Product News | October 11, 2021

How LUMO digital is building a DOOH business that stands out

Shows an example of a digital billboard operated by LUMO Digital

A lot of people see billboards in their day-to-day life, but just seeing a billboard isn’t anything special. The magic happens when billboards become an experience.

That’s what New Zealand’s LUMO Digital is after. And with large format billboards in high-impact locations, innovative approaches to marketing, and an ambitious plan to drive a big shift in the way we think about outdoor advertising, the company is doing all the right things to fulfill its mission.

Born at happy hour

LUMO found its beginnings in 2016, in a time when many more brands and business owners were beginning to understand the exciting possibilities presented by a good DOOH network.

It was in the midst of that excitement that LUMO’s founders gathered together and, over drinks, conceived of the idea for their business. The vision: A new OOH business focused entirely on large-format digital billboards, one that would use smart technology to set a new standard for transparency and accountability in the industry.

Just months later, the business opened its doors, and LUMO was on its way, concentrating its efforts, at first, into building a presence in the critical Auckland market. It set out with a focus not on competing with top players in the region, but rather in delivering interesting new features that would set the brand apart. Today, thanks to those unique offerings, it has itself become one of the area’s dominant media brands.

Shows a digital billboard operated by LUMO Digital, standing high above a road in New Zealand — LUMO’s unique approach to DOOH has helped it become a significant media player in New Zealand

A fresh approach to DOOH

In its attempt to rethink the way a DOOH business should operate, LUMO has come up with a number of unique flourishes that enhance the presentation and value of its inventory. All displays, for instance, are captured in drone footage, rather than the standard of static photography. It’s more dynamic, and it’s also more informative to potential buyers looking to assess a screen and location.

The displays are live-streamed for buyers, so that they can check in whenever they like and ensure that campaign requirements are being met. They are also connected to real-time audience analytics services to help ensure buyers get an accurate picture of who they are reaching and how campaigns are progressing against goals.

And all of it comes alongside a solid foundation of top-quality hardware and premium locations that help customer content really shine. The result is that LUMO’s network feels like the promise of DOOH fulfilled: a premium media offering that can really wow an audience.

Next up: More cool campaigns, more displays, and programmatic

It’s no surprise that LUMO’s network has attracted great content from high-profile customers. In the midst of the global COVID pandemic, it became home to dynamic campaigns that delivered a bit of lightness, fun, and support to audiences across New Zealand. One notable example pulled social media data to tie into a Burger King competition where the winner would receive free food and other prizes for a year. The content updated live to represent the current results, arranging contestants by results from highest to lowest.

Shows a dynamic campaign for Burger King that displayed across New Zealand. — This dynamic Burger King campaign is a great example of the kind of work LUMO Digital attracts

Alongside Pitchblack Partners, a creative agency, the brand also developed its own campaign, “Up and Running.” The goal was to provide as many small and medium-sized businesses as possible with assistance creating a DOOH campaign and then delivering the campaign across LUMO’s network. The result: Hundreds of businesses were helped, more than 1,500 ads were displayed, and LUMO was able to provide some valuable assistance to a community in need.

An example of LUMO Digital's "Up and Running" campaign helping SMBs — LUMO’s “Up and Running” campaign was a great help to small and medium-sized businesses

Looking ahead, LUMO hopes to continue to deliver this kind of valuable and compelling content across an even larger network. Where today LUMO has a network of 24 large-format displays, it hopes to increase that count to as many as 40 by the end of 2021.

New investments in real-time audience analytics, as well as the introduction of programmatic transactions, are also in the cards for the near term. The goal, as ever, is to help more buyers deliver relevant advertising to their desired audience, and to ensure that the process remains as transparent and effective as possible.

LUMO and Broadsign

It takes time to come up with and execute on big ideas, but the day to day work involved in running a high-flying DOOH operation can make finding that time a challenge.

It’s for that reason that LUMO went looking for a platform that could help streamline its network and content management, as well as the detailed reporting that is so central to the business’ identity. It found its solution in a combination of the Ayuda platform and the Broadsign Reach programmatic SSP.

Shows a programmatic ad displayed by LUMO Digital via Broadsign Reach — LUMO Digital’s network benefits from greater efficiency through the Ayuda Platform and the Broadsign Reach SSP

With Ayuda, LUMO has an integrated platform for managing all its OOH assets, as well as a streamlined solution for scheduling media across its network. This represents a substantial benefit in its own right, but it’s through the integration with Broadsign Reach that the business will gain the biggest advantage.

Transacting programmatically via Reach will allow LUMO to automate delivery of content to the best screens, at the best times, to fulfill the buyer’s needs. Near-live reporting through Reach, meanwhile, will help LUMO ensure that it is delivering on its obligations, as well as continually improve on its pricing and deal priorities to the mutual benefit of LUMO and its customers.

For LUMO, it’s an exciting prospect to be able to offer access to its premium inventory to customers in near-real time. It allows for on-demand purchasability whenever a campaign can deliver the best results, as well as the option for buyers to optimize their campaigns on the fly. These are the kinds of capabilities that are sure to help LUMO fulfill its goal of making its network as high-impact and high-value as possible.

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Product News | October 11, 2021

First-party data in digital OOH: What it is and how to leverage it

Digital out-of-home is growing fast, with global spend expected to surpass $20 billion by the end of the year, according to the World Out of Home Organization. As the medium scales, it’s also evolving from broad-reach awareness to more data-driven, audience-first strategies. This shift is making first-party data more important than ever, especially as third-party cookies dwindle and privacy regulations tighten.

