The convergence of traditional and digital out-of-home (DOOH) has reshaped planning and strategy teams in media agencies, according to industry experts.
Speaking at IAB's Powering DOOH conference, Kinesso's chief media activations officer, Michael Whiteside, said that convergence in the OOH space is very different to convergence from a video and audio standpoint.
"In the TV and audio space, the investment has probably followed consumption, so trading in a converged manner in those terms in those mediums has been quite different to DOOH where the consumption is relatively the same and the mode of consumption is identical," he told the Sydney event.
"In terms of convergence, we look at it more from a planning and strategy perspective and that's probably been the biggest shift for the last few years. Coming out of COVID, we saw a lot of tactical usage in terms of programmatic DOOH, but we've moved from tactical application into more ‘always on’ strategic elements."
Whiteside said that within IPG and Kinesso, utilising technology from a planning perspective in terms of site mapping tools but also bringing programmatically engaged channels together for a more holistic perspective has helped the agency take advantage of the ongoing convergence.
"It's also key to convert teams and resources, so really familiarising the programmatic teams in terms of the role of channel, but vice versa, from a traditional standpoint, really familiarising them with what you can do with the platforms and the versatility of programmatic," he said.
PHD's national head of investment, Joanna Barnes, said that Omnicom and PHD saw convergence coming about six years ago, seeing budgets shift programmatically to BVOD and audio.
"All of our senior traders were certified by The Trade Desk and that then allowed them to talk the same language as an in-platform specialists, which used to be a programmatic specialist but is now an activation specialist, because they activate the campaigns," she said.
"Our activation specialists sit within the teams - they sit with the planners, they sit with the investment lead, and they activate the campaign."
Barnes told the audience that from a planning perspective, the planners at PHD plan end to end, regardless of channel.
"We don't have a digital planner planning out of home," she said.
"Our tools plan like that as well and then the negotiations are done at a portfolio level. – total OOH, total video, total audio - and then it's activated on platform."
Looking at the challenges facing the programmatic DOOH sector currently, Whiteside said measurement is something to overcome.
"Until MOVE 2.0 comes along, the ability or inability to really contrast and compare static versus programmatically enabled and programmatically delivered panels is a challenge," he said.
"Because programmatic CPMs at the moment are a lot higher because of the targeting selectivity that's applied, that's one of the main inhibitors to accelerated adoption."
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