DOOH Is Growing, but Can It Prove Its Value to Advertisers?

A Q&A with David Wellard, Managing Director UK, Zoom Media

By R. Larsson, Advertising Week

Out-of-home advertising continues to attract investment, with digital formats driving growth and programmatic technology creating new opportunities for brands to reach audiences in the real world. Yet despite the industry’s momentum, marketers are demanding greater accountability, more reliable measurement and clearer evidence of how DOOH contributes to business outcomes. In this AW360 Q&A, David Wellard, Managing Director UK at Zoom Media, explores why advertisers remain cautious, how first-party data and high-attention environments are changing the measurement conversation, and what the industry must do to make DOOH an indispensable part of the modern media mix.

Q: OOH continues to grow, yet marketers still seem cautious about investment. Why do you think that is?

It’s an interesting position for the industry because the market itself is moving in a positive direction. OOH revenue reached a record £1.44 billion last year with digital formats now accounting for around two thirds of that spend, and programmatic DOOH investment is expected to rise by 41% in the next 18 months. Those are all encouraging signs. But the data from a recent IPA Bellwether report points to a more cautious investment climate, with sentiment towards OOH cooling.

What has changed is the level of scrutiny around every media decision. Marketing teams are expected to explain how investment contributes to business outcomes with a level of certainty that has become standard across digital channels. That naturally changes how DOOH is viewed. Everyone recognises the channel’s ability to build brands and capture attention in the real world, although that alone is no longer enough. Planners need stronger evidence to demonstrate the contribution DOOH is making within the wider media mix, particularly when every budget is under pressure.

Q: Why is accountability becoming such an important conversation for DOOH?

The way marketing is evaluated has changed considerably over the last few years. Planners have become used to working with detailed reporting, attribution tools and continuous optimisation, so those expectations now influence every channel in the mix.

DOOH has traditionally been measured differently. Estimated reach, footfall modelling and post-campaign recall have helped build a picture of campaign performance, although they do not always provide the level of certainty marketers are looking for today. That can make it harder for marketers to justify investment in commercial terms, even when campaigns perform well. We know DOOH delivers attention and memorability, but those strengths are not always reflected in data-led performance metrics. Giving planners stronger evidence helps close that gap and makes the value of the channel much easier to articulate.

Q: How is measurement evolving to give advertisers greater confidence in DOOH?

A lot of progress is coming from the environments where digital screens are now being deployed. When people choose to spend time somewhere, whether that’s a fitness destination or another lifestyle setting, the conditions are very different from many traditional outdoor environments. People stay for longer, distractions are lower and attention tends to be much stronger.

Those environments also create better opportunities to understand who has actually been reached. Measurement starts to move beyond approximation because first-party data makes it possible to verify impressions instead of relying solely on estimated audiences. Longer dwell times provide greater confidence that messages have had the opportunity to land and be remembered. That changes the conversation around accountability. Advertisers gain a clearer understanding of campaign delivery while still benefiting from the contextual strengths that have always made DOOH valuable.

Q: Beyond measurement, how should marketers be thinking about DOOH within the wider media mix?

Measurement is an important part of the picture, although planning deserves just as much attention. DOOH delivers its greatest value when it is considered alongside the rest of the campaign instead of being assessed in isolation.

Using consistent audience definitions makes it easier to understand how different channels contribute at different stages of the customer journey. It also helps planners manage frequency more effectively and build campaigns that connect touchpoints more intelligently.

As programmatic infrastructure continues to develop, campaigns can become much more responsive because decisions are based on verified delivery rather than assumptions. Reporting also becomes more useful because the insights generated from one campaign can inform the next. Over time, that creates a much clearer understanding of the role DOOH plays across the wider media mix.

Q: What would your advice be to marketers reviewing their media investment in H2?

Pressure on budgets often leads marketers to look more closely at every line of a media plan, which is completely understandable. I don’t think the answer is to reduce investment in DOOH. A stronger response is to expect more accountability from the channel.

The industry has an opportunity to provide stronger audience data, more robust measurement and reporting that gives advertisers genuine confidence in what has been delivered. When campaigns reach people in environments where attention is naturally higher, audiences can be verified and outcomes are measured more consistently, it becomes much easier to understand the contribution DOOH is making. That gives marketers a stronger basis for investment decisions and allows the channel to be judged on evidence rather than assumption.