Month: October 2024

Product News | October 11, 2021

Attribution in DOOH advertising: Your questions answered

Attribution is a powerful tool for marketers, but when it comes to digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising, it’s often misunderstood and underestimated. While some advertisers believe DOOH is difficult to measure, advancements in attribution have made it easier than ever to track campaign impact.

To demystify the process and offer practical insights, we sat down with Ryan Pogy, Director of Data Partnerships at Broadsign, to answer some of the most common questions about measuring DOOH effectiveness.

What are the main challenges in DOOH attribution, and how can advertisers overcome them?

One of the unique strengths of DOOH is the variety of ways in which a message can reach an audience, which calls for a more nuanced approach to measurement. 

One of the main challenges we face is the fragmentation of DOOH media owners. Each network has its own standards and measurement methods, which makes it difficult to have a unified view of campaign performance across different environments. Another challenge is privacy compliance, particularly in regions governed by laws like GDPR. Advertisers need to ensure they’re using data responsibly and adhering to regulations.

To overcome these challenges, leveraging unified global measurement platforms is key. This is where working with the right data partners becomes crucial—partners who specialize in pulling data together from disparate sources, all while ensuring compliance with privacy laws.

What strategies are most effective for measuring DOOH performance?

There are several strategies that advertisers can employ to measure the effectiveness of their DOOH campaigns, depending on their goals. But I’ll touch on the three most popular:

  1. Brand Lift Studies: This study measures the impact of your campaign on brand metrics like brand image, preference and consideration. 
  2. Foot Traffic Analysis: Mobile location data can be used to track the number of people who visit a store after seeing a DOOH ad. These studies are particularly useful for retail campaigns aiming to drive in-store customers.
  3. Web & App Lift Studies: These studies track online actions like website visits, sign-ups, or app downloads that happen after someone is exposed to a DOOH ad.

Some advertisers prefer to combine these methods to get a more comprehensive view of their campaign performance and better optimize their strategies for future campaigns. For example,  we ran a campaign with Holt Renfrew, which combined a brand lift study and a foot traffic study. The results covered everything from top-funnel metrics like a 600% uplift in brand preference to successfully driving 400k store visits.

How can insights from Brand Lift Studies be used to optimize future campaigns?

Brand Lift Studies provide invaluable insights into how your campaign impacts brand metrics like awareness, consideration, and preference. They allow advertisers to quantify the impact of their campaigns and understand what messaging resonates with their target audience.

One of the main benefits is the ability to benchmark your performance. You can compare your results against averages in your industry and use that data to adjust your strategy for future campaigns. For example, if a particular message drove higher brand consideration, you might want to double down on that type of creative for the next campaign. Advertisers with global campaigns may also run a brand lift study in each of the markets where the campaign ran to glean market-specific insights and build their own internal benchmarks.

“Attribution is an evolving field, and staying informed about new tools and methodologies is crucial for staying competitive in today’s market. The more we innovate in DOOH measurement, the better we can justify media spend and optimize campaign performance.”

Ryan Pogy, Director of Data Partnerships at Broadsign

When measuring DOOH as part of an omnichannel campaign, how can advertisers bridge the gap between offline and online media?

Even though out-of-home (OOH) advertising takes place in the physical world, the gap between offline and online channels can be bridged by leveraging location-based play log data, which tracks when and where ads are displayed to create a detailed log of ad exposure. This data can be further enriched by integrating mobile exposure data, allowing for tracking of mobile devices that come into contact with DOOH ads. Such integration links an ad’s offline display with the digital behaviors of consumers, providing insights into how DOOH influences actions like website visits, app downloads, and even in-store visits.

By combining these offline and online data sources, advertisers can achieve a level of measurement granularity comparable to digital media, allowing them to measure and validate the impact of DOOH with the same confidence they expect from channels like social media or display ads. This approach makes DOOH attribution and optimization more actionable and data-driven.

How can device ID passbacks enhance attribution for DOOH campaigns?

Device ID passback is a powerful tool for enhancing attribution in DOOH. It allows advertisers to link ad exposure to specific customer actions, providing deeper insights into how audiences interact with ads. 

Here’s how it works: device IDs are captured when mobile devices come within a specific range of DOOH ads. These IDs are then passed back to your other digital platforms, allowing for retargeting across online channels like social media or apps.

