Not so long ago, in meetings, I used to describe programmatic DOOH as 'Yeti.' Everyone had heard of it, no one had seen it, but everyone wanted it. Today, programmatic buying in digital out-of-home has landed in the spotlight in Warsaw, Krakow, Tricity, and Poznań, and now comprehensively and diligently answers most advertisers' questions.

Yet, just a year or two ago, the rapid development of tools enabling automated purchasing of outdoor advertising space largely bypassed our domestic devices.

For large DOOH SSP platforms like BroadSign, Perion (Hivestack), or Vistar, Central and Eastern Europe was – if not a blank spot on the map – then at best that annoying younger cousin who is ambitious and wants a lot, but everyone sees how things are, and no older family member takes him seriously. So, we could only knock and peek through slightly ajar doors at LinkedIn revelations about how programmatic was growing to 5-10-15% of digital out-of-home spending in the West.

Technology on the Offensive – Audience Measurement and SSP Integrations

Suddenly, this quietly growing (in terms of both size and inventory quality) Polish digital out-of-home advertising market began implementing and developing modern technologies in the area of audience measurement. It also turned out that Polish IT specialists are considered among the best in Europe for a good reason. Today, having completed several integration processes with the largest SSP platforms, and with increasingly larger budgets filling screen emission schedules where direct campaigns left space, I know we have nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, we are able to implement some technological solutions more efficiently and cleverly, delivering them without complexes compared to large IT departments in London or New York.

How do I know? Because I do it myself. And I know people who do.

Around 2022, we envisioned how, by taking a small percentage or even a fraction of online advertising budgets, we would fill the loop on our screens with millions in funding. Back then, we were shooting in the dark with these calculations. Today, we know that digital out-of-home media is not 'just another type of device,' and advertisers won't magically slide budgets from mobile or smart TV advertising to it. Programmatic DOOH is still evolving as a product and seeking its funding source in euros and dollars, and the SSP platforms specifically designed for our spaces are responsible for budget execution. The use of tools to automate the purchase and execution of DOOH campaigns simply and significantly shortens and simplifies the entire process. It removes the relational aspect and allows advertisers to view screens with a more 'online' perspective, and campaigns in terms of performance metrics rather than choosing locations using maps and photos.

Behind the vision of a mythical advertiser from Singapore or South Africa who, with a few clicks, buys 20,000 contacts on screens in Poznań and Łódź, lies the hard calculation of media houses and direct clients who, thanks to programmatic purchasing of airtime, can more effectively utilize their resources, 'centralize' budgets, and personally manage campaign dynamics. Increasingly measurable outdoor advertising has, however, remained the last non-declarative medium. Through it, contacts can be made with a broad group of people who encounter outdoor advertising somewhat outside their clearly defined advertising preferences.

Programmatic DOOH at Jet Line – New Budgets, New Strategies

For Jet Line, which quickly transitioned from being merely a screen owner to a full-fledged publisher, pDOOH is an opportunity both to better fill available inventory and to acquire entirely new budgets. It is therefore completely standard for us that for the 'gross revenue' chart in our BroadSign or Perion platform panels to grow rapidly, we simply need to accept the creative that an often anonymous DSP wants to display on our screens.

This also presents many challenges, as better utilization of airtime in a direct-programmatic setup requires moving away from the standard emission loop in favor of campaigns delivering audience-related parameters. Integration with multiple SSP and DSP platforms forces us to implement header bidding solutions, known from online advertising. The world of SSPs also brings new sales strategies: dynamic management of CPM values within private deals and anticipating competition in auctions on the DOOH Open Market.