Month: November 2020

Product News | October 11, 2021

Managing programmatic yield with Broadsign Reach

Managing network yield is a perennial issue, a nut that owners are anxious to crack in order to maximize inventory revenue. We know that transacting programmatic in an open bidding process, rather than just sticking with private deals, is one big step to take. What else?

Our Broadsign Reach product owner, Matthew Mercuri, laid out the process in a recent talk. Have a watch, or else read on for the details below.

Step 1: Ask yourself these questions

Before making any moves to upgrade your network or make significant changes to your programmatic strategy, it’s important to take stock of where things stand. Ask yourself a few questions to get a better picture of the current state of your business. Better still, write the answers down in a document you can reference in the future.

Why do buyers purchase my screens?

If you’re selling media on your network (and we’ll presume that you are), it’s because you’re meeting somebody’s needs. Who are they? Are you appealing primarily to buyers in a particular industry – healthcare, automotive, technology – or to buyers with broad target audiences? And what is it about your screens that makes them desirable to your buyers

Don’t just go with your gut – check your actual sales numbers. It’s possible you’ll be surprised by what you uncover.

What’s my fill rate?

Depending on your fill rate, you’ll want to approach developing your programmatic business a little differently. Is your fill rate a stone’s throw from 100%, or is it hanging out closer to 50%, or even lower? Take a note. We’ll have tailored advice for your specific position down below.

How do I price my non-programmatic deals?

Pricing can already be a complex thing in direct sales, and programmatic has the potential to make things a little more complicated just by its nature. That’s why it’s important to lay out exactly how you price your non-programmatic inventory and use that as kind of a guideline for what comes next.

What is your floor price? What are your CPM rates? What are some other factors that might influence your pricing? This is a critical question, so make sure you spend some time thinking about it.

Who is part of my audience?

One of the core concepts behind programmatic is that it allows the buyer to target audiences rather than just screens. For buyers, it’s a chance to reduce “wasted” spend on unintended audiences. For sellers, it presents an opportunity to charge a slight premium for a more targeted buy. Everybody wins.

Who sees your screens? Does it vary substantially by location, time of day, or other factors? Take the time to determine who your network reaches.

Understanding your audience is a key element of identifying the strengths of your network

Step 2: Go for the “easy yield money”

Quick wins are a great way to build some momentum and start making the best use of your inventory sooner. To help you achieve a few of these, we’ve identified some of the key areas that publishers can quickly improve to bring in more revenue.

Speed up your content approval process

Through the first three quarters of 2020, more than 83 million loss notifications were fired in Broadsign Reach. These notifications are indicators to the DSP of why it is losing a bid, and had just half of them actually been successful bids, each publisher could have made an additional $12,000. Not a huge amount, but every little bit helps.

Close to 40% of all these loss notifications came because the creative was not approved, and with an average time to approval of about 5 hours and 30 minutes, that’s no surprise. Buyers may just shift their bids to a different screen where the creative is approved, just to get their ad out there. These typically won’t be your screens.

The way to staunch this bleeding is to lower your approval times. This can can done by setting up auto-approval for trusted DSPs, seats, or advertisers, allowing certain types of media to be auto-approved, or even auto-approving any creative that your team doesn’t review within a certain time frame.

These can be pretty significant actions to take, but they can also make a big difference in driving down content approval time. Only adopt any measures you are comfortable with having on your network.

Finding ways to peed up your content approval can help you snag more deals

Use your screen’s fill rate to inform programmatic strategy

Your fill rate is a great, simple tool to gauge current supply and demand for your network, so be sure to use it to guide your next steps in programmatic.

If a screen’s fill rate is over 80%, it’s a good sign that you’d benefit from increasing programmatic supply to take advantage of demand. Alternatively, you might think about raising floor prices to capitalize on that demand instead.

On the flip side, if a screen’s fill rate is consistently below 50%, it’s probably time to consider reducing programmatic supply, or else dropping floor prices. Just be sure to keep your programmatic floor price at or above the same level as your direct floor pricing, or else you risk significantly devaluing your inventory.

