This month we caught up with Mehdi Aroussi, Director, Publisher & Customer Success at Hawk, a French-based European omnichannel demand-side partner (DSP). Mehdi shares with us what we can expect from Hawk in 2022 and their upcoming predictions for digital out-of-home (DOOH) over the next few years. 

Hawk is a French-based European omnichannel DSP that built its first technological bricks on mobile. Around this notion of mobility and this programmatic expertise, we have gradually added new channels, which include digital OOH (DOOH), offering innovative complementary devices (synchronized or stand-alone) with other media platforms.

My role as the Director of Publisher & Customer Success at Hawk, in particular, involves:

• Identifying opportunities for new partnerships 
• Carrying out integrations with partners 
• Managing and growing the relationship with partners 
• Identifying new ways in which we can provide innovative solutions for a better customer experience

2. What’s it like working with VIOOH as a partner?

VIOOH was a trailblazer in developing programmatic digital OOH as they were one of the first supply-side platforms (SSP) we integrated with. 

The VIOOH team has been extremely flexible to work with and have helped us adapt our customer strategy and evangelize programmatic DOOH, enabling us to test tailor-made solutions for the specific needs of a market. As a global partner, VIOOH has also provided us with the opportunity to reach customers on an international level, allowing us to build campaigns globally and simultaneously.

3. What projects are you most excited about working with VIOOH?

The deployment of VIOOH in the different countries in which we operate is an ongoing project for us. VIOOH regularly opens new countries and onboard new editors, allowing us to enrich our customers' supply without too much involvement needed by our teams. 

We also recently launched a DOOH marketplace called "DOOH DEAL REQUEST". This is the first step of an advanced DOOH media planning project to address all types of buyers: from the programmatic expert who has never done DOOH, to the incumbent OOH buyer interested in the value of programmatic DOOH. 

Therefore, the continued deployment of this functionality in all our territories remains a priority for 2022. We predict that tomorrow's advertising will operate on several channels; therefore we will continue to work in partnership with VIOOH to highlight the value that an omnichannel device can bring.

4. What can we look forward to seeing in 2022 from Hawk?

Beyond the constant and structural evolutions of the platform, significant product evolutions will be coming this year in the Media planning & Insight sections. The objective is to facilitate exchanges with our partners, respond to this challenge of building a media plan, and extract all the post-campaign insights to renew a media plan or do it differently. 

Data will also play a significant role in targeting audiences and measuring the associated uplifts - at the point of sale and on notoriety indicators. Additionally, we will continue developing the DSP to offer a better user experience to support our customers throughout the media buying process: from strategy planning in its media mix to reporting and customer insights.

5. As a DSP, what are your predictions for the future of digital out of home in the next couple of years? And where does programmatic fit in? 

Firstly, we are seeing programmatic DOOH growing its share vs traditional OOH each year. It is now more and more part of complementary devices to OOH and omnichannel campaigns. Thanks to its buying model and several advantages, pDOOH should continue to grow stronger to become a standard (some studies show that it could even reach the  over-the-counter level in a few years) and appear as a key lever in building awareness. 

At Hawk, we think that tomorrow's advertising will be able to operate on several screens, whether for notoriety devices or performance strategies. The user will be able to enter their objective and then have a list of screens appear that meet this objective. Therefore, DOOH, by its power and popularity, is going to play an essential part in the construction of a media mix.

We’re also starting to see the first DOOH Audio inventory begin to emerge. Since it is a single medium that is already powerful, we’re hoping to see audio grow with the power of DOOH. 

Lastly, virtual DOOH is also beginning to take shape in metaverse environments. A prominent link that would reconcile a user in these two environments could make perfect sense.

6. How much of a priority is programmatic digital OOH for Hawk this year?

We currently operate on six different channels; however, a significant part of the product development planned for this year is dedicated to DOOH and its various functionalities. I think this gives a good indication of the importance of this media for us and how strategic and essential it is as a priority for us. 

If you would like to discover more about Hawk you can visit their website here.