Agency consideration for programmatic DOOH on the rise

Australian advertising agencies are continuing to embrace programmatic digital out of home advertising (pDOOH), with 83% of agencies having used pDOOH and 48% at least regularly considering it, according to the Attitudes to DOOH 2022 Report which was released by IAB Australia at AdTECH:OOH.  

The report is based on a survey of 530 advertising professionals across agencies, brands and ad technology suppliers in the Australian market conducted in July 2022. 

Data and targeting were identified as the key driver of pDOOH usage this year, with flexible buying options, which was the number one driver last year, dropping to the number two position as COVID induced campaign uncertainty and changes has decreased.  

Impacting brand awareness remained the dominant objective for pDOOH, however there has been an increase in the use of programmatic DOOH for direct response activities compared to last year (up from 17% to 30%). 

The report also found that there is greater integration of planning and buying programmatic DOOH with other formats this year, with the majority of respondents at least sometimes planning and buying programmatic DOOH collaboratively with digital video or digital display, or all programmatic formats together.  

The return to near pre-pandemic levels of consumer mobility has given agencies confidence to increase usage of roadside and transport formats, with the report finding that the greatest increase in usage of over the last year is for health venues.  

Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia, said: “While we know that the percentage of DOOH inventory being bought programmatically is still a small part of the market, it is growing rapidly and the results of the Attitudes to DOOH report reveal a large part of the agency market is now considering this option regularly.  

“Pleasingly we are seeing less programmatic digital home inventory being planned in isolation to other digital inventory options, even though there as some different considerations for OOH inventory compared to other digital inventory options.   

“This holistic planning will assist in a well-rounded approach for clients and continue to bring in new clients into the OOH channel.” 

Ben Allman, chair of the IAB Australia DOOH Working Group and APAC sales director at Broadsign said: “The incredible number of responses to the survey, not only from agencies but brands as well, is a testament to the level of buy-side interest in this rapidly growing and evolving space.  

“The findings provide a detailed insight into the current state of programmatic DOOH in Australia and will be used by the IAB's DOOH Working Group to determine where we should be focusing our efforts over the coming 12 months."