Digital OOH-Focused Broadsign Adds Support For Managing, Analyzing Static OOH Inventory

June 6, 2023 by Dave Haynes

It is slightly weird and ironic that after all the efforts in recent years to convince media companies to transition their “faces” from static to digital that one of the most active enablers of that is now offering support for posters and billboards that are remaining static.

Montreal-based Broadsign, which has grown its business by focusing on digital OOH display networks, has announced new support for what it calls Static Campaigns.
Even as digital out-of-home (DOOH) continues to proliferate, the company says in announcing the new capability, static (or classic) OOH remains the dominant format, yet the processes in place for managing and selling static OOH inventory have largely remained manual. To help modernize classic workflows, Broadsign today launched its new Static Campaigns module, which makes it easy for media owners to manage static and digital inventory and workflows in tandem from the Broadsign Platform.
Simplifying inventory management and sales tasks that previously required time-intensive manual processes and back-and-forth communication, the new module is available today and helps media owners get static campaigns out the door faster. An end-to-end solution, it advances operational efficiency and visibility into static and digital campaign progress, providing a single hub from which both types of campaigns can be managed and delivered.
Key highlights include:

Real-time inventory availability for faster deal closings: Static OOH inventory management is largely manual, leaving room for error. Information may not always be up to date, so while one salesperson awaits client confirmation on an ad slot, the inventory they offered may have already been swept up. The result is significant back and forth with customers to find a resolution, which decreases operational efficiency.

To help media owners avoid these bottlenecks, Broadsign Static Campaigns makes all inventory viewable to the entire team in real-time, and sales teams can input customer campaign criteria into the module and apply filters to instantly view available, relevant inventory. It eliminates the risk of overbooking and ensures deals can be finalized more efficiently.

Unified workflows for improved operational efficiency: Eliminating gaps in processes – like ensuring teams have access to the same set of tools and information in real-time – is crucial to operational efficiency. Historically this has been difficult, with most classic OOH business operations managed via a multi-tab spreadsheet that every department must access and update. Every change required an email notification alerting the team to the update and an action item, and complex manual workflows often had to be implemented for management to get visibility into the status of work orders.

Broadsign Static Campaigns lets users onboard an entire team to the module and customize access. Every department is working from the same campaign requirement, timeline, and budget information, reducing the potential for errors and freeing up more time to focus on timely campaign delivery. Moreover, access to centralized information, sales, and operations teams provides a better understanding of activity through dashboards, exportable lists, and reports.

Faster campaign deployment with a more streamlined design process: Gaining proper visibility into the status of the production design process for static OOH campaigns can be taxing. Unlike DOOH, static posters must be printed and physically installed, requiring the help of several external vendors. Multiple follow-ups via phone or email are often required to keep track of the status of the posting process.

The Broadsign Static Campaigns module reduces this back and forth. For bill posters on the move, users can set up notifications when action must be taken through the Broadsign Post mobile app, available on both the Google Play and iOS App Store. Bill posters receive work orders for billboard posting and maintenance tasks and can even upload a picture of the finished product, allowing media owners to guarantee when and where a customer’s ad ran. Clear visibility into posting status lets media owners provide real-time updates to the customer, which translates to more efficient campaign deployments.

Insightful reporting and analytics tools for making data-driven decisions: Centralizing data in one virtual space, Broadsign’s Static Campaigns gives users a clearer picture of business performance, including what’s working well and areas for improvement. Reports can be tailored to be broad or granular, with insights down to the performance of an individual face. Robust analytic tools reduce manual calculations for custom reports and provide critical insights required to make confident decisions. All reports are easily shareable with internal and external stakeholders.

Years and years ago, Ayuda Media Systems (also from Montreal) had software that was rooted in conventional static out of home that was evolving into digital. I’ll make a pretty save little leap in logic that since Broadsign acquired Ayuda, some of that learning has found its way into this new module.

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