SALISBURY, CT — Out of Home (OOH) advertising is experiencing a moment in the sun.

Anna Bager, the President & CEO of the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA), believes that OOH is “hotter than we’ve ever been”.

In this video interview with Mike Shields at Beet Retreat Berkshires, Bager says OOH is poised to become “more of a center of a media campaign rather than a complementary product”.

The Evolution of Out of Home

Bager says that OOH is currently in an “incredible growth phase”, leveraging its unique strengths to meet consumers’ need for context and authenticity.

OOH ad spend was growing pre-pandemic and has bounced back afterwards.

Magna projects OOH will increase by 6% to $9.6 billion in 2023, “the only traditional media category to post some real growth this year”, sparked partly by growing digital capabilities, programmatic transactions and an auto industry recovery.

The industry is also becoming more connected to other media formats, enabling contextual targeting to reach consumers more effectively.

The Great Digital Outdoors

“We are becoming more and more digital. As the signs become more digital, you can do a lot more. You can use data, you can get a message up much quicker,” Bager explains.

This digital shift allows OOH to build sequencing and tie into other types of media campaigns more efficiently. She also sees promise in the fast-growing area of programmatic and automation, which provides advertisers and agencies the ability to buy directly from a media company.

Bager sees an exciting future where OOH could become central to many brands’ campaigns, foregoing its traditional role as a complementary product.

“With social media, mobile, QR codes, programmatic, etc., we have the ability to put out of home as a glue in between other media formats and a campaign,” Bager says. She also highlights the consumer’s love, appreciation, and trust for OOH as reasons for its growing prominence.

She concludes, “We’re also the last serendipitous medium. We target everyone, not just one particular group, which means that discovery is going to be a huge one for our medium, which I think all media companies need today.”

Digital Formats Are Transforming Outdoor Ads: OAAA’s Anna Bager

You’re watching coverage of Beet Retreat Berkshires, our latest Retreat in Salisbury, Connecticut — presented by Magnite, KERV & TransUnion. For more videos from this event, pleasevisit this page.

By Robert Andrews on @robertandrews