Out-of-home advertising is on the rise. Thanks to digital integration and creative new uses, 2019 was a major year of growth for OOH and its many forms, leading more brands to leverage on it and realize its benefits.

Outdoor advertising has witnessed an 11 percent annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past five years, according to a recent KPMG report.

3 Reasons Behind Out of Home Growth

Let’s take a look at why out-of-home is growing before diving in. While growth rates in print and TV advertising continues to decline, not everything is shifting to digital. Out-of-home advertising revenue has been bucking the trend of most other ad mediums. How about we dig deeper and find out why that might be the case?

1. 1. Better data availability

We’ve seen more integrated and OOH efforts than in previous years thanks to the prevalence of digital and mobile data

1. 2. Better attribution of success

OOH has recognized that and building the capabilities to identify who is seeing the media, when, and where – leading to more strategic marketing decisions

1. 3. Better buying capabilities

Media planning for OOH is becoming increasingly complex due to data-based approaches, and planners are becoming more skilled at using tools to optimise their efforts – more specialised experts who make the most out of that data for better opportunities

Let’s talk about OOH trends

Here are the top trends that will redefine outdoor advertising in 2020.

Trend #1: New media owners and new media types are quickly emerging

The definition of OOH advertising has essentially changed.

OOH has transitioned into one of the most out-of-the-box marketing channels available today. Almost any physical space can be transformed into an OOH ad these days: from bus shelters to digital signage and building murals to car wraps.

Today, OOH media can be anything.

As a result, this means that anyone can become a media owner. Buying media space is no longer strictly a two-way conversation between media companies and advertisers or their agencies.

So, as more physical spaces become OOH ad units and more owners become media owners, the accessible market for outdoor advertising will grow exponentially.

Trend #2: Deep local expertise is no longer required when planning campaigns

For years, advertisers believed that in order to run effective OOH advertising campaigns, you or your agency had to either be physically present in that location or have substantial local market knowledge to drive real value out of those placements.

However, that’s no longer the case today.

Google Street View

Want to see what surroundings would look like in a different country? Tools like Google Street View gives you on-the-spot access to street-level perspective at just about anywhere in the world.

Trend #3: Increasing in Digital Outdoor Advertising

Digital advertising and large digital billboards will continue to rise in number in the coming year because they are much simpler and convenient to move. Its main attractive advantage is the ability to run different advertisements—or even multiple images for a single advertisement at once.

As a result, digital out-of-home advertising is being used as a safer alternative for reaching out to the target audience using impressive, exciting visual advertisements.

For instance, recent research suggests that digital outdoor advertising contributes to almost 30% of OOH revenues worldwide. These statistics are a testimony to the immense potential of this sector.

Trend #4: Greater Emphasis on Storytelling

Experts are saying that the storytelling trend will be increasingly witnessed in 2020. Using this strategy, outdoor advertising is embracing the concept by designing ads that only narrates a small part of the story, making the audience wait for the next ad in the storyline.

Bosch wanted to create a theme of technology making lives better – thus they wanted to create a visual showcase of this with creative graffiti and storytelling. Bosch creative robot graffiti exemplifies the Bosch tagline of robotics and human combined, which also added a human touch to the story behind the visuals that tugged on heart strings.

Trend #5: Smarter Advertisements

In 2020, advertisements will not only portray information about a particular business, product or service. It will also be able to predict the user profile of audiences who have interacted with it. This feat will be accomplished by the use of sensors, facial recognition software, and other AI smart features.

As a result, the use of emerging technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality will make for more engaging out-of-home advertising campaigns.

Get Ready for OOH in 2021 and Beyond

Is your business ready? Do you know how you can leverage out of home for increased brand awareness, revenue, and business growth? If not, now is the time to start thinking about it. Contact us.