OOH in 2020 to be fuelled by collaboration and creativity

There is quite literally only one certainty about predictions, and that is how “the future is not Google-able.” (William Gibson).

Yes, we can give rigorous evidence-based forecasts of the rational – DOOH is growing, and saw growth of +17.1% in Q3, comparable to Q2 (+17.2%) and stronger than Q1 2019 (+11%) Classic OOH is also growing [Q3 (+2.4%), slightly up on Q2 (+2.3%), and the entire market is in great health [OOH in the UK reporting growth of 9.8% YoY in Q32019].*

if we’re looking back, we can’t also be looking forwards

We’re all architects of that future; burdened by the responsibility of building it. A future that will be fuelled by technology, data, collaboration, and good old-fashioned creative thinking. So, we may ask – and be asked – what exactly will the future hold? And our answer will always be: ‘Whatever we want it to be’.

The future will be whatever those that dare to dream, to create, to invent, to question, to analyse and to think, decide it will be. The future is certainly not Google-able. But it is buildable. So, let’s crack on.

Low latency will bring about a real revolution to the AR world, which in turn will augment the DOOH landscape. We’re already seeing this starting to happen with partnerships between Nexus Studios, Samsung, the Dallas Cowboys and AT&T who have rolled out the world’s first jaw-dropping AR Cloud activations; mapping the digital world over the physical world to build all-new experiences. And with that revolution will come a sizeable improvement in location data. Service providers will be building and installing multiple antenna to distribute 5G, and our devices will give off multiple pings meaning game-changing improvements in location targeting.

According to the recent Peter Field/IPA report ‘The crisis in creative effectiveness’, as a result of the ongoing frenzy for short-term metrics, creativity (and long-term brand building) is collapsing. And it’s something we all see every day. Field states that ‘we have arrived in an era where award-winning creativity typically brings little or no effectiveness advantage’.

Advertising has forgotten how to have fun. We’re an industry of privilege, in that we are paid to build real-world emotional responses between brands and people. That’s the long and short of it. And OOH especially should be fun! Of late however So it’s time to change. Because the short-term and the long-term doesn’t have to be an either/or choice. And we know that 85% of CMOs believe that creativity and big ideas build brands and create emotional connections that will deliver long-term brand growth, yet only half of these CMOs think the industry is doing this well.

OOH especially should be fun!

And the reams of evidence supporting creativity as the greatest effectiveness tool should be ignored at every brand's peril. And that doesn’t just mean ‘do more special builds’, it means applying more creative thinking to everything we do in the quest for solutions that resonate with real people.

Great creative thinking is what decides the winners in this business of brands – across all disciplines. Whether in unearthing beautiful human insights, that in turn inform tight and powerful strategies, that then provide a platform from which to fire beautifully crafted and focused concepts. Whatever the area of business, 2020 will find us learning to value true creative thinking again (and giving people space and time to do this), not as a ‘nice to have’ but rather to reframe it as non-negotiable hygiene factor.

Data Revolutions

We are swimming in almost infinite data lakes. And the key to staying afloat is understanding exactly what data we are using, why we are using it, and how we are using it.

The world leaves digital footprints as deep pools of data sets, many of which exist outside of what we consider the norm (weather/temp/traffic etc.) in advertising activation. But it’s not just about turbocharging targeting, we will see the ongoing shift towards using data to derive exciting insights and forge new ways to interpret and apply these findings. After all, everything happens somewhere, so, therefore, using location as the lens to examine various data sets and extrapolate insight is the ultimate in understanding true human behaviour.

Data is going nowhere. So, if you can’t get out of it, get into it.

To win the future, we have to forge strategic partnerships.

For OOH, the possibilities are vast. We are perhaps the only channel that has the opportunity to truly build innovation into solutions by applying technology and thinking from other disciplines; engineering, robotics, 3D volumetric display, AR, visual search, data, gesture control, haptics, facial recognition, voice search, ad infinitum.

We can’t give away all our secrets, but we’re already playing hard in this space and have relationships with multiple tech start-ups, content providers, data providers, developers and creative tech studios, with many more to follow next year.

One of OOH’s greatest strengths (existing in the physical and non-skippable world), also means that as an industry, we must continue working towards sustainable solutions for brands in the out-of-home space.

UK media owners are developing extraordinary solutions for advertisers, and the roll-out of products with a long-term outlook towards minimising impact to the planet should, of course, be applauded and utilised.

As an industry, we must continue working towards sustainable solutions