Clear Channel International has today (18 January) unveiled what it claims to be outdoor media’s first truly programmatic solution, to be rolled out across Europe this year.
The out-of-home (OOH) media owner revealed it has been testing the programmatic trading of its inventory on an automated guaranteed basis in Belgium, with the UK market to follow in March.
According to Clear Channel, advertisers can reserve a fixed volume of digital OOH inventory at a fixed price via channels including demand side platforms and its own proprietary platform.
While currently only using proprietary and third party data-sets, Clear Channel said it is assessing how to enable media buyers to layer on their own audience data. It also plans to expand the programmatic buying of its inventory to bidded marketplaces.
Clients to have trialled the system in Belgium since 9 January include Mercedes-Benz, Beobank, Unilever and Deliveroo, with media purchased by agencies like Zenith, Blue 449 and Kinetic.
Clear Channel said it will be ready to programmatically trade 100% of its supply across some key products and markets by the end of the year.
William Eccleshare, chairman and chief executive of Clear Channel International, said the launch was a “pivotal moment” for the wider OOH industry, which he claimed has “truly completed its transformation into a 21st Century digital media”.
“We are making our media simpler to plan, buy, optimise and measure through familiar buying technologies offering data-fuelled audience-based solutions in real time. We thus offer new and existing customers the measurability, creativity and flexibility they demand,” said Eccleshare.
“Clear Channel International’s programmatic solution enables brands to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time. It connects them even more effectively with their audience – whilst still allowing them to achieve the mass reach and fame Outdoor delivers more efficiently than any other medium.”
Laurence Henuzet, digital trading manager at ZenithOptimedia, which handled Mercedes-Benz’s investment in the system, added: “I’m delighted to be able to test this one-to-many medium which pairs geographic proximity with consumer interests and a strong visual impact.
“Clear Channel is embarking on this programmatic adventure with automated buying and we are keen to see this offering expanded across the board as it is a great product that will give our trading desk a 360° strategy,” he said.