Step 3: Take a look at bid range and adjust if needed

By and large, DSPs want to pay the lowest price possible, and they’ll use strategies like bid shading to arrive at a cheap, accurate price for a given bid. Our own Campsite DSP is an example of one DSP that employs this strategy.

If the bid ranges are small, you have a good opportunity to move your deal floors higher. The algorithms should follow your pricing up quite easily.

Alternatively, if your bid ranges and bid density are wide, you’ll need to be a bit more careful about moving floors. Moving the floor upwards could price some of the buyers on the lower end out of the inventory, ultimately reducing density and CPM both.

Review your bid ranges and ensure they’re set to maximize the value of your inventory

Step 4: Make use of the waterfall

Smart automation is key to success in programmatic, and the waterfall is a great way to use automation to your advantage. The waterfall allows you to assign different levels of priority to different kinds of deals, and then give preferential access to programmatic inventory based on the types of deals “competing” for a slot. For example, you might have a lucrative private marketplace deal targeting specific screens set to your top priority level, followed by slightly less lucrative private deal targeting all screens, and then maybe a relatively low-CPM open auction deal targeting remnant screens at the bottom of your waterfall.

Right now, about 70% of all publishers in Broadsign Reach only use one type of deal for their programmatic transactions. Nobody in Reach is using the waterfall just yet.

It’s a big missed opportunity. In addition to establishing general rules for what should constitute P1, P2, etc. deals in Broadsign Reach, you can also create parameters to promote different kinds of deals over the others if it is to your advantage to do so. For instance, a P1 PMP deal might be worth a guaranteed $80,000, but if you’re presented with a P2 private programmatic offer valued over $100,000, that P2 deal can automatically be promoted to top priority.

Take the time to communicate with buyers to make sure they understand what is possible. Ideally, you should tailor your offerings to your buyers’ preferences and needs, and find creative ways to price your media to everyone’s mutual benefit. It will maximize the value of your inventory and keep your buyers coming back for more.

Work with buyers to find creative pricing arrangements that work for everyone

Step 5: Act Like a DSP

DSPs are useful for picking out good screens and then triggering a transaction whenever the conditions a buyer is looking for are met. If a DSP is unable to do this job for a given transaction and you step up, that’s added value that should be accounted for when pricing the deal.

Broadsign Control’s preemptible slots, which allow ad spots to appear within a loop under specified conditions, are a good example of a tool that can help you deliver on the kind of targeting a DSP would offer. Additionally, you could sell by data signals like the presence of analytics technology, information about visibility based on where screens are compared to the direction of the sun at a given time, or just the specific venues a buyer might want to reach.

These kinds of offerings are the kinds of things that buyers crave. If you opt to offer them up, you can charge a premium on your inventory for doing so.

Give buyers additional tools for reaching their audience and you can charge a premium

Step 6: Get DSPs to support features that enhance your business

There are a bunch of features within Broadsign Reach that can make life easier and more lucrative for your business. Trouble is, not all DSPs have adopted them on their side. By taking some time to convince them to onboard some of our APIs, you can unlock hidden value in your programmatic business.

Here’s a look at some of the benefits that can be realized:

  • Publisher API: DSPs that use this API include 40% more publishers in their campaigns, dispersing money more evenly
  • Screens API: Leads to a 12% higher CPM floor vs DSPs who don’t use the API
  • Audience API: Offers a 20-30% greater likelihood of the DSP hitting the original spend goal
  • Deals API: Creates a 35-40% higher change of a campaign activating on time

Communicating the value of these integrations is an ongoing process for us at Broadsign, and a little help never hurts. If you’re interested in realizing these types of benefits through your DSP, talk to them and help convince them to bring all of our features to life. There’s a lot to be gained in doing so.

Looking to get a great start transacting DOOH programmatically?

Request a free demo to see how Broadsign Reach can help!

Product News | October 11, 2021

How Québecor’s DOOH campaigns deliver 99.9% on target with the Broadsign Platform

Advertising is woven into nearly every aspect of our daily lives. Whether you’re scrolling on your phone at home or walking down the street, ads are everywhere. With audiences exposed to such a high volume of messaging, breaking through the noise has never been more critical. 

