This month, we sat down with Scoota, a global demand-side platform and spoke to their CEO, James Booth, to gain a deeper insight into what lies ahead for them over the next few years - including how they are ready to introduce a hyper-dynamic approach to DOOH.

1. Tell us about Scoota and your job role there?

Scoota is a technology company. Our obsession is with making omni-channel digital considerably more creative, more simply.

For DOOH, we have equally focused heavily on creativity. Our omni-channel creative management platform automates the build of HTML/Video DOOH formats, via a drag and drop from Photoshop. Within the same interface, powerful DCO controls can be added easily, and creative approval is managed, allowing campaigns to launch from inception in hours rather than days.

But our key focus has been to bring programmatic DOOH as close to programmatic high-impact display as possible. This means, in addition to the creative control, trading approaches that give complete bidding flexibility by the panel, with targeting and triggers all set up, controlled, and flexed within and by the DSP. We see this level of dynamic delivery as an essential minimum base for programmatic DOOH, if it is to really stand apart from automated guarantee and deliver the level of control and value brands seem so keen to realise, particularly following the pandemic.

My role as CEO is to support an incredible team of individuals who make all this happen.

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

We have a long and strong partnership with VIOOH which began when we worked closely with the VIOOH tech team across the first half of 2018, ahead of what was a very exciting launch. This meant we were one of the first DSP integrations, and since then, we have enjoyed being able to push the boundaries of what’s possible creatively and with buying flexibility, together. VIOOH has been and remains an extremely supportive partner.

3. 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?

I think we'll see programmatic trading grow hugely as the flexibility and convenience becomes ever more apparent. While traditional direct buys still account for a large proportion of activity, that's changing at an ever-increasing rate.

With that comes innovation and creativity. We'll see much more interesting approaches to the ads themselves, with contextual data becoming a key ingredient not just of planning and activation, but of messaging and aesthetics too. This allows for a much more joined-up approach to omni-channel campaigns that tailor episodic creative to specific audiences and contexts, in real time. Programmatic is at the heart of this, and won't just be confined to tactical activity. Buying will become much more efficient and optimised, while creatives become much more organic, relevant and engaging.

DOOH will become a natural part of the digital mix, fully controllable and attributable - something that display advertising is increasingly struggling to achieve while it remains obsessed with retargeting.

4. How much of a priority is programmatic digital OOH for Scoota this year?

Programmatic DOOH is a huge priority for us this year. We’ve spent the early part of the year stress-testing the DCO capabilities of the US market; we’re now ready to introduce our hyper-dynamic approach to DOOH to that market, and that objective is the biggest single focus we have across the business for H2 this year.

5. Can you share with us a successful client campaign story that you’ve worked on with us that showcases the power of programmatic?

News International wanted to reach and attract football fans to The Sun’s Dream Team product. The window of opportunity was very small; as such a blend of social media and programmatic DOOH was used.

Targeting all the main cities except Liverpool, the most effective social post of the morning was amplified out to DOOH panels for the same afternoon, to hit commuters at railway stations.

This was made possible thanks to our creative management platform that enabled instant repurposing of the social posts into DOOH creative for different panel sizes; and our API-based QA interface ensured super-fast creative approval.

"Our post-campaign analysis showed this to be one of the most effective marketing channels; we'll definitely use it again in the future." Paul Hood, Digital Development Director, News UK.

Discover more about Scoota by visiting their website here.