Want better ROI on your Retail OOH? Buy quality first
Retail OOH is a challenging landscape to navigate. With screens and buying options varying enormously, this can be frustrating. But what if there was a way to standardise and prioritise quality first? Geoff Cochrane, National sales director at VMO writes about why quality in Out-Of-Home (OOH) counts.
We all know the old adage; you get what you pay for. You pay for the best tickets so you can afford to see your favourite gig; in exchange you get the greatest comfort and visibility for the event. You pay for first-class tickets and you get an experience like no other.
The quality of your seat counts. Especially so when you travel, for sporting events and entertainment. We want the best quality experience for the budget we are willing to spend.
Retail OOH should be no exception.
When buying other media channels; drive-time for radio, prime time for TV and above the fold for online, they are recognised as the most valuable. It is 100% clear where your advertisement has been placed and that your media investment has the best quality positioning.
This quality mindset should be brought to retail OOH buying. Why not buy the best seat in the house?
Until now, retail OOH screens have been evaluated on an equal basis – this has been a missed opportunity.
All screens in retail just aren’t equal – their ability to attract attention is largely dependent on their visibility and positioning within centre. So why is the market placing the same value on screens that are vastly different in quality?
VMO wanted to better understand the value placed on individual retail screens. To do this we spent the last two years gathering data across retail OOH environments with the objective to create a system that makes buying quality retail media possible.
The research was developed from a combination of 200 million data points – these were fused from VMO’s audience measurement system DART with Eye Tracking data from leading software-tech company Access HQ, helping us further understand attention.
The results were clear – across all screen formats, quality and placement drive increased attention in retail environments – proving, quality counts.
Overall, the research discovered six main attributes that had a positive impact on audience attention in retail OOH environments:
- In-centre screens have more engagement than screens outside the main shopping environment (e.g., carparks etc).
- Portrait, front facing screens clear of obstruction are more engaging than portrait parallel.
- Ceiling mounted formats deliver more attention time than floor mounted formats because they can be seen on approach without any obstructions.
- High dwell environments offer increased screen attention time.
- Digital screens are more engaging than static.
- Campaigns on screens in main shopping thoroughfares and on the path-to purchase are the best locations to capture maximum audience attention.
Without a doubt, front-facing digital large format was revealed as the first-class of retail OOH and both in-centre front-facing ceiling mounted and floor mounted digital retail are your business class. Anything less than this and you’re flying economy or you don’t even have a seat on the plane.
Every single retail OOH screen you put forward on your media plan should be quality. It should deliver the best attention and therefore the best ROI for your client’s budget. Take a moment to consider the screen selection put forward by your retail media provider – every paid and bonus screen counts.