Digital screens, programmatic buying, and better data will help OOH ad spending grow at a solid pace over the next few years, despite broader challenges in traditional advertising.

“Out-of-home’s beauty is its proximity,” said Steve Nicklin, senior vice president of marketing and analytics at the Out of Home Advertising Association (OAAA). “We're also intercepting consumers when they're most likely to act.”

The UK is a mature programmatic market, but innovation and evolution continue apace, particularly in the connected TV and out-of-home environments. The next step for programmatic practitioners is to invest in multichannel campaign capabilities.

S digital out-of-home (DOOH) will make up 31.4% of out-of-home (OOH) ad spend this year, showing recovery after a pandemic dip, according to our forecast.

The digitization of the store—retail’s next megatrend—will transform the shopper’s path to purchase and industry economics for retailers and brands.

While advertising areas like connected TV and retail media boast strong potential, other channels, like social media and linear TV, are losing some steam. That’s why it’s important to explore other ad channels. For example, digital out-of-home advertising has made technological and creative leaps in the past few years, while the women’s sports ad opportunity is expanding. Here are some areas within digital advertising where you may be missing out on unlocking potential.

Historically traditional channels are being digitized, theoretically opening the door to more robust measurement. At the same time, third-party identifiers are being ousted in favor of identity solutions that preserve consumers’ privacy.

OOH keeps gaining ad spending dollars, but its share of media budgets remains below pre-pandemic levels.

Retail media has transitioned from its 1.0 era, defined by on-site search and sponsored product ads, into the era of retail media 2.0, which consists of a mosaic of ads on-site, in-store, and across other media channels. “The opportunity gets much bigger, but realizing the opportunity also gets a lot more complex,” our analyst Andrew Lipsman said on “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail.”

With $9.15 billion in US ad spending going to OOH advertising this year (up 7% from last year) and an increasing portion of that spending going to digital (31.4% this year, rising to 40.4% by 2027), per our forecast, advertisers should be innovating on this somewhat traditional format. Here are three unique OOH ad activations.

Disintermediation is getting real, upfront advertisers want their programmatic CTV spending accounted for, and Google shares early results from the Privacy Sandbox.

The rise of in-store retail media will prove that the physical store is the next major media channel for brands.

As the economy continues to roil, brands will look to some of the most hyped technologies—including generative AI, clean rooms, and Web3—to solve real problems.

Smartphones will play an even bigger role in 2023, connecting devices and experiences while advertisers adjust to a world with less user data.

About a third of US adults said they will definitely travel this holiday season, and another quarter said it’s likely.

Key developments to watch in 2022 include the evolution of in-store retail technology; hotter competition in the paid-for video marketplace; the revival of digital out-of-home ads; and ongoing issues with digital privacy and security.

McDonald’s, Apple led in spending among US out-of-home advertisers in 2020

Out-of-home ad spending was the hardest-hit ad sector during 2020, according to our estimates. Lingering concerns about crowded public spaces will potentially drag on the sector for years.

Fifty-seven percent of digital advertisers are planning to increase their ad spend in H1 2021, and connected TV (CTV) and over-the-top (OTT), in particular, are expected to see gains, according to a recent Verizon Media study.

This year, digital out-of-home (DOOH) ad spending will increase 1.6%, and in 2021 it will grow 19.2%. We expect DOOH ad spending to increase from $2.72 billion in 2020 to $3.84 billion in 2023.