How OOH buying & selling has evolved over time
Buying and selling out of home has undoubtedly changed throughout the last century. The media has evolved with new technology, advertiser needs have changed, and the way screen owners interact with their clients have changed. No matter what side of the fence you are on, buyer or seller, embracing these changes can keep you ahead of the competition.
Let’s start at the beginning, in the early 1800s. As the traditional roadside billboard or wallscape venue types gained popularity, buyers would communicate directly with sellers to facilitate their advertising needs. Outdoor advertising companies would hire sales reps to sign up potential advertisers which worked well on a local level for smaller businesses but not for campaigns that needed to reach a broader, national audience.
The first ad agencies were created in the early to mid-1800s to fill the need for larger brands to be able to create nationwide ad campaigns. Palmer, the first US advertising agency, opened its doors in 1842. The first ad agencies were primarily using newspapers and print as their advertising media. Later embracing television, radio, and eventually billboards and OOH.
Out of home media owners and companies still use sales reps to fill their ad spaces, primarily for local businesses, and to interact with the ad agencies and media buyers for larger national buys.
It wasn’t until the 2010s that a company of any size could completely manage their own digital out of home campaigns programmatically. Programmatic self-service digital out of home platforms opened the channel between advertisers and screen owners which fulfilled a need in the DOOH advertising world. A self-published writer could easily advertise their new book across the United States, managing every aspect themselves digitally. Large companies like McDonald’s and Coke could change out their messaging depending on the time of day or blanket the entire country for a true programmatic out of home “take-over”. This technology has empowered us to deliver any message, any time, to anyone.
Out of home has come a long way from the 1800s. The digitization of out of home screens and programmatic technology has given advertisers the flexibility to plan, launch, and manage their campaigns programmatically. There is no longer a 30+ day lead time to plan a campaign and go through numerous steps to execute a single contract. Today, a programmatic DOOH campaign can be planned and launched within hours, if not minutes.
