Audioutdoor Conference January 24th 2024 - Connections between People, Context, Brand and Audience

Presentation of the themes that characterized Audioutdoor’s conference, in which the new Research was presented.

A large attendance of business people, agencies, media centers, and out of home business at the conference that Audioutdoor organized to present their new technological tools. These tools will provide the market with all the information it needs to better plan the medium, but with also an chance for a broader view on the medium itself and the opportunities it offers to the market (also in terms of quality).

The opening of the works

Innovation, timeliness, and flexibility are the concepts that were emphasized in the various speeches by the prestigious speakers who participated in the conference.
Giovanna Maggioni, Audioutdoor President highlighted these themes several times while introducing the different speakers, recalling how the presence of Upa and Una in the management of the company is indicative of the transparency of the results. The companies that support Audioutdoor (IGP, IGP Decaux, Ipas and Urban Vision) are not afraid to provide the market with both their positive and negative data.
These themes were also taken up by Upa President Lorenzo Sassoli de Bianchi who, in addition to emphasizing the expressive capacity of the Outdoor market and the semantic innovation that the medium allows for the creatives, recalled the importance of Audioutdoor and its crucial role as the JIC of reference for this medium, just as Agcom itself recently reiterated when speaking about Audi.
“In order to supply the market with super partes shared data that the market itself needs to measure their down economic returns, continuous updating of methodologies and increasingly evolved information are provided” Sassoli declared. “Homogeneous and not biased data, which is also comparable and not produced by individual companies confirm Upa’s proximity and support to society”.
Upa president also recalled how the out of home is the stronghold of brand safety, growingly desired by companies that need quality and certainty as well.

Discovering the new frontier: Audioutdoor new Roadside Research

Michele Casali, coordinator of Audioutdoor Technical Committee presented the innovation that the research adopted to provide the market with up-to-date and quick data, also considering past experiences and the new environment we live in. Increasingly Data – Driven.
The approach of the new survey starts from data derived from SDK technology of mobile devices, repositioning of frames (GPS+OSM), transitioning to open street maps (OSM, vehicles, pedestrians and TPL), automation of obstacle management and innovation in slow travel area management. Concluding with post evaluation with telco data. Eleven is the number of the cities (the major ones) that already released the new approach, and they will be joined by new 55 ones in the upcoming months (probabilistic model).
Finally, new graphics and interfaces with simplified output information are available for the market, who will work on the platform in order to allow access information to plan.

Audioutdoor’s territory: the available tools

Michaela Zanardi, director of Audioutdoor, provided a complete overview of all the innovations that Audioutdoor has introduced in the last two years to give the market timely and flexible services. Director Zanardi mentioned in her speech the certifications that have now become daily and census-based on all Italian cities managed by Audioutdokor’s member companies and the dashboard that allows continuous and timely updates for media centers and companies.
In the speech it was highlighted that the research allows, though developing on different environments, to obtain a final result of an integrated campaign net of duplication, thanks precisely to its methodology, emphasizing the challenges that await us in 2024 such as the certification of digital and metro systems.
The out-of-home market is worth about 600 million euros, of which Nielsen through Audioutdoor notes only 270 million, a market growing in 2023 by more than 11 percent compared to a total market growing by 2.3 percent with a market share for Nielsen of 5 percent. Joining other companies would give such strength to the medium that would see the market share exceed 10 percent.

Let’s take a closer look to the outdoor

“Let’s take a closer look at the outdoor“ was, on the other hand, the provocative title that Federico Capeci, Italy & HiPo Markets at Kantar MD, wanted to give to his speech, reflecting on the role of the outdoor in building brand value.
The potential of the medium as media and its ability to generate positive ROI is sometimes underestimated by corporate marketers. For the global consumer, on the other hand, its value is in the top three, with steady growth. In Italy, compared to other countries in the world, the contribution it is recognized for is still weak, but the results show how the medium gives not only effective but also efficient responses. The Ooh is also able to improve the call to action the working in synergy with TV more than any other medium. Certainly its contribution to brand effectiveness is among the highest in the media landscape.
The digitalization of the industry is also giving new opportunities to the medium. It makes it in the eyes of the consumer brighter, more innovative, but it holds firm to its reliability, its usefulness, its being entertaining, and its quality.

DOOH and Programmatic

A panel discussion on programmatic is ow part of the DNA of conferences dealing with media planning. Alberto Vivaldelli, Upa’s digital administrative manager, fielded questions from participants on stage, representing out-of-home companies and key media center managers.
Filippo Gullì for IDP Decaux, Alfredo Ricca, Giuliano Limone for Tech GroupM Nexus, Fabio Nobili for rapport Italy, and Lidia Cazzola for OOH Publicis Media gave their views not only with reference to Italy but also with an international vision. Visibility and geographic coverage of the medium are integrated in programmatic with advanced targeting, omnichannel integration, real-time measurement and greater operational efficiency but also smarter and more engaging campaigns.
We need consistent and shared data, integrated management and collaboration with specialists as well, but also more consumer behavioral and attitudinal information.
Dooh programmatic now enters alongside other mediums.
The speakers then mentioned how programmatic allows a multitude of creative solutions to be unleashed. Time of day, weather conditions, context are just some of the possible factors to take into account when creating ad hoc messages on the same campaign. We need to develop even more awareness of the advantages the medium offers us.
Programmatic amplifies what are the unique aspects of the medium: visibility and impact, broad geographic coverage but introduces new opportunities for multichannel integration, real-time analytics and personalization with dynamic targeting.

The closing of the works

The closing of the conference returns to the theme of creativity with Davide Arduini, president of Una who has always been in love with the medium and its expressive power that knows how to capture the audience’s attention, creating engaging and exciting communication campaigns.
Every medium has its own ability to attract the consumer, ant the out of home needs strong and impactful creativity. A medium on the road for all to see.

Milan, January 24th 2024