IAB Compass: Navigating Digital Out-of-Home

Compass
Skip to section

How to get the most out of IAB Compass

Between them, DOOH, AR/VR, connected TV, gaming and shoppable advertising are providing advertisers with new and exciting ways to bring brands to life, resonate with consumers, and drive sales. IAB Compass is your essential manual to understanding the future of these four channels and how you can harness them most effectively.

Explore all the chapters of IAB Compass here or find the key findings for the digital out-of-home market below.

Explore DOOH report
Compass graphic

Digital out-of-home: killer stats

65%

of all OOH spend was on digital screens in 2023 (predicted)

75%

of all OOH ad spend is forecast to be on digital screens by 2027

70%

of UK adults reached by DOOH in 2023

The findings in brief

After the key takeouts from IAB Compass: DOOH? We've pulled them together in this handy one-pager you can download and share with your colleagues.

Download one-pager

DOOH advertising forecast

Forecasts indicate that DOOH will continue growing to form 75% of the OOH market in 2027, driven by continued investment in digital displays.

prDOOH is forecast to account for 16% of OOH ad spend in 2027 (up from ~5% in 2023).

The deprecation of third-party cookies may lead to increased investment in DOOH as contextual targeting is one of its key strengths – allowing advertisers to unite clever creative with the environment in which the ad appears.

The DOOH opportunity & what to do next

Due to their strategic placement in busy public spaces, DOOH displays are often seen by a wide range of people. According to research from Route in Q1 2023, DOOH reached 70% of adults in the UK and 73.3% of ABC1 adults per week.

DOOH displays are often large and eye-catching, making them difficult to miss. When coupled with a powerful image and message, they may be more memorable than other channels, e.g. static display ads.

The rise of programmatic DOOH has boosted the channels appeal for marketers. It allows advertisers to optimise in real-time, leverage a range of data sources to target and trigger activations, and integrate DOOH activations as part of omnichannel campaigns.

Recommendations for advertisers & agencies

IAB Compass draws together a range of considerations for advertisers, agencies, media owners and ad tech when it comes to DOOH. These include:

  • Advertisers: Think about whether you have the in-house skills and resources to develop and implement DOOH campaigns or whether you need to outsource to an agency
  • Agencies: Take a targeted approach to ensure that placement and timing of your ads is relevant to the audience you want to reach
  • Media owners: Demystify programmatic in DOOH via case studies and guides to help accelerate investment and increase high quality digital inventory to meet advertiser demand
  • Ad tech providers: Standardise ad formats. Collaboration between SSPs and media owners can establish greater standardisation across screens and formats

To find out more please view the recommendations section of the full report.

Explore full report
Compass graphic imagery

DOOH balances mass reach with feeling personalised. This characteristic means advertisers can measure effectiveness: they’re able to consider how actions from their ads are due to the effect of a single connection combined with other campaign touchpoints.

Director, media owner

Explore IAB Compass’ DOOH findings in full

  • Executive summary
  • What is digital out-of-home advertising?
  • The current UK DOOH market size
  • The rise of programmatic digital out-of-home
  • What’s to come?
  • Recommendations
Explore full report
IAB Compass graphic imagery

Rediscover the joy of digital advertising

Champion connections instead of clicks. Capture audiences' imaginations, not just their attention. Boldly move to your own beat instead of letting tech set the pace. It’s time to rediscover the joy of digital.

Find out more