This method offers several benefits. It provides deeper insights into audience behaviour, enabling more precise retargeting and improving overall campaign performance. Passbacks also allow for more accurate cross-channel attribution, helping advertisers understand how DOOH exposure drives online and offline conversions.

What are common pitfalls to avoid when implementing DOOH attribution strategies?

A common pitfall in DOOH attribution is relying on poor-quality data. Not all data sources are created equal, so it’s essential to work with trusted partners who can deliver accurate, reliable data. While data capabilities in DOOH have come a long way, the effectiveness of attribution depends on the quality of the data used.

Another key factor is achieving a consistent, comprehensive view of campaign timing and venue logistics. Effective DOOH attribution requires tools that can adapt to the unique characteristics of different venue types, from large-format displays like billboards to smaller screens in office buildings or residential spaces. The volume and density of signals vary across locations, so it’s important to select tools that can adjust for these variations to ensure accurate, actionable insights.

Finally, many advertisers make the mistake of not acting on the insights gained from attribution studies. Data is only useful if it leads to action. I’ve seen campaigns that initially struggled because the advertiser didn’t adjust based on early attribution data. Once they adapted their strategy, their results improved significantly.

DOOH attribution has advanced significantly, offering advertisers the tools to confidently track and optimize campaign performance across the customer journey. Whether you’re building brand awareness with brand lift studies, driving foot traffic, or boosting conversions with device ID passbacks, aligning your attribution methods with your specific goals is key. As Ryan emphasized, understanding the impact of your DOOH efforts is crucial for making data-driven decisions and refining your strategy in real-time. With the right measurement solutions, advertisers can unlock deeper insights and achieve better results with their DOOH campaigns.

For a deeper dive into DOOH attribution, check out our guide here!

Product News | October 11, 2021

Broadsign and Scope3 Partner to Advance Carbon Measurement in DOOH Advertising

Collaboration unlocks new DOOH campaign emissions insights for sustainability-minded media buyers, improves DOOH carbon footprint reporting

MONTREAL, March 5, 2025 –Broadsign and Scope3 today announced a partnership that sets the stage for more accurate, comprehensive carbon modeling of digital-out-of-home (DOOH) campaigns. As more brands seek to limit carbon emissions across their businesses, including marketing, the two companies have teamed up to expand the depth and precision of available DOOH emissions data.  

As a result of the collaboration thus far, agencies and brands leveraging Scope3’s carbon measurement platform can now access DOOH property and format emissions data for over 1 million screens globally when planning DOOH and omnichannel campaigns. Available insights include average CO2e per impression for DOOH screens by country and venue category. 

Scope3 users can view this data alongside similar insights from web, mobile, social, CTV, and other channels for more seamless carbon-conscious media planning and reporting. While DOOH is proven to augment omnichannel campaign performance, the data now available on Scope3’s platform also demonstrates its carbon efficiency on a per impression basis, reaffirming previous studies that illustrate the medium’s carbon-efficiency advantage over other channels. 

Key findings based on the data collected by Scope3 and Broadsign to date include:

  • DOOH is the lowest carbon-emitting marketing channel on a per/impression basis (in countries where DOOH benchmarks are available). 
  • The primary source of DOOH carbon emissions comes from the electricity that powers the screens. Key factors include operating hours, brightness settings, and the electricity grid mix.
  • Approximately 95% of Broadsign-contributed screens fall at or below the median emissions level, considering factors like country and venue category.
  • Opting for high-quality, low-emitting screens that deliver strong performance without increasing carbon output and optimizing campaigns for time of day can help advertisers reduce emissions, as certain hours may benefit from a more sustainable energy grid mix or higher foot traffic.

“There’s a preconceived notion that DOOH is a high-emitting channel, but the data tells a more accurate story that accounts for its unique nuances,” shared David Fischer, GM, Global Ad Tech Platforms, Scope3. “Broadsign’s expertise, insights, and extensive inventory data are helping us refine our DOOH carbon measurement modeling to shed more light on the medium’s impact. Agencies and brands that use Scope3 to inform omnichannel media strategies can now better understand DOOH’s emissions, and media owners can set their inventory apart by offering insight into the carbon footprint of their screens.”