At the core of every successful campaign are two key elements: personalized content that speaks directly to the audience, and a channel that effectively reaches them where they are. Tailored messaging plays a crucial role in building meaningful connections between brands and consumers. According to McKinsey’s Next in Personalization 2021 report, 71% of consumers now expect personalization, and 76% are more likely to consider purchasing from brands that deliver it. 

When it comes to reaching consumers where they are, few channels do it better than out-of-home (OOH) advertising. By engaging with audiences in the real world, like during a commute, while shopping, or at a live event, the medium delivers messages where consumers can take action. When looking at the effectiveness of personalized content with OOH, Leger and COMMB’s joint research study shows that 51% of its respondents state they enjoy seeing OOH advertisements that are personalized to them. 

One media owner that makes it easy for advertisers to deliver personalized content directly to their desired audiences is Québecor. With a combined inventory of over 17,000 static and digital out-of-home (DOOH) assets across all major Canadian markets, Québecor has firmly established itself as a leading force in Canada’s OOH advertising landscape. With its unmatched national reach yet strong local presence, advanced targeting capabilities, and premium inventory, Québecor makes it easy for advertisers to reach a wide variety of audiences across a broad set of points of interest. 

Why advertisers love Québecor’s network

Flexible outdoor formats that provide broad reach and hyper-local impact

Québecor OOH offers advertisers a wide range of high-impact DOOH screens across both indoor and outdoor environments. Its outdoor inventory includes large-format static billboards, static and digital bus shelters, digital gas pump screens, mobile static faces on buses, mobile digital screens on taxis, and window displays in pharmacies and convenience stores.

In fact, the Canadian media owner operates the most extensive street furniture network in Quebec, where its headquarters are located. This includes 150 digital bus shelter screens across key cities like Montreal, Sherbrooke, Laval, the South Shore and Lévis, providing targeted and strategic community presence at scale.

One unique offering by Québecor is its Express Video Station network, which is available across Quebec and Ontario. This network features digital screens with audio at gas pumps, allowing advertisers to run 15- to 30-second video ads in a high dwell-time environment, an average of 4 minutes with minimal distractions. The Express Video Station creates a rare opportunity for mass visibility while fostering high-engagement, one-to-one interactions with audiences in a brand-safe, clutter-free environment.

Another distinct offering is Québecor’s fleet of 50 Mobile digital screen – taxi top. Travelling 77 000 km per week and generating over 1M impressions weekly, the double-sided LCD screens provide advertisers with an extended reach into areas with limited billboard availability. Available programmatically, this mobile inventory gives advertisers the flexibility to quickly launch contextual campaigns, bringing dynamic messaging to high-traffic zones.

Influencing decisions indoors with high-impact screens in high-traffic areas

Québecor also maintains a strong footprint in strategic indoor environments through its Shopping Destination, Fitness Destination, and Express Destination networks. These networks are designed to reach consumers at pivotal moments in their day when they’re most receptive to advertising and most likely to make purchasing decisions. Its indoor screens can be found in shopping malls, gyms, convenience stores, and drugstores. 

Large-format indoor inventory includes the Toronto Pearson Airport, featuring eight 65” screens that play in synchronization thanks to Broadsign technology, available exclusively through a programmatic private marketplace deal. Québecor also has a premium network of large-format digital screens at Montreal’s Palais des Congrès, ideal for reaching attendees during major events and conferences.

Furthermore, Québecor’s indoor screens have the same ratio as its outdoor screens, making it easy to create a seamless experience across both indoor and outdoor environments that delivers a cohesive and consistent message. Québecor is also the only pan-Canadian indoor advertising network that offers consumer content, national news, weather, and content tailored to its different environments. 

Some iconic campaigns that ran on Québecor’s network

Beyond delivering results for advertisers, Québecor has also leveraged its network to showcase how OOH can drive meaningful social impact. For Earth Day on April 22, 2025, they launched an eco-conscious campaign promoting sustainable transportation. With messages like “Every public transit trip is a step towards a common future” and “The electric taxi, driving towards a common future,” the campaign appeared across digital bus shelters and mobile digital screens, raising environmental awareness while highlighting the agility of Québecor’s formats to support timely, contextually relevant messaging.

