Adshel CEO Rob Atkinson says 2016 will be the year mobile becomes more prevalent in the industry, and the outdoor business is eyeing its role in screen strategy.
Atkinson, was speaking to AdNews about the key drivers he sees for 2016, with mobile being the front-runner.
While the idea of “the year of mobile” has been thrown around for the last decade, Atkinson says he sees 2016 as the year mobile becomes more of a fixture in the landscape.
For this reason, he says Adshel is having conversations with mobile players about how it can partner up.
“Mobile is definitely turning OOH into a transactional medium. Today's consumer can buy at speed, and it's becoming easier through data to find just the right time and place to influence that behaviour,” Atkinson says.
“That's great for us because I think mobile and OOH is a marriage made in heaven.”
“You only need to see that in the agency world. They often have segmentation by things like mobile and automation and we're having more conversations with that part of the agency.”
The other area Atkinson eyes for growth this year is data, telling AdNews: “we're talking to quite a few data providers and looking at partnership arrangements”.
Last year, Adshel made a heavy investment in data, launching the largest network of beacons in the country, with more than 3000 rolled out across Australia. It also partnered with Roy Morgan's targeting tool, Helix Personas to boost its ability to target.
“We're looking at how we can use data in a constructive way, in a relevant way, and then just where we go in the programmatic and automation space,” Atskinson says.
“Real-time measurement is helping us – we've got Helix Personas and beacon data – but there will be more opportunities to link with data providers to get real-time data.
“It's something that has been lacking in OOH for many years and now is at the forefront of what we do.”
But going forward Atkinson says continuing the momentum of the industry is the most important thing. He says the UK outdoor market is at 10 or 11% of total ad spend, in comparison to Australia at 5%.
“We're still undercooked when it comes to the amount of ad dollars spent,” he says.
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