“Scope3 is the ad industry standard for carbon measurement, so partnering with them in the interest of the broader ad industry was a natural next step,” explained Bryan Mongeau, CTO, Broadsign. “As companies look to implement more sustainable practices, reducing ad campaign emissions will be an area of increasing focus, and our collaboration with Scope3 provides a strong foundation to support this demand. It not only provides invaluable insights today but also paves the way for future innovations like dynamic campaign planning and real-time media plan adjustments based on carbon intensity; we’re just getting started and have only begun to scratch the surface of what’s possible.”

Visit Scope3.com for more details and find out more about Broadsign’s journey to achieve carbon neutrality. 

About Broadsign

Broadsign empowers media owners, agencies, and brands to harness the power and reach of out-of-home to connect with audiences in ways unlike any other advertising channel. More than 1.5 million static and digital signs along roadways and in airports, shopping malls, retailers, health clinics, transit systems, electric vehicle charging stations, and more run on Broadsign, reaching audiences at multiple touchpoints throughout the consumer journey. The Broadsign Platform helps media owners such as Outfront, Pattison Outdoor, Global, and Intersection streamline business operations and maximize revenue opportunities while enabling marketers and agencies to more easily plan and execute dynamic OOH campaigns that resonate with audiences. Brands spanning AB InBev, Disney, FanDuel, H&M, Honda, HP, Johnson & Johnson, KLM, Uber Eats, Sea-Doo, Samsonite, and many more have run successful programmatic DOOH campaigns enabled by Broadsign technology. https://broadsign.com

Product News | October 11, 2021

Driving omnichannel success with DOOH: Insights from 1,050 brand lift studies

Virginie Chesnais, Chief Marketing Officer at Happydemics, explores the strategic role of DOOH in the media mix and its impact on campaign performance. Backed by extensive brand lift studies, this blog highlights how measurement helps drive better marketing outcomes.

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising is reshaping the advertising landscape, blending the physical and digital worlds to deliver memorable brand experiences. While traditional out-of-home formats have always excelled in visibility, DOOH takes this to the next level by integrating data, dynamic creativity, and omnichannel synergies.

As a global solution for measuring advertising effectiveness across all online and offline media, including measuring the effectiveness of DOOH campaigns for companies like Broadsign, Happydemics delivers actionable, full-funnel metrics collected among targeted audiences, and offers one of the most comprehensive industry benchmarks to enable advertisers to compare to industry standards and optimize strategies.

With over 1,050 DOOH brand lift studies across 27 countries since 2022, we’ve seen firsthand how this medium enhances campaign performance. In this post, we’ll explore DOOH’s evolution, its strategic role in the media mix, and how marketers can leverage it to drive results at every stage of the funnel. We’ll also discuss how brand lift measurement helps demonstrate DOOH’s effectiveness, refine offerings, and deliver better outcomes across the board.

The evolution of DOOH: A must-have medium

Once viewed as a traditional and static format, DOOH has undergone a dramatic transformation. It has transformed the way we experience public spaces, blending cutting-edge technology with the pulse of urban life. Over the past decade, it has evolved into immersive displays that seamlessly integrate into our environments. No longer just an advertising medium, DOOH has become a storyteller, using motion, data, and real-time information to engage with us in the most relevant and meaningful ways. It now stands at the intersection of technology, creativity, and strategy, making it a vital part of omnichannel marketing. 

Why DOOH matters more than ever

  • From visibility to engagement: DOOH’s evolution from static billboards to dynamic, interactive formats has expanded its capabilities. Advertisers can now deliver real-time updates, location-specific messages, and interactive campaigns.
  • Shaping consumer behavior: Positioned in urban centers, transportation hubs, and retail environments, DOOH captures attention where people make decisions. This strategic placement bridges offline and online, influencing both immediate actions and long-term brand perceptions.

In today’s media-saturated world, DOOH excels at cutting through the noise. Its bold, large-scale visuals and dynamic content are not only eye-catching but also foster deeper emotional connections. As part of omnichannel strategies, DOOH strengthens cross-channel message consistency and creates seamless consumer journeys.

