Kym Frank, President | Geopath
What do you think about the present state of out-of-home?
This is an incredibly exciting time for out of home advertising! Other formats are continuing to face serious challenges. Print readership continues to decline. Television grows increasingly fragmented due to VOD/streaming services and continued cord cutting. Online advertising continues to be pummeled with ad fraud, bots, and the rise of ad blockers. Out of home advertising, however, remains immune to these issues. The industry continues to grow and thrive with no end in sight. In fact, OOH advertising was up 4.1% in the previous quarter year-over-year according to the OAAA.
What do you think excites consumers the most about out-of-home?
Well executed OOH has a massive impact on consumers and has been shown to influence consumer action. While most forms of advertising are consumed privately – we watch TV in our homes, listen to the radio in our cars, and browse the internet on our mobile phones – most OOH advertising is experienced publicly. Plus, it is often enormous! The pure scale of it is exciting. By adding clever copy and/or a unique execution OOH can create a memorable experience that consumers love and want to share!
As out-of-home continues to evolve, combining the art and science of technology, what is it that excites you most about out-of-home?
Big data used intelligently will be a game changer for this industry. The ability to understand more about our audiences, the way they move throughout their day, what they buy, when they buy it, and the ability to optimize creative based on that information puts OOH in a stellar position in the advertising landscape. Every piece of inventory has its own unique story to tell through data and analytics. At Geopath, we are powering our new measurement system with data from mobile phones and GPS units to help advertisers better target and ultimately understand who they are reaching. The insights we can glean from that data will put our industry in position to compete directly with other forms of advertising – and will allow OOH to better compliment other media.
What do brands need to do to make sure they reach the right audience at the right time in the right place?
Some brands place their OOH ads on the busiest street in the neighborhood where their target lives, or within a radius of their retail location. While these may seem like the obvious choices, they aren’t always the best or most effective options. At Geopath, it’s our business to create a stronger OOH marketplace through data and insights. Our measurement helps advertisers identify the best pieces of inventory to reach their specific target audience – while they are on the go. Of the more than 1.1 billion trips taken each day by consumers in this country, 45% result in the purchase of a good or service. It’s vital to help advertisers reach them at the right time and in the right location – before they’ve made the decision to buy.