Areef Vohra.
Areef Vohra, Director of Publisher Development ANZ at Perion, shares how the ad tech leader is empowering media owners, enhancing platform usability, and redefining what smart, scalable DOOH looks like in a multichannel world.
The programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (pDOOH) market in Australia is evolving rapidly, and few understand this transformation better than Areef Vohra, Director of Publisher Development at Perion. With a background steeped in Out-of-Home (OOH) media, Vohra’s vision for the future is rooted in a deep respect for the channel — and a bold ambition to modernise it.
“OOH has the unmatched ability to deliver mass audiences. My role is about showing media owners how to unlock its full potential — not just through reach, but through flexibility, targeting, and data-led optimisation,” he says.
At Perion, that mission is powered by a robust suite of tools — from their market-leading SSP and Header Bidding platform to an intuitive campaign ad server — all designed to help publishers shift from static loops to delivering to the right audience, at the right time, in the right place.
Empowering Media Owners, Not Just Serving Them
What sets Perion apart isn’t just technology — it’s philosophy. “We don’t treat media owners as supply; we see them as strategic partners,” Vohra explains. “Our platform was purpose-built with them in mind.”
This ethos is reflected in Perion’s SSP, a part of the broader Perion One platform, which mirrors the experience of a DSP. Publishers can plan, visualise, and forecast campaigns in the same environment their buyers use — a level of transparency and control that’s rare in the industry. “That symmetry builds trust,” Vohra says. “It also enables publishers to sell programmatic solutions directly to their clients — something that lifts the tide for everyone.”
Usability That Drives Results
In a landscape where inventory often looks similar across platforms, ease of use becomes a real differentiator. According to Vohra, what gives Perion One an edge is how intuitive and flexible the platform is — enabling agencies to plan DOOH campaigns using either native or imported datasets, visualise campaign performance in real-time, and map audience movement from postcode to screen.
“Clients want freedom, functionality, and performance. That’s what we’ve built,” he says simply.
Delivering on Promises
So how does Perion earn trust in a competitive, fast-moving space?
“Deliver on what you promise,” Vohra says. “It sounds simple, but it’s hard to do. You need to build a product that’s made for the market, with best-in-class functionality — and then prove that it works.”
That product-Perion One- comes from a team with deep DOOH roots. The same group has built several of the industry’s most influential and widely used DOOH solutions in the world, including the industry’s first DOOH header bidder. That level of operational insight informs everything the company does, and it shows.
Programmatic’s Future Is Multichannel
Looking ahead, Vohra sees pDOOH playing a central role in multichannel strategies. “There’s no question that OOH is a powerful top-of-funnel driver — but with the support of lift studies, we’re increasingly seeing its impact extend beyond awareness, contributing to mid- and lower-funnel outcomes like consideration and intent,” he says.
That’s why Perion is working closely with omnichannel DSP partners to build proof-of-concept campaigns with unified deal offerings across multiple channels. That's why Perion One is evolving to support multichannel planning and activation, while continuing to invest in DOOH-first innovation in Australia," he adds.
The rise of Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO) is another signal of progress. “We’re seeing clients embrace DCO as a way to maintain scale but improve relevance — targeting the right audience with the right message at the right time.”
A standout example? Sky News’ 2025 election coverage, powered by Perion’s SSP, broadcast real-time election results nationally across DOOH screens via a live feed. “It was a textbook use of DCO — timely, relevant, high-impact content delivered at scale.”
As advertisers demand more measurable, agile and intelligent media, Perion is positioning itself at the intersection of technology and transformation. And with Areef Vohra helping lead the charge, it’s clear that programmatic DOOH in Australia is in capable hands — and headed for an exciting future.
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