DOOH’s strategic role in omnichannel campaigns

DOOH is highly effective at showcasing creative content and enhancing ad perception compared to other media. Its large, dynamic formats are not only clearer and more engaging but also provide a strong platform for sophisticated brand image building.

The medium excels in delivering clear messages and shaping brand positioning, making it a powerful tool for highlighting key aspects of a brand’s identity. When integrated with other channels, DOOH becomes even more powerful at driving action—like purchases, inquiries, or recommendations—creating a compelling force for influencing consumer intent. Its visual dynamism, large-scale formats, and real-time adaptability make it effective across awareness, consideration, and conversion, solidifying its value for both brand building and consumer engagement.

This graph is based on the Happydemics benchmark, which includes 6,500 Brand Lift studies. The “+Xpts” value represents the performance difference from the benchmark, showcasing how this media surpasses the average of all other media for this specific KPI.

  • Upper section: DOOH performance by funnel phase compared to the average of all media.
  • Lower section: Best-performing media by funnel phase compared to the average of all media.

When integrated into a broader omnichannel strategy, the medium amplifies impact by working in synergy with other media channels. A successful multichannel approach relies on consistency and relevance, and DOOH strengthens this by extending reach and maximizing engagement.

It also pairs exceptionally well with digital channels. For example, combining DOOH with social media elevates brand visibility, with both channels reinforcing each other’s messages. DOOH enables the delivery of contextually relevant content to targeted audiences. After viewing a DOOH display, consumers are more likely to search for the brand or engage with mobile ads. This connection between the physical and digital worlds ensures that the brand message stays top-of-mind across all touchpoints.

During the consideration phase, DOOH continues to build on brand awareness, reinforcing messages and showcasing localized offers. Its flexibility allows for dynamic, contextually relevant content, ensuring ads remain timely, engaging, and persuasive, nudging audiences closer to decision-making.

Moving down the funnel, leveraging in-game advertising, where context is crucial, can further drive consumer intent. As part of a full-funnel strategy, DOOH works seamlessly with OOH, social media, and in-game ads to drive specific consumer actions. This combination ensures that every stage of the journey is optimized—whether building awareness, enhancing brand image, sparking curiosity, or driving conversion. With DOOH at the core, brands can create campaigns that deliver precise messaging and maximize impact at every stage.

Campaign types that benefit most from DOOH

  • Product launches: DOOH is particularly effective for showcasing new products, delivering high ad recall, and building awareness in saturated markets.
  • Seasonal promotions: Time-sensitive campaigns leverage DOOH’s flexibility to adapt messaging in real-time, ensuring maximum relevance.
  • Service-based industries: Our analysis shows that service brands see the highest ad recall uplift with DOOH, making it a top choice for industries like travel, finance, and healthcare.

Measurement: The key to optimizing the media mix

In today’s fragmented and competitive advertising landscape, measurement is essential for campaign success—especially in DOOH, which operates in diverse, high-saturation environments. With a 135%+ increase in DOOH measurement activations on the Happydemics platform from 2023 to 2024, the industry is increasingly recognizing measurement as a necessity. By comparing ad recall, brand preference, or purchase intent between exposed and control groups, advertisers can determine the true impact of their campaigns.

Making the medium work for you

With tools to measure uplift and track performance, brands can now optimize DOOH’s placement in campaigns and refine their media strategies to deliver greater impact. The lesson is clear: the key to success lies in working across the funnel, ensuring every medium contributes to a cohesive, high-performing campaign.

As the advertising landscape continues to evolve, DOOH will remain a must-have medium—not as a standalone solution, but as a vital piece of the omnichannel puzzle.

See OOH attribution in action! Check out our case studies here.

Product News | October 11, 2021

Retail media networks 101: What they are & why they matter

Imagine you’re a brand looking to engage shoppers at the exact moment they’re considering a purchase — or a retailer eager to turn first-party shopper data into new revenue streams. Retail media networks (RMNs) make both possible.

So, what is an RMN exactly? A retail media network is an advertising platform that allows retailers to sell ad space across their owned media channels — both onsite, offsite, and in-store — to brands looking to reach high-intent shoppers. This includes everything from sponsored search ads on retailer websites and apps to in-store digital displays and point-of-sale promotions. By leveraging first-party data, retailers can provide precise targeting while unlocking new monetization opportunities. And brands gain a highly effective way to reach shoppers at the point of purchase with relevant, data-driven ads.

