The OOH industry has not only claimed its spot as a credible and highly effective form of traditional advertising, driving brand consideration, purchase intent, and business outcomes, but it has also been chosen by consumers as a highly trusted medium, given its permanence and placement within the natural urban landscape.
Advancement in digital technologies, the move towards standardised measurement, and the dawn of programmatic in the Middle East are transforming OOH into a precision-targeted medium, permitting for far more personalised and relevant campaigns and offering greater flexibility and efficiencies within the industry.
To discuss all this and more, a room brimming with experts – from client-side marketers to media and creative agencies, media owners and suppliers, and measurement and adtech players – gathered at The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi on 22 November 2024 for the Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Out of Home 2025.
Welcome speech
The event began with a welcome speech by Nadeem Quraishi, Publisher, Campaign Middle East, who briefed the attendees about the latest developments at Campaign Middle East and its partners.
He introduced the latest edition of the Campaign Middle East Outdoor Guide, which includes a huge pull out location map for the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He also shared details on the upcoming Agency of the Year awards, as well as our Editorial and Events Guide for 2025.
Chair’s opening remarks
Campaign Middle East Editor Anup Oommen then took the stage to deliver the chair’s opening remarks, setting the scene for what turned into an incredible event filled with actionable insights and interesting takeaways for the future. He explained how advanced audience tracking, location-based data, and integrated third-party platforms are beginning to give clearer insights into engagement duration and post-interactions behaviours.
He also touched on the nascent implementation of programmatic within the region, making the move towards real-time optimisation of campaigns and real-time trading more than just a pipe dream. Additionally, Oommen echoed the industry’s call for the right collaborations and partnerships built on the cornerstones of trust and transparency, which can unlock greater flexibility, improved efficiencies, and far better engagement for brands.
Keynote speech
To begin proceedings, Nihal Diab, Investment Manager, GroupM MENA, delivered a keynote presentation on ‘Unlocking the Future of OOH in the MENA region’.
Diab discussed how OOH has moved from static billboards with spends of $350mn in 2023 to dynamic, data-driven screens projected to result in digital spend of $750mn by 2029. The evolution of data and technology and its impact on measurement is driving this shift, she said, pointing to better capabilities of targeting pinpoint audiences and delivering relevant ads that have measurable results.
Diab also shared how to unlock precision and performance through programmatic DOOH, which offers enhanced targeting, flexibility, potential for dynamic content, which is a win-win for advertisers, media owners and consumers. She explained how OOH measurement has progressed far beyond counting cars to offer real value in terms of foot traffic and driving website visits and sales, before concluding with a call for the industry to embrace the OOH revolution.
Panel 1: Outdoor Advertising: Is it the most credible?
The first panel discussion of the day, which was moderated by Walid Yared, CMO, Choueiri Group, witnessed multiple brands and advertisers explaining why OOH is carving out a greater part of their marketing mix model (MMM). Sahar Khan, VP of Marketing, Bayut & dubizzle; Avinash Babur, Chief Executive Officer, InsuranceMarket.ae; Milica Smudja, Director of Marketing and Communications, Al Qana; and Ziad Melhem, Chief Marketing Officer, CFI Financial discussed why OOH remains the most resilient and credible form of advertising, despite being considered a traditional format in the era of social media.
Marketers agreed that consumers prefer OOH as a form of advertising, and shared how OOH affects brand perception positively. Consumers believe that brands that advertise on OOH are premium and prestigious, and develop positive emotional connections to such brands. The leaders also spoke about how proper placement, frequency, positioning and the permanence of OOH advertising have helped consumers attribute perceptions of strength, stability and credibility to brands that partake in such advertising.
However, leaders also shared that brands must continue to focus on solving problems of their customers, and focus on creative messaging that prioritise “the interesting, the Instagrammable, as well as culturally sensitive and contextually correct humour” that creates an emotional connection with their regional audiences.
Panel 2 – Is the journey to programmatic just as valuable as the destination?
The next panel discussion shifted gears at the event with a conversation around programmatic, delving into the journey towards programmatic.
The panel, moderated by James Harrison, Chief Product Officer, BackLite Media, welcomed on stage Andrew Hamblin, Chief Revenue Officer, LDSK; Ashnee Thacker, Senior Account Manager, The Trade Desk; Yasmine Al-Turk, Advanced DOOH & Digital Supply Lead, GroupM MENA; and Sean Gadsby, Head of Programmatic, BackLite Media.
Panelists discussed the technology ecosystem, including Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs), Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs), data integration, and what it would take to unlock the true benefits of programmatic DOOH. The speakers agreed that the future of OOH is definitely programmatic but openly stated the a need for more (and better) digital inventory – and collaboration between DOOH players – to reach the “critical mass” needed for programmatic. Scale is lacking despite client demand, they said, but shared how sector-wide collaboration between the likes of Elevision, JC Decaux, BackLite Media and others are slowly turning the possibility into a reality.
If done right, the industry can open up avenues to use multiple triggers based on multiple data sources to get really granular with targeting, promising greater speed, flexibility efficiencies, as well as agility within MMM. But before people get their hopes too high, the industry needs to jump over the hurdles of education, fragmentation, standardisation, data quality and recognised attribution.
Panel 3 – Smart targeting in DOOH: Harnessing AI for impactful advertising
The third panel discussion built on these discussions around digital OOH and programmatic, adding how artificial intelligence (AI) can be harnessed for impactful advertising.
Moderated by Ghada El-Kari, CMO, W Group Holding, the panel included Hicham Auajjar, Chief Product & Services Officer, MENA at GroupM; Chris Solomi, Chief Digital Officer, Omnicom Media Group; Hammad Benjelloun, Co-Founder & CEO, AiOO; and Hugues Raingeard, Digital Director, Havas Media Middle East.
The panelists discussed how AI is being used to plan, activate and measure, impacting media targeting and catalysing the move from exposure to outcomes. Panelists shared examples of how AI-driven models and smart cameras not only make room for granular measurement and sophisticated actionable data, but also offers insights on active consumer attention and ad effectiveness with detailed data on gender, age and fashion trends. Advancements in digital OOH also offer opportunities to measure actual in-store traffic with cameras on both ads and outside stores.
A question that came up repetitively through the panels, “Will OOH budgets be increased in 2025?” was answered on this panel, with panelists agreeing that “the more measurable the medium is, the more budgets can be allocated to it.” The leaders also discussed the differences between best ads for one versus the best ad for everyone, within the right category and to the right audience with the right messaging.
Panel 4 – Strengthening industry relationships and partnerships
In addition to measurement, another repeated theme at the Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Out of Home 2025 event was a clarion call from all stakeