As we move into 2025, the Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising landscape is rapidly evolving. Innovations like interactive and augmented reality (AR) experiences reshape how brands connect with audiences. But these changes also raise important questions: How can measurement tools adapt to capture meaningful engagement? And what metrics will matter most to advertisers in this new era?
StreetMetrics' Chief Product Officer, Breeze Dake, offers a forward-thinking perspective on how OOH measurement needs to evolve to keep pace with these shifts.
Capturing Meaningful Engagement in Immersive OOH Experiences
Traditional metrics like impressions remain foundational, but immersive OOH experiences demand more nuanced measurements to understand their true impact. According to Dake, measurement providers must focus on metrics that capture both top-of-funnel and lower-funnel outcomes:
- Upper funnel metrics:
- What to measure: Lift in Brand awareness, consideration, and recall.
- How to measure: Surveys, social media sentiment analysis, and changes in website traffic following exposure to immersive campaigns. These tools provide insights into how OOH experiences influence audience perception.
- Lower funnel metrics:
- What to measure: Lift in In-store visits, website conversions, app downloads, and sales.
- How to measure: Tools like location data, promo codes, and unique URLs can help connect the dots between exposure to an OOH experience and tangible outcomes. Attribution modeling will also play a crucial role in determining how these campaigns contribute to the customer journey.
Navigating Privacy Regulations: Building Trust Through Compliance
As global privacy regulations grow more stringent, OOH measurement providers face increasing scrutiny. To maintain trust and compliance, Dake highlights three key strategies:
- Exclusion of Sensitive Locations:
- Measurement practices should avoid collecting data from areas like hospitals, schools, and places of worship. Ethical and regulatory considerations must drive the creation of a comprehensive list of sensitive locations.
- Robust Data Anonymization:
- Providers should implement strict anonymization protocols to ensure individual privacy. Personal Identifiable Information (PII) must be avoided, and clear opt-out mechanisms should be provided to users.
- Diversified Audience Identifiers:
- Relying solely on mobile device IDs poses risks. Instead, measurement providers should diversify identifiers by incorporating hashed emails, website cookies, and contextual data to future-proof against data loss and evolving regulations.
The Role of Programmatic OOH in 2025
Programmatic OOH continues gaining traction, reshaping ad buying and measurement landscapes. Dake emphasizes the importance of improving the accuracy of ad play multipliers—a critical metric for programmatic campaigns:
- Dynamic Ad Play Multipliers: These metrics should account for spatial and temporal factors. For example, an ad displayed during peak hours in a city center will have a different reach than one displayed late at night in a suburban area. Improved multipliers will give advertisers a more precise understanding of campaign impact.
Emerging Technologies Shaping OOH Measurement
Integrating technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are revolutionizing OOH measurement. Here’s how:
- AI-Driven Measurement Models:
- Advanced models incorporate real-time data, including population density, traffic patterns, weather conditions, and events, to dynamically adjust metrics like reach and frequency. Integrating data from sources such as mobile location data and public transportation APIs will enhance accuracy.
- AI-Powered Campaign Insights:
- AI analyzes complex datasets to uncover patterns and provide actionable insights. From audience behavior analysis to attribution modeling, machine learning algorithms enable advertisers to optimize creative content and personalize ad delivery for maximum impact.
Preparing for the Future
As we look ahead, the evolution of OOH advertising and measurement is undeniable. Immersive experiences, stricter privacy regulations, programmatic advancements, and emerging technologies are converging to reshape the industry. Measurement providers must not only adapt but also deliver actionable, transparent, and privacy-compliant metrics that meet the needs of today’s advertisers.
By prioritizing innovation, trust, and adaptability, companies like StreetMetrics are poised to thrive in this dynamic environment and redefine what’s possible in OOH measurement.