Another notable campaign was Molson’s “Sponsor the Parents”, which was a heartfelt tribute in support of Team Canada at the Olympic Games and the parents cheering on the athletes behind the scenes. Running across Québecor’s indoor networks located near the athletes’ hometowns, the campaign masterfully combined sentiment, relevance, and geographic targeting. It demonstrated not only the power of Québecor’s network reach but also how OOH can create authentic, personal connections on a national stage.

Why Québecor chose the Broadsign Platform

Increased network reliability and stability

Québecor chose to run its network with the Broadsign Platform due to the company’s longstanding experience and recognition as one of the leading out-of-home software providers in the industry. Since adopting the Broadsign Platform in June 2020, they’ve noticed greater network stability thanks to the platform’s network monitoring capabilities, which have allowed them to quickly identify and resolve system issues, reducing potential downtimes. 

Some of Québecor’s favourite features include Broadsign’s campaign delivery, inventory management and reporting capabilities, which, when used together, offer real-time insights on how to maximize network performance. Additionally, Broadsign’s multi-frame feature has been especially useful for its digital bus shelters, enabling dynamic content delivery, like live transit schedules to play alongside ads.  

Flexible selling tools that deliver campaigns 99.9% on target

However, the standout advantage to being on the Broadsign Platform has been its flexible selling capabilities, which they leverage for most of its large markets, like Montreal and its neighbouring areas, and for networks with 10 screens or more. Since adopting Broadsign’s flexible selling tools, Québecor has been able to open up its network to more advertisers thanks to goal-based campaigns.

For clients with smaller budgets or occasional DOOH buys, Québecor offers Play Goal campaigns as a more accessible buying option. With this campaign type, advertisers can book a DOOH campaign with a set number of ad plays based on their budget, and the Broadsign Platform will optimally distribute the plays across the selected screens throughout the campaign’s duration. 

For Québecor, flexible selling gives them access to Broadsign’s optimization engine. Composed of two features, the optimization engine reallocates campaigns to maximize inventory usage and rebalances ad delivery to guarantee results to advertisers. While the flexible buying approach required an initial adjustment for both Québecor and its clients, the results quickly proved the value of flexible campaigns with ad delivery rates of 99.9%. 

“Broadsign’s optimization engine has allowed us to deliver flexible campaigns 99.9% on target, and to say yes to revenue opportunities that we previously wouldn’t have been able to.”

Évannick Godbout Villeneuve, Manager, Business Solutions and Technological Development, Out-of-Home at Québecor.

What’s next for Québecor

Québecor’s dynamic team of seasoned professionals are looking to drive growth by expanding the company’s footprint across the Canadian market. They’ll be focused on developing and optimizing their existing networks while forging new partnerships that will help them deliver an even more impactful experience for advertisers. 

Product News | October 11, 2021

Optimize your DOOH network with dynamic campaign management

When discussing growth strategies for an out-of-home (OOH) network, the focus often remains on how to sell more to more buyers. While it is an essential factor for growth, a more urgent question is whether your operational processes are robust and efficient enough to support your desired growth seamlessly.

Despite significant technological advancements in campaign management, particularly for digital out-of-home (DOOH), many media owners still optimize their network and inventory usage manually. Although adopting new technology may seem like a substantial investment of time and cost, maintaining the status quo not only hinders but also limits your network’s growth potential.

Manually shuffling campaigns to optimize inventory usage and accommodate incoming campaign requests from advertisers is not only time-consuming and error-prone but also unsustainable for long-term growth. Why opt for a manual process when there are tools purpose-built to provide the best way to allocate inventory and maximize fill rates? 

Meet Broadsign’s optimization engine

For media owners looking for a smarter, more automated approach to optimizing their network, Broadsign’s optimization engine is the tool for you. Available for directly sold DOOH campaigns leveraging flexible campaign types, it’s designed to ensure that campaigns deliver on target, while optimizing your inventory usage to maximize revenue. Our optimization engine runs continuously in the background, even overnight, to ensure your network is always optimally filled. 

