By Nick Parker, Global President, Veridooh
I have spent more than 38 years in the out-of-home (OOH) industry and have seen some major transitions during that time. Today, I believe we’re undergoing one of the most transformative periods, with the continued digitisation of OOH propelling our industry into a new era of opportunity.
However, although OOH has just reported its highest-ever annual revenue of £1.44bn (The Media Leader), advertisers still only allocate an average of 6% (AA/WARC) of their total advertising budget to OOH.
No matter how you look at it, that percentage of total media spend does not portray full advertiser confidence. As the OOH industry looks to increase advertiser confidence and media investment, it is currently at risk of undermining trust in the medium and potential future growth.
In every other mature digital medium, where measurement and verification are critical in building trust and accountability, advertisers have the right to choose how and who they partner with to independently verify their campaigns. This principle of choice for independent verification must now be extended to digital out-of-home (DOOH) as standard practice. Forcing an advertiser to rely solely on media owner self-reporting, even if audited and dressed up into a dashboard, reduces advertiser confidence in our medium.
Imagine you’re buying a second-hand car. The seller provides a full service history that they have logged themselves. They even pay a local garage to issue a certificate based on their own logs, stating that the car is in perfect condition. While this is comforting, all the information originates from and is funded by the seller. Now, imagine you hire your own independent mechanic.
They don’t look at the seller’s paperwork. Instead, they run their own diagnostics, inspect the engine, and give you a report based entirely on their own findings, funded by you. Which report gives you more confidence to make the purchase?
This scenario perfectly illustrates the crucial difference we face in OOH advertising today.
The distinction in the OOH industry lies in whether a media owner (seller) supplies its own data to an advertiser (via a data lake and dashboard provider) or a third party independently collects and verifies the data on behalf of the advertiser with no conflict of interest with the media owner.
If the OOH industry is to mature and earn the full trust of global advertisers, we must, at the very least, give advertisers the choice of truly 100% Independent Verification alongside media owner data aggregated into a dashboard via a data lake.
The crucial difference: Media Owner Data Aggregation vs. Independent Verification
As my car purchase example shows, there is a fundamental difference between a media owner’s own play data logs and data that has been independently collected and measured by a 100% third party, independent verification partner.
While a media owner’s data aggregated into a report is valuable, it essentially consolidates all of the media owner’s own data. Although a third party helps to access the media owner’s data via a dashboard, the fundamental source of the data remains the media owner, who is being paid to deliver the advertising.
Independent verification operates on a completely different premise. It doesn’t rely on the media owner’s data logs. Instead, in Veridooh’s case, the creative is tagged and converted into a SmartCreative™. This SmartCreative™ is passive and self-aware, collecting all the necessary data independently of the media owners to deliver 100% independent verification for any DOOH and pDOOH campaign. This creates an independent, unbiased source of truth at no cost to the media owners. It captures highly granular, objective metrics on timing, location, creative execution, and more.
The distinction is simple but profound: one is the media owner’s claims, while the other provides independently collected third party verification data. It is the latter that advertisers want and are requesting today.
Why Independent Verification is the bedrock of growth
Every other digital channel has Independent Verification. In any form of digital advertising, like online and CTV, advertisers demand transparency and certainty. They need to know that their investment delivered precisely what was promised: the right creative, in the right place, at the right time. If DOOH wants to compete and draw revenue from other channels then it needs to embrace it too. 100% Independent Verification transforms the medium from a self-reported channel to a trusted, transparent and accountable medium.
While Independent Verification provides this common currency of trust, it also provides a necessary safeguard, identifying and rectifying issues, allowing for swift, in-flight optimisation to ensure campaigns deliver on their objectives. Campaigns that deliver how they are booked are the most effective because brand strategy and planning is realised.
When advertisers have independently collected and verified data, they also have the confidence to increase their spend. Giving them this option is even more crucial for the industry if the aim is to shift spend from other channels into DOOH.
The power of choice: a right, not a privilege
Ultimately, empowering clients with this choice fosters a healthier ecosystem. It drives certainty, confidence and trust. It is these three factors that drive advertisers to spend more in DOOH advertising.
The future of DOOH depends on advertisers feeling completely secure in their investment. Providing the choice of 100% truly Independent Verification is the ultimate assurance that will unlock new levels of client trust and accelerate the well-deserved growth of this incredible channel that has captivated me for 38 years.
Blocking this should not be an option.
The OOH industry should embrace higher standards and listen to the demand for choice from the clients who invest in our medium.
