Static displays not enough to drive DOOH growth: Tom Goddard

Speaking on the theme of ‘Framing the Future’ at the International OOH Congress organised in St Petersburg, Russia, Tom Goddard, President, FEPE International and Chairman, Ocean Outdoor, UK said the global OOH industry maintained a creditable 8% growth rate in 2017-18 despite the volatility seen in the media business, and similar growth is expected in the current year. However, Tom expressed concern over OOH steadily losing its share of the overall ad pie. As a case in point, the Russian OOH industry recorded 14% growth in 2017-18 and yet its share of the overall ad spend fell in comparison to some of the competing media. “We need to do something about it,” he said while adding that topline OOH growth in Russia has not delivered higher profitability for the companies.

Referring to the “shiny’ digital OOH media, he said that the format by itself will not deliver growth so long it is being used only for static displays. Amplifying this point, Tom said that full motion displays are known to be engaging consumers 2.5 times more successfully than static displays. He advocated greater use of streaming content, interactive technologies and the like to drive deeper OOH audience engagement.

Pointing out that DOOH and mobility together could deliver great results for advertising brands, he said that as yet very little has been achieved on this front.

Underlining the growing significance of programmatic buying, Tom said that industry players need to build a common buying platform instead of creating multiple platforms, that at best would only benefit the technology companies involved in developing those platforms. The industry should desist from the path of outsmarting one another and aim to wrest the ad dollars from other competing media, he asserted.

Tom reiterated the need for industry to work as a “collective” and focus on automation and collaboration.