OOH Advertising Is No Longer an Afterthought, So Stop Treating It Like One
From brand awareness at the top of the funnel to drive-to-retail conversions at the bottom, OOH measurement capabilities now exist across the entire customer journey.
The problem is not so much the technology; it is education. Planners, buyers, and brands simply do not know what is possible.
That is the view of Jill Schnitt, president, Outdoor Media Group, Omnicom Media, in this video interview with Beet.TV. As brands finalize their 2027 budgets, she argued that OOH deserves a seat at the planning table alongside digital, social, and connected television, rather than being tacked on as an opportunistic add-on.
Three pillars of OOH targeting
Schnitt outlined three elements that make OOH campaigns effective: audience-based targeting, location targeting, and understanding the physical inventory landscape. When combined, these factors allow advertisers to think strategically about how OOH fits into broader media ecosystems.
“Those three things together make it a really successful type of campaign and require us to think about how out of home fits into the wider ecosystem of a media campaign,” Schnitt said.
The U.S. OOH market is growing. The Out of Home Advertising Association of America reported Q2 2026 revenue of $3.16 billion, up 10.7% year over year, with digital OOH rising 18.5% and accounting for 38.4% of quarterly revenue. Emarketer forecasts U.S. OOH ad spending will exceed $11 billion in 2026, with nearly $4.8 billion going to digital formats.
Integration, not isolation
The spectrum of OOH now spans traditional billboards and transit shelters to experiential activations and digital screens at sporting events. Schnitt said her team’s role is to help brands navigate that complexity rather than chase viral moments without a plan.
“Everybody wants to have that viral campaign, right? That’s incredibly important, but I think a strategic campaign allows for the best type of campaign and everything else follows,” she said. “We don’t want to think of out of home as a standalone. We want to think about it as an integrated component to your media plan and objectives.”
Omnicom’s broader infrastructure supports that integrated approach. In January 2026, the holding company launched a new version of its Omni platform, an AI-driven marketing intelligence system connecting strategy, creative, media planning, commerce activation, and measurement across 2.6 billion verified IDs.
Measurement modernization underway
The industry is also working to standardize how OOH audiences are counted. In March 2026, OAAA and Geopath selected Ipsos for a next-generation audience measurement pilot launching in the second half of the year, with broader adoption targeted for 2028.
“Out of home can be measured and should be measured continuously as part of a plan,” Schnitt said. “It comes down to education and making sure that planners, buyers, clients, brands know about all the measurement capabilities in out of home.”
OAAA has also launched a Programmatic & Automation Center of Excellence and a Technical Advisory Council focused on data standards, workflow automation, and integration with omnichannel platforms.
Budget season conversations
With Q3 marking the period when brands carve out budgets for the year ahead, Schnitt said her team is actively educating both internal colleagues and external clients about OOH’s capabilities. The goal is to ensure the channel is considered from the start of planning, not as an afterthought.
“Now is the time that we’re carving out budgets, thinking strategically about the year ahead,” she said. “Those are all the conversations we’re having now with our internal teams and our external clients to make sure out of home is considered, whether it’s next Q4 or upcoming Q1 as part of the media campaign.”
The organizational structure at Omnicom Media is also evolving. Schnitt noted that the Outdoor Media Group is meeting new teams and introducing new capabilities across the company, ensuring that both legacy and new clients understand what modern OOH can deliver.
From brand awareness at the top of the funnel to drive-to-retail conversions at the bottom, OOH measurement capabilities now exist across the entire customer journey.
The problem is not so much the technology; it is education. Planners, buyers, and brands simply do not know what is possible.
That is the view of Jill Schnitt, president, Outdoor Media Group, Omnicom Media, in this video interview with Beet.TV. As brands finalize their 2027 budgets, she argued that OOH deserves a seat at the planning table alongside digital, social, and connected television, rather than being tacked on as an opportunistic add-on.
Three pillars of OOH targeting
Schnitt outlined three elements that make OOH campaigns effective: audience-based targeting, location targeting, and understanding the physical inventory landscape. When combined, these factors allow advertisers to think strategically about how OOH fits into broader media ecosystems.
“Those three things together make it a really successful type of campaign and require us to think about how out of home fits into the wider ecosystem of a media campaign,” Schnitt said.
The U.S. OOH market is growing. The Out of Home Advertising Association of America reported Q2 2026 revenue of $3.16 billion, up 10.7% year over year, with digital OOH rising 18.5% and accounting for 38.4% of quarterly revenue. Emarketer forecasts U.S. OOH ad spending will exceed $11 billion in 2026, with nearly $4.8 billion going to digital formats.
Integration, not isolation
The spectrum of OOH now spans traditional billboards and transit shelters to experiential activations and digital screens at sporting events. Schnitt said her team’s role is to help brands navigate that complexity rather than chase viral moments without a plan.
“Everybody wants to have that viral campaign, right? That’s incredibly important, but I think a strategic campaign allows for the best type of campaign and everything else follows,” she said. “We don’t want to think of out of home as a standalone. We want to think about it as an integrated component to your media plan and objectives.”
Omnicom’s broader infrastructure supports that integrated approach. In January 2026, the holding company launched a new version of its Omni platform, an AI-driven marketing intelligence system connecting strategy, creative, media planning, commerce activation, and measurement across 2.6 billion verified IDs.
Measurement modernization underway
The industry is also working to standardize how OOH audiences are counted. In March 2026, OAAA and Geopath selected Ipsos for a next-generation audience measurement pilot launching in the second half of the year, with broader adoption targeted for 2028.
“Out of home can be measured and should be measured continuously as part of a plan,” Schnitt said. “It comes down to education and making sure that planners, buyers, clients, brands know about all the measurement capabilities in out of home.”
OAAA has also launched a Programmatic & Automation Center of Excellence and a Technical Advisory Council focused on data standards, workflow automation, and integration with omnichannel platforms.
Budget season conversations
With Q3 marking the period when brands carve out budgets for the year ahead, Schnitt said her team is actively educating both internal colleagues and external clients about OOH’s capabilities. The goal is to ensure the channel is considered from the start of planning, not as an afterthought.
“Now is the time that we’re carving out budgets, thinking strategically about the year ahead,” she said. “Those are all the conversations we’re having now with our internal teams and our external clients to make sure out of home is considered, whether it’s next Q4 or upcoming Q1 as part of the media campaign.”
The organizational structure at Omnicom Media is also evolving. Schnitt noted that the Outdoor Media Group is meeting new teams and introducing new capabilities across the company, ensuring that both legacy and new clients understand what modern OOH can deliver.
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