What is Dynamic Digital Out of Home (DOOH)? | Clear Channel | Clear Channel
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What is dynamic DOOH?

Dynamic DOOH is a type of Digital Out of Home (DOOH) advertising featuring dynamic content. It uses standard DOOH formats like digital billboards and 6-sheets, but the creative changes based on certain events. 

These events can be pre-set or pre-programmed. Pre-set dynamic DOOH ads might update during the day to reflect known events, like day turning into evening. Pre-programmed ones can respond dynamically to real-time events, like weather conditions or breaking news stories.

This allows advertisers to make their ads more attention-grabbing and engaging. Dynamic DOOH ads respond to diverse parameters automatically, displaying contextually relevant messaging and visuals matching their environment. 

This dynamic creative reflects what the audience is experiencing when they see it. As a result, it’s more resonant and memorable, which is why contextually relevant messaging increases campaign effectiveness by an average of 17%.

How does dynamic DOOH work?

At its most basic, dynamic DOOH can work based on entirely pre-set rules. The advertiser can create a set of ads to cycle through depending on basic parameters, like the time of day. 

For example, a fast food brand could use dynamic DOOH to promote breakfast items from 6am to 11am, lunch items from 11am to 2pm, and standard menu items until the end of the day. 

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Advertisers can also use DOOH platforms to create more complex rulesets. These can be based on all sorts of data, from the temperature outside or the pollen count in the air to the location of the billboard or screen.  

For example, a coffee retailer could use dynamic DOOH to promote different products based on the weather. If it reaches a certain temperature, their creative could focus on iced coffee. If it drops below a certain temperature, the ad could switch to promote a hot chocolate drink. 

Alternatively, they could use GPS data to show accurate directions to the nearest storefront, individual to each display. 

These more dynamic applications can be powered by first- or third-party data streams. Some DOOH screens even feature in-built technology, like thermometers, cameras, or sensors, to power dynamic ads.

Dynamic DOOH can combine with programmatic DOOH to allow advertisers to bid on ad slots based on their ideal conditions being met. This allows them to make sure their ads are only being displayed when they’ll be most relevant, and therefore most impactful.

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What makes dynamic DOOH special?

Deploying a variable ad creative through dynamic DOOH can make campaigns more personal and relevant. Messaging that matches environmental conditions feels less like a sales pitch and more like a conversation. By directly responding to the real world, the advert feels more a part of it, changing how it is interpreted by the audience. 

Science backs this up; Clear Channel ran a study on dynamic DOOH with JCDecaux and Posterscope and found campaigns with contextually-relevant messaging are 17% more effective at generating an audience response. 

Using a neuroscience technique called Steady State Topography (SST), we proved that dynamic ads showing the right product in the right conditions prompt a stronger brain response in the viewer. This can lead to an increase of up to 17% in ad recall and 16% in sales impact. 

These discoveries validate the potential value of using dynamic DOOH. The emergence of standard DOOH allowed advertisers to deploy more targeted OOH campaigns than ever before. Dynamic DOOH takes this to a new level, allowing for even greater ad relevance.

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Dynamic DOOH vs interactive DOOH

Interactive DOOH is another type of DOOH advertising, using digital displays to facilitate audience interaction. Some interactive DOOH campaigns leverage touchscreens to allow for physical interaction. Others might feature social media integration or augmented reality capabilities that allow the audience to interact with the ad creative digitally. 

Interactive DOOH is technically a sub-category of dynamic DOOH. The ads are dynamic, but their dynamic features are prompted by audience interaction rather than external parameters. In other words, all interactive DOOH ads are dynamic, but not all dynamic DOOH ads are interactive.


The benefits of dynamic DOOH

Dynamic DOOH is a relatively recent development in the OOH advertising space, only really becoming recognised as a valuable approach in the last decade. But its benefits are clear, and compelling enough to make it well worth trying as part of a DOOH campaign. Those benefits include dynamic DOOH ads being:

More engaging

Dynamic ads that change to match environmental conditions are simply more engaging. Consumers increasingly expect personalised experiences from brands, and dynamic adverts are the best way to deliver them through OOH mediums. 

Using dynamic DOOH to make ads more relevant to their setting and target audience makes every impression more impactful. The audience will pay more attention to the ad and more likely to take a follow-up action.


Non-intrusive

Sophisticated audience targeting through online mediums is often seen as ‘creepy’ by consumers. But dynamic DOOH side-steps this potential issue by using a one-to-many format. It doesn’t use individual audience member data in 1:1 advertising but instead targets entire groups based on more general parameters. 

This approach captures the benefits of ad personalisation without involving the negatives. It increases attention captured, relevance, and engagement, but doesn’t come off as intrusive or predatory.


Creatively differentiated

Dynamic DOOH opens up brand new opportunities for creativity in Out of Home advertising. It unlocks the potential for brands to create ads that reference and respond to the real world, helping dynamic ads to stand out against non-dynamic competitors.

Unlock dynamic DOOH advertising’s potential

As consumers become more interested in personalised experiences, dynamic DOOH will continue to flourish. The technology that powers it, from DOOH displays to programmatic DOOH platforms, is constantly developing, too, meaning dynamic DOOH will only get more effective with time.

But it’s already scientifically proven to have an outsized impact on audiences compared to non-dynamic approaches. There are endless advertising possibilities to explore with dynamic DOOH, limited only by your creativity. 

To find out more about how to capture dynamic DOOH advertising opportunities today, get in touch with us.