In this article, we’ll break down what retail media is, how retail media networks work, and why they matter for both retailers and advertisers.

Jump to:

What is retail media? Understanding the bigger picture

While retail media and retail media networks (RMNs) are closely related, they aren’t the same thing. 

Retail media = any advertising within a retailer’s ecosystem.

This includes in-store advertising methods like digital signage, in-store radio, and point-of-sale promotions, as well as online strategies such as sponsored product listings and display ads on retailer websites and apps.

Retail media networks (RMNs) = the monetization platform behind retail media.

A retail media network is the formal system that allows retailers to sell ad space to brands. RMNs provide the infrastructure, data, and ad inventory that make retail media possible.

Retail media vs. commerce media

Retail media is also part of a larger digital advertising movement known as commerce media. While retail media focuses on advertising within a retailer’s ecosystem, commerce media extends that approach across the entire digital commerce landscape.

📌 Why this matters:

Commerce media connects the full shopper journey — allowing brands to reach consumers before, during, and after their purchases. As the retail media space evolves, many retailers are expanding their offerings to become full commerce media platforms, helping brands engage with shoppers across multiple digital environments.

Retailers are expanding across digital environments

Why retail media networks matter (Key benefits for retailers & advertisers)

Retail media networks are changing how brands and retailers connect with shoppers, creating highly targeted, data-driven advertising opportunities at the point of purchase. As brands shift more of their ad spend to retail media — with global retail media ad spend projected to surpass US$177 billion in 2025 — RMNs are emerging as one of the fastest-growing segments in digital advertising.

This rapid growth is reshaping the relationship between retailers and advertisers, offering new ways to leverage privacy-compliant data, optimize ad reach, and influence purchasing decisions in real-time. Here’s why RMNs are becoming a must-have strategy for both in 2025:

For retailers: A win-win opportunity

Retail media isn’t just about ads — it’s about smarter, more profitable retail. Here’s how retailers benefit:

  • Enhanced customer experience: Retail media doesn’t just benefit retailers and advertisers — it also improves the shopping journey for customers. Personalized promotions and targeted messaging shown on in-store displays help enhance the in-store retail experience, while well-placed online ads make it easier for shoppers to discover relevant products, access timely deals, and enjoy a more seamless path to purchase across both digital and physical retail environments.
  • Increased basket sizes: Well-timed messaging can influence last-minute purchasing decisions, prompting shoppers to add more to their carts. Strategically placed product promotions near checkout highlight relevant add-ons, limited-time offers, and value packs that might have otherwise gone unnoticed. By seamlessly integrating these prompts into the shopping journey, retailers can increase average order value and maximize sales opportunities.
  • New revenue streams: By selling ad space across their websites, apps, and in-store digital displays, retailers can generate high-margin advertising revenue — between 70% and 90%, according to BCG — alongside traditional product sales. Insights gleaned from their first-party shopper data make these (and any off-site) ad placements even more valuable, enabling brands to reach highly targeted audiences in a privacy-compliant way. As brands shift more ad spend to retail media, retailers that capitalize on this demand can drive significant new revenue while strengthening partnerships with advertisers.

READ ALSO: Learn how to influence add-to-cart moments with an in-store digital media channel, featuring strategies and key takeaways from our live webinar.

For brands: Reaching shoppers at the right moment

For advertisers, RMNs offer something digital ads often struggle with: direct access to ready-to-buy consumers. This allows brands to benefit from:

  • Higher purchase intent: Ads appear when shoppers are actively looking for products, making them more effective and increasing the likelihood of conversion.
  • Precision targeting with first-party data: RMNs provide privacy-compliant insights, helping brands serve more relevant ads and refine their audience strategies. 
  • Measurable ad performance: Unlike traditional ads, RMNs offer closed-loop measurement, so brands can track sales directly linked to their campaigns. 

READ ALSO: Get a better understanding of why in-store signage advertising belongs in every brand’s retail media strategy

As RMNs continue to grow, they’re proving to be a must-have for both retailers and brands looking to maximize revenue, improve customer engagement, and drive measurable results.

