Why it matters:
- Digital out-of-home advertising powered by AI is enabling marketers to deliver contextually driven messaging.
- Container company PODS drove a 60% increase in website visits using a dynamic billboard that created more than 6,000 messages based on hyperlocal marketing via AI learning.
- Automaker Kia saw an 8% sales increase from the use of an AI-driven digital ad campaign at electric vehicle charging stations.
Artificial intelligence is helping to facilitate a more dynamic and refined level of targeting in digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising.
Marketers are increasingly leveraging the benefits that AI can provide for their DOOH campaigns, such as the ability to generate content quickly and deploy targeted ads automatically based on rich troves of data.
“As with other channels, AI is accelerating digital out-of-home advertising by making it smarter, more dynamic, and performance-driven,” said Charel MacIntosh, Global Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Clinch, which provides AI-driven marketing solutions. “It enables advertisers to deliver more contextually relevant messages that adapt to changing environments, and powers creative automation at scale, allowing brands to personalize content across thousands of screens effortlessly.”
AI also brings greater efficiency and targeted precision to programmatic buying, she said. Programmatic buying involves the automated buying and selling of digital ads based on algorithms.
In addition, advanced analytics can link DOOH exposure to measurable outcomes, such as foot traffic and conversions, MacIntosh said.
“The result is a more agile, accountable, and impactful form of outdoor advertising,” she said.
Smart kiosks, digital displays, and EV charging stations drive $9.4 billion DOOH market
The United States’ out-of-home advertising market size is estimated at $9.4 billion, according to a report from Mordor Intelligence, which projects that it would grow at a compound annual rate of 3.72% to reach $11.25 billion by 2030. The digital segment of outdoor advertising is expected grow even faster, at a 6.2% rate.
Key platforms for the growth of DOOH include municipal smart kiosks, digital displays in airport terminals, and electric vehicle charging stations.
“Programmatic buying, mobile location data, and smart-city infrastructure are accelerating the shift toward data-driven inventory,” the report concluded.
Fields credited the DOOH PODS campaign with driving a 60% increase in website visits and a 33% increase in quote requests in one week...'It’s the new way to create hyperlocal marketing.'
AI offers opportunities to change marketing ‘on the fly’
Digital advertising has long provided the ability for marketers to deliver their messages faster than they could using traditional advertising, and DOOH is no different. What AI brings to the table, however, is the ability for marketers to react quickly to data gathered from the audience.
“Now I can take data as it’s coming in and say, ‘This [ad] copy is working better for these type of audiences,’ and move it around or change it on the fly,” said Shawn Spooner, Global Chief Technology Officer at Billups, which provides out-of-home advertising solutions.
He cited one example of a high-fashion brand that had been working with Billups for several years. Billups, tapping new technology, found that the logo the brand had been using in its ads was too small. The technology creates a heat map of the areas of the ad that generate the most attention, and it was able to discern that the logo could be garnering more attention if it was larger.
The brand quickly adjusted the size of its logo in the ads, and Billups was able to determine that the ads were performing consistently better, Spooner said.
Increasingly, AI is also helping companies conduct A/B testing more quickly, allowing brands to assess the relative success of slightly different messages simultaneously, and then make quick decisions about which performs better or whether changes need to be made to one ad or another.
“AI is helping us do those things much faster than ever before,” said Spooner.
Billups has nearly 20 years’ worth of campaign data that inform its AI decision-making, and that information can often be layered with the advertiser’s own data and data from other sources, such as social media. On top of that, data from satellite and street-view imagery can shed light on individual ad locations, Spooner explained. For example, images might reveal that a tree branch is obstructing an ad, and the issue can be identified quickly using AI, he explained.
[Read more: How Brands Both Big and Small Are Tapping Reddit to Drive Business]
PODS fuels 60% increase in website visits with dynamic AI-powered billboard
In one example that highlights the ability of AI to generate localized content, storage and moving container company PODS worked with digital marketing agency Tombras to create a dynamic digital billboard on the side of a PODS truck. Using Google’s Gemini AI platform, the roving billboard displayed ever-changing ads that were tailored to each neighborhood and adjusted to such inputs as time, weather, traffic conditions, and subway delays.
“We made the world’s smartest billboard,” said Juan Tubert, Chief Technology Officer at Tombras, in a YouTube video describing the effort.
To prepare Gemini to be able to create ads on the fly, Tombras and PODS uploaded content including brand guidelines, marketing plans, and even transcripts of talks with PODS leaders, he said. They then tasked Gemini with writing brief headlines for each neighborhood as the truck drove through them.
For example, one billboard displayed: “73 degrees out? Spend the day at Coney Island, not hauling boxes.”
“The result? A dynamic billboard that actually feels like it’s part of the city,” Calvin Fields, VP of Brand and Media at PODS, told CO—.
The truck drove through all 299 of New York City’s neighborhoods in 29 hours, creating more than 6,000 headlines, “a feat that would have been humanly impossible without AI,” he said.
Fields credited the DOOH PODS campaign with driving a 60% increase in website visits and a 33% increase in quote requests in one week, the biggest year-over-year jump in those metrics that the company had ever seen, he said.
“It’s the new way to create hyperlocal marketing,” said Fields.
[Read more: Latest Self-Checkout Solutions Offer Convenience and Efficiency to Attract More Shoppers]
Kia boosts sales 8% with AI-driven ads
Another example of how AI can help marketers target their messages involves using vehicle recognition technology at electric charging stations.
Kia, seeking to drive awareness and sales of its EV9 electric SUVs, leveraged the Volta Vision vehicle-recognition technology from Volta Media to detect the type of vehicle that was charging at a specific station. That information was then passed on to a Vistar Media ad server and its Cortex software to determine which type of advertisement should be displayed at the station.
The campaign divided its audience into two groups and served up different ads for each, as well as ads for when the station was not in use:
- When a non-Kia vehicle was at the station, an ad emphasizing the EV9’s performance and features appeared, highlighting the absence of a third row of seating in the vehicles offered by competitors and showing that the EV9 offered the additional passenger room.
- Alternatively, when a Kia vehicle pulled into the station, the ad complimented them for selecting a Kia and explained that the all-electric EV9, with the third row of seating, was the latest car in the brand’s lineup.
When there were no vehicles at the station, the screens displayed evergreen ads that showcased either the extra seating or the fast acceleration of the EV9 GT line.
The DOOH initiative boosted Kia’s visibility and engagement metrics, according to Vistar Media. That included a 517% surge in unaided brand awareness, a 33% increase in consumer consideration, and a 27% increase in purchase intent. Perhaps most importantly, sales were up 8%, according to Vistar.
“Just raising awareness of KIA and their EV lineup has raised sales,” said Kristi Hummel, VP and Director of Out-of-Home Advertising at Canvas Worldwide, the ad agency that partnered with Kia on the campaign.
She said the metrics proved that while the content of the ads itself was important, the AI component of the campaign was a key factor in its success.
“Undoubtedly, the crown here goes to AI,” Hummel said. “It really reached out to and touched consumers on a cognitive and emotional level.”
CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.
CO—is committed to helping you start, run and grow your small business. Learn more about the benefits of small business membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, here.
Interested in a small business membership?
Find out how the U.S. Chamber of Commerce can help your company grow and thrive in today's rapidly-evolving business environment. Connect with our team to learn how a small business membership can benefit your bottom line and help you achieve your goals.