Put simply, today’s advertisers are looking for more than just reach—they want precision, personalization, and contextual relevance, even in a traditionally one-to-many channel like OOH. First-party data delivers on that need, offering a privacy-safe and cost-effective way to engage real customers based on actual behaviour and intent. And with modern DOOH platforms making it easier than ever to activate data, brands can now drive better targeting, stronger performance, and a more connected omnichannel experience.

To understand how to make first-party data work in digital out-of-home and outdoor advertising, it’s important to start with the basics, unpack the common barriers, and explore the tools and tactics that make activation possible today.

What is first-party data, and why is it so valuable?

First-party data is information a brand collects directly through its channels, based on real customer interactions or touchpoints. Examples can include actions like pages viewed, time spent on a website, items added to cart, app usage patterns, purchase history, loyalty programs, and more. Because it’s based on actual behaviour within your own ecosystem, and not inferred or purchased, first-party data gives brands a reliable, privacy-safe foundation for targeted, high-impact campaigns.

Tailoring messaging to real audiences and high-value prospects leads to more relevant and effective campaigns. This kind of personalization drives stronger performance, from increased engagement to higher conversion rates. It’s also more cost-efficient, since the data is already owned by the brand and doesn’t require additional spend to access—just the opportunity to activate it more strategically.

Barriers to smarter DOOH campaigns

Despite the growing potential of first-party data, many advertisers still face structural and technical challenges when it comes to putting it into action, especially in outdoor advertising and DOOH environments. Here are a few of the most common barriers:

Data silos between CRM and media teams: In many organizations, the teams responsible for customer data, like CRM, loyalty, or analytics, operate separately from the teams planning and executing media. Without shared systems or workflows, valuable first-party data often stays locked away in internal platforms, disconnected from the tools used to build and target DOOH campaigns.
Technical limitations have made first-party data harder to activate: Bringing first-party data into DOOH hasn’t always been straightforward. Many demand-side platforms (DSPs) lacked the flexibility to support custom data uploads, limiting brands to pre-packaged third-party segments. When activation was possible, it often required custom integrations, manual workarounds, or higher campaign spend—barriers that slowed adoption and limited the ability to fully tap into valuable audience insights.
Perceptions around cost and complexity still linger: Brands may assume data onboarding is expensive, time-consuming, or reserved for large-scale campaigns. But many platforms now offer flexible, self-serve tools or managed support to help teams onboard everything from simple geo lists to advanced CRM segments.

Key considerations and best practices for activating first-party data in DOOH

With the right foundation, audience data can be a powerful driver of performance in DOOH. From preparing your data to choosing the right platforms, here are key considerations and best practices to help you activate it effectively.

Start with a DSP built for data-driven campaigns

Activating your own audience data in DOOH campaigns used to be a heavy lift, requiring custom integrations, technical support, or large-scale media budgets. Today’s DSPs, however, are built to be more flexible and data-friendly. Modern DSP platforms like OutMoove, for example, make it easier to activate customer data with minimal friction, giving advertisers full control over how data is used, where it comes from, and how it impacts campaigns.

Advertisers can use data they already have, like postal codes tied to customer addresses, loyalty program lists, or CRM segments based on purchase history. Many also incorporate behavioural signals like recent website activity to build high-intent audience segments—all without needing to reinvent their targeting strategy.

The benefits? Smarter targeting, stronger performance, and more efficient spending. By using audience insights to go beyond broad awareness, advertisers can connect with people who are more likely to take action. This reduces waste, helping teams focus their budget on audiences that have already shown interest or intent.

Expand reach with multi-layered targeting

Platforms like OutMoove support layered targeting, allowing you to start with your own audience, like loyalty members or recent store visitors, and expand reach by adding third-party segments based on foot traffic patterns, purchase intent, or lifestyle traits. For example, a brand could target its existing in-store shoppers and layer on third-party data to find others who frequently visit similar retail environments. This kind of multi-layered approach unlocks more precise, personalized campaigns without relying solely on broad demographic filters.

Deliver ads at the right time with real-world triggers

Moment targeting allows brands to activate ads based on real-world conditions like weather changes, traffic flow, sports scores, or time of day. These dynamic triggers help ensure your message appears when it’s most relevant, making your media spend more efficient and impactful.

Beyond standard conditions, many platforms now support custom triggers powered by business-specific data. Whether tied to a regional promotion, local event, or time-sensitive inventory, these inputs can be used to control when and where ads appear. This flexibility allows campaigns to align with meaningful moments that drive both relevance and results.

Align with data standards and industry guidelines

While fragmentation across buying methods and data standards has historically made it harder to apply audience data in DOOH as seamlessly as in digital, the industry is making important strides toward alignment, especially around measurement, data integrity, and audience definitions.

Initiatives like the IAB’s Digital Out-of-Home Measurement Guide are helping set a foundation for scalable, data-led campaigns. Introducing standardized metrics gives advertisers more confidence in campaign performance and supports better data collection, impression validation, and privacy compliance under frameworks like GDPR and CCPA. This growing alignment strengthens trust, improves transparency, and simplifies automated buying, making it easier for brands to activate audience data and run more effective, measurable DOOH campaigns.

As digital out-of-home advances, audience data is becoming a key driver of smarter, more impactful campaigns. With the right strategy and tools in place, advertisers can move beyond broad awareness to reach the right people at the right time.

Month: September 2020