In-store advertising turns shopping into memorable experiences

How RMNs work: Key players & their roles (RMN ecosystem)

Retail media networks don’t operate in a vacuum. They rely on a collaborative ecosystem of key stakeholders — all working together to deliver relevant, data-driven advertising that benefits everyone involved. Here’s a quick overview of who’s involved and how RMN advertising works:

  • Retailers create and manage the RMN, selling ad space across their digital and physical stores.
  • Brands and advertisers purchase these placements to promote their products to high-intent shoppers at key moments in their purchase journey.
  • Technology providers enable automation, measurement, and optimization to ensure seamless ad delivery and performance tracking via retail media platforms, ensuring ads reach the right audience at the right time.

Retail media ad formats & real-world examples

As RMNs grow, brands have more opportunities to connect with high-intent shoppers at key moments. Whether through in-store digital displays, sponsored search ads, or off-site campaigns, retail media offers targeted, data-driven advertising that enhances the shopping experience while driving measurable results.

Types of retail media advertising

Retail media comes in a variety of ad formats, depending on where shoppers interact with the brand:

1. Digital retail media (on-site advertising)

Retailers monetize their websites and apps much like traditional publishers, offering brands premium ad placements where shoppers actively search and browse.

Key digital retail media formats include:

  • Sponsored search ads: Paid placements that appear when shoppers search for products.
  • Display ads: Banner ads on a retailer’s website or app, either promoting their own products or paid for by external brands.
  • Video ads: Short ads featured on product pages, retailer apps, or even live-streamed shopping events.
2. Off-site retail media (beyond retailer ecosystems)

Retailers extend ad reach beyond their owned properties, placing brand ads across third-party websites, social media, and programmatic networks — all powered by first-party shopper data.

Off-site retail media formats typically include:

  • Social media & programmatic advertising: Retailers use shopper data to target ads on platforms like Instagram and YouTube.
  • Retailer-driven display/video ads: Placed on external websites and apps but still leveraging retailer data.

For example, Target’s retail media network, Roundel, leverages the big-box retailer’s first-party shopper data to deliver highly targeted ads beyond Target’s owned properties. Brands can reach Target shoppers across third-party websites, social media, and programmatic networks, keeping engagement strong and driving traffic back to Target’s stores and digital channels.

📌 Key distinction from commerce media:

Off-site retail media is controlled and sold by a retailer — even though the ad appears elsewhere. Commerce media, on the other hand, is broader, allowing brands to use retailer data but not necessarily purchasing the ad space from the retailer itself.

3. In-store retail media

Forward-thinking retailers are transforming their physical stores into dynamic ad environments, giving brands the chance to engage shoppers and influence purchasing decisions at key moments in the buying journey. 

Common in-store retail media formats include:

Walmart’s in-store advertising solutions help brands stay top-of-mind by engaging shoppers at key moments in their journey. With a nationwide network of in-store TV screens, targeted self-checkout ads, and in-store audio placements, advertisers can seamlessly capture attention and drive influence where purchase decisions happen.

By integrating a strategic mix of retail media formats into their RMN, retailers can maximize advertising revenue while enhancing the customer shopping experience — whether online, in-store, or beyond. At the same time, brands gain valuable opportunities to stay top of mind and influence shoppers at key moments, from discovery to checkout.

READ ALSO: Learn how in-store and online retail media shape consumer shopping behavior and why multi-brand retailers can’t afford to overlook in-store digital marketing networks.

In-store retail media advertising can promote special offers to boost sales

As RMNs evolve, proven out-of-home (OOH) strategies like audience targeting, engagement, and measurement are driving the future of retail media — particularly through retail digital signage solutions that enhance in-store engagement and ad impact.

By integrating these solutions into a broader RMN strategy, retailers can unlock new revenue streams, enhance the shopping journey, and maximize the value of their first-party data. At the same time, brands gain a powerful way to connect with high-intent shoppers at the point of purchase. From sponsored search and display ads to in-store digital activations, retail media offers a highly targeted and measurable advertising channel that’s only continuing to grow.

Want to make the most of your retail media strategy?

Explore our latest RMN insights and best practices for building, scaling, and maximizing the impact of a retail media network — whether you’re a retailer monetizing your media assets or a brand investing in RMNs.