination of mobile retargeting has proven to be an extremely effective medium in reaching audiences. The priming ability of OOH followed by the extended reach to audiences makes OOH plus mobile a success formula,” remarked Giri.

Gautam Bhirani, MD, Eyetalk Media Ventures, commented that the trend of data-driven pairing of mobile with DOOH picked up in India last year when DOOH started gaining importance for digital advertisers. “DOOH is perceived, purchased, and used differently by both digital and OOH specialists. While one uses it as a powerful extension to amplify a mobile campaign, the other uses it as a filler-frequency based medium. However, COVID has accelerated the shift to Digital, transforming businesses including OOH. The need for accountability for every ad dollar spent is going to be imperative with performance-driven campaigns. These have taken over traditional vanilla branding initiatives. DOOH today has reached a tipping point and the consummate one-to-many channel is gravitating toward accountability. With DSPs integrating with DOOH, buyers are now gaining streamlined abilities to target consumers in the physical world and in real-time. They can now leverage mobile location-based strengths and retarget audiences first reached on other types of screens. This hybrid advertising strategy offers a channel to consumers that purely digital or purely OOH campaigns can’t match and thus provides maximum ROI.”

Upinder Singh, Project Director, Edge1 Outdoor Media Management Software, says since the lockdown led to consumers spending more time on their mobile phones brands can now plan more efficiently by utilising mobile data with DOOH - aggregated and anonymised. “Brands can also keep the campaigns contextually relevant and timely. When we think about digital out-of-home and mobile together, we think about it as being an amazing activation vehicle. Now brands are looking to expand on their relationships with consumers and see location-based mobile marketing as a channel that can create deeper engagement. It’s one of the most targeted and personal mediums around.”

Talking about the potency of mobile integrated solutions along with DOOH, Gulab Patil, Founder and CEO, Lemma, said, “Granularity of data and the ability to adapt it to create parallel branding across mobile and DOOH will certainly result in driving better media outcomes. DOOH infused with programmatic capabilities can be viewed as a complementary medium to mobile campaigns, where many brands have experienced improved digital engagements and better post-click response. In a post-COVID world, this combination of data-driven DOOH sites coupled with mobile devices could be a common ask by advertisers looking to effectively optimise media budgets across mediums.”

Speaking about mobile solutions that amplify a brand’s message, Singh further pointed out that brands could use technologies to increase customer engagement and activation. “They can communicate with consumers through NFP proximity functionality and device movements. QR codes too can be sent on consumer mobile devices, further redirecting them to specific landing pages. They can then download filters or images that can then be used to photograph themselves and share personalised images from a brand.”

Patil noted down three key factors to amplify a brand’s message through mobile integration.
Cross-device strategies by using audience data from DOOH campaigns and retargeting them with ads on their mobile devices. Programmatic DOOH refines retargeting further by customizing communication basis the identified personas and other audience insights.

Brand reach can be extended via parallel branding using geofencing and hyper-local targeting i.e. all mobile devices at a certain distance of the DOOH sites can show ads simultaneously on both devices.

Interactive or action-based creatives like QR codes or coupons requiring the use of a mobile device to complete the action may also be used to leverage brand communication.

Lastly, sharing mobile solutions that their DOOH agency has conceptualised to garner better brand results, Giri remarked, “In June, AHOY, a Hyper-Local Mobile Contextual Ad Tech company was acquired by Moving Walls, to strengthen its audience reach with mobile capabilities beyond OOH. Ahoy’s demand-side platform and data management platform enables hyperlocal targeting and campaign optimization in real-time.”

Adding on to this, Giri said location signals that were once used to power outdoor advertising can be used to influence audiences on mobile who have already been primed.

“Moving Walls’s patented approach of audience measurement can be used to build audience profiles that make it possible to build highly personalized mobile campaigns by applying the offline behavior of audiences in the planning process. In the current market conditions with a clear focus of advertisers on ROI, our data-driven OOH plus mobile solution is well-positioned to offer very adaptable and flexible propositions to advertisers/agencies,” shared Giri.

According to Bhirani, “With 'Quantify to Qualify' being the new normal for OOH, our new platform ‘PEOPLE’ is a data-driven platform that quantifies and classifies audiences on the move across our network at a daily level. Combining integral location data inputs from mobile intelligence, RFID, and our new IoT driven devices the platform not only provides granular insights for campaign planning and impression-based buying but also gives brands an opportunity to retarget the same audience on mobile creating a measurable omnichannel brand experience.”

Singh too shared the solutions his agency has curated. “At Edge1 we’re working on this equation – Mobile+OOH= Effective ROI. Our team of experts has developed a platform that can access mobile data to allow geofenced targeting that delivers the right exposures to devices coordinated with out-of-home screens. The measurement then tells buyers and planners how those exposures fit within the campaign making them more effective as they amplify and enhance messaging rather than risking mismatching creative or inappropriate frequencies.”

Lastly, Patil shared more about the solutions they could provide brands. “Lemma’s cross-device mobile ad supply platform ingests 50 billion impressions per month. We are scaling this supply further to deliver better reach across regions. The mobile supply is equipped to deliver a hyper-local campaign within the DOOH vicinity. Lemma leverages mobile plus data and DOOH to measure campaign impact through brand lift surveys, which help brands gauge the impact the DOOH campaign has had on the audiences.”