Broadsign’s optimization engine works its magic through two key features: campaign rebalancing and reallocation. Rebalancing adjusts the pacing of a campaign, speeding it up or slowing it down, to keep under- or over-performing campaigns on track.

The reallocation feature is used at the time of booking. If an advertiser’s incoming request requires a screen that is already booked by another campaign, the system will automatically reorganize how screens are allocated to each campaign, while ensuring that newly allocated screens still fit campaign requirements. 

How we helped media owners deliver more campaigns, more efficiently

You might be wondering how Broadsign’s optimization engine performs in the real world. Well, here’s some data just from 2024 demonstrating how we helped media owners make the most out of their inventory. 26% of all directly sold flexible DOOH campaigns booked through the Broadsign Platform leveraged our rebalancing feature. Users who leveraged our rebalancing feature had three times more campaigns on target and 37% fewer underperforming campaigns. 

While the data for reallocation varied due to each media owner’s network being different, most could accommodate, on average 10% to 20% more campaigns. However, a few select were able to achieve up to 40% more campaigns. If that wasn’t enough to convince you, let’s take a look at some customer success stories.

75Media was able to increase its fill rates by 15%

In 2024, 80% of DOOH campaigns that ran on 75Media’s network leveraged flexible campaigns. The favoured campaign type was the Campaign Average Share of Voice (SoV), which allows advertisers to define the average percentage of screen time their ad should get over the campaign’s duration.

So what makes it flexible? The SoV on each screen can shift from day to day to make room for other campaigns, as long as the target average SoV across all screens is consistently met over the course of the campaign. Broadsign’s optimization engine makes this possible by leveraging our rebalancing feature to modify the pace at which a campaign is delivered to guarantee results. 

Orb achieved 99% ad delivery rates

Irish media owner Orb leveraged Play Goal campaigns to introduce flexible selling to its more traditional clients. This allows the client to define how many times they want the ad to play within a given time frame, and Broadsign’s optimization engine ensures that the goal is not only met but optimally distributed across all selected screens throughout the campaign’s duration.

Through Broadsign’s PoP reports, Orb has shown ad delivery rates of up to 99% on flexible campaigns and 95% on slot-based campaigns. Access to this data has not only allowed Orb to reassure its traditional buyers of the effectiveness of flexible campaigns but also helped them attract new customers.

As media owners, like 75Media and Orb have demonstrated, embracing automation through Broadsign’s optimization engine isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a strategic advantage. By automating certain operational processes, like campaign pacing and screen allocation, media owners can unlock new inventory potential, deliver more campaigns with greater precision, and ultimately boost revenue without increasing workload. If you’re serious about scaling your network while maintaining top-tier performance, it’s time to leave manual processes behind and let Broadsign’s optimization engine work for you.

Ready to make the most of your network? Contact us today.

Product News | October 11, 2021

RZK and Broadsign: Powering data-driven DOOH across Brazil

RZK Digital was founded on the belief that out-of-home advertising (OOH) is evolving and that digital is the way forward. Since launching in October 2021, the company has operated a fully digital OOH network across Brazil’s major cities.

The company has its roots in deploying digital out-of-home (DOOH) screens across major bus terminals in São Paulo. Transit media is often among the most valuable assets in digital out-of-home—especially in top DMAs—and São Paulo’s terminals presented a unique opportunity. While historically underutilized for advertising, these high-traffic spaces serve as vital hubs for Brazil’s working population. Recognizing their potential, RZK stepped in to help reimagine the environment and introduce a more impactful media experience.

That opportunity grew with a large-scale revitalization initiative that transformed the terminals into modern, functional spaces. Today, they more closely resemble shopping centers, complete with anchor brands, essential services, and upgraded facilities. RZK was well-positioned to lead this shift, bringing a fresh vision and scalable model to Brazil’s evolving DOOH market.

We recently connected with RZK to explore how the company is leveraging advanced audience measurement to power more precise and impactful campaigns. Through real-time data integration, RZK can activate targeted audience segments and deliver measurable results across its expanding DOOH network.

Scaling across Brazil’s busiest public spaces

In a city with few large-format billboards, RZK saw an opportunity to rethink place-based advertising, launching a network of standardized, 88-inch DV LED portrait-mode screens strategically installed throughout São Paulo’s terminals. Starting with just 60 units, RZK quickly scaled to over 800 screens and continues to expand into new cities across Brazil. This growth is driven by the company’s innovative approach to screen design, data integration, and audience measurement, making transit-based digital advertising more accessible, impactful, and measurable for brands and commuters alike.

Building on that momentum, RZK recently introduced a new screen format: iconic LED cubes. These striking displays break from traditional layouts and command attention in high-traffic areas. Five are currently live, including in Brasília, Brazil’s capital, where they appear in the city’s main transit hub and a few blocks away from Congress and other key government buildings.

This expansion reflects the scale and potential of Brazil’s transit infrastructure. Some of São Paulo’s busiest terminals see 80,000 to 90,000 people daily—over 2 million per month—with some reaching up to 4 million. In Brasília, terminals draw 300,000 to 500,000 people per day, peaking at 700,000, highlighting the visibility these high-traffic hubs offer. With long dwell times and short ad loops, they generate significant impression volumes. As part of its growth strategy, RZK continues to install new screens in key locations, further extending its reach.

A focus on data

From the start, RZK Digital has prioritized data and measurement across its network. Operating within major terminals allows the company to access official ticketing data from terminal operators, offering valuable statistical insights into traffic volumes and helping contextualize broader audience movement.

Complementing this, Wi-Fi sensors track unique devices and dwell time, detecting repeat visits and how long individuals remain in the area. A free internet offering for passengers allows them to answer quick surveys before connection, which enables the company to collect daily, fully anonymous information about users´ social demographics and interests and run A/B tests and brand lift studies in the exact location where the displays are.

A core part of the company’s strategy has been making its media offering comparable to other advertising channels, which is essential for advancing omnichannel media. Instead of simply selling screen time, RZK offers impressions, GRPs (Gross Rating Points), complete views, and insertions, allowing buyers to plan and measure campaigns using familiar performance metrics.

By combining footfall and dwell time data, the company generates real-time audience metrics across its network. All of its screens—including the iconic cube displays—are fully digital and programmatically enabled, giving advertisers flexible, measurable, and high-impact campaign options.

“As the industry shifts toward impression-based programmatic buying, data accuracy is no longer optional—it’s essential. Advertisers once paid for screen time regardless of viewership. Today, with pricing tied directly to impressions, accuracy is everything. The more reliable the audience data, the more confidence advertisers have in what they’re buying,” says Yuri Berezovoy, Head of Ad-Tech and Programmatic DOOH at RZK Digital.

Working with Broadsign

For RZK, partnering with Broadsign has unlocked a significant competitive edge, especially in enabling programmatic transactions and operational efficiency. 

Built for flexibility, the Broadsign Platform supports everything from quick partner integrations to advanced content control. Features like conditional playback, pacing controls, dynamic content optimization, and start/stop flexibility give RZK the agility to respond to both campaign needs and audience behaviour in real-time. With Broadsign, RZK can launch network-wide campaigns in minutes—a contrast to the delays and manual coordination required by more fragmented systems. “Whether it’s integrating with a new SSP or executing a campaign across hundreds of screens, Broadsign’s infrastructure makes the process seamless,” says Yuri.

This operational efficiency also enhances the network’s commercial offering. Selling impressions instead of just screen time allows RZK to align with how buyers want to trade, unlocking new revenue and enabling the team to confidently say “yes” to creative campaign ideas that traditional models may have rejected. 

As RZK continues to grow, its strategy remains focused on modernizing high-traffic transit environments and delivering measurable, data-driven results for brands, redefining the role of digital out-of-home across Brazil. By combining innovation, scale, and accountability, RZK is not only transforming how advertisers reach audiences on the move but also shaping the future of DOOH in one of the world’s most dynamic markets.

Want to grow your out-of-home network? Get in touch to see how we can help make that happen!