• by Marc Bartholomew , September 12, 2019

Gen Z and Millennials are in control. They want relevant content to be how they want it and when they want it. This isn't just true for their devices -- it's true for the ads that surround them.

One option that is gaining traction with marketers slowly but will soon become the norm is digital creative optimization (DCO). The surprisingly underused DCO allows out-of-home (OOH) ads to tap into what matters to consumers as well as what is likely to affect their behavior.

For example, the way someone feels or behaves on a rainy Monday morning is in stark contrast to the way they feel or behave on a sunny Friday afternoon.

For advertisers to be effective, they need to know where and when to speak to consumers -- and crucially, with what message. Since consumers are forging their own path to purchase, using DCO gives them the final push they need to make the sale happen.

DCO allows marketers to deliver contextually relevant, dynamic content. It gives them the ability to react to real-world events and triggers to deliver the most engaging message to consumers, based on their location, current events, and time of day.

Today, especially with Gen Z, customized messages are crucial. You know when you're in a group chat and everyone is spamming it with irrelevant messages? So you ignore it. But when you get a phone call from a known number, you pick up. Dynamic content, like that relevant phone call, literally speaks directly to you, saying “Ashley, it's a Thursday evening, go get yourself that dirty martini!”

This is especially important when it comes to Millennials and GenZ, because they are reported to have a lower attention span than previous generations. Then consider that 82% of people either use ad blockers or report skipping ads, which makes our distracted audience even more difficult to reach.

Still, according to a recent Kantar Millward Brown study, OOH is the preferred advertising medium among Gen Z and Millennials.

OOH has survived the "digital onslaught" because unlike other channels such as print and radio, it has embraced disruption.

Dynamic content harnesses the power of data and technology, aligning OOH with other digital channels. This means that not only does it offer a genuine brand-building platform, but we are also now seeing OOH pushed further down the purchase funnel, driving store visits, ticket sales, app downloads, and creating uplifts in short-term brand action via mobile.

Dynamic OOH plays no small part in this, making impressions work harder, as consumers are more likely to remember content that is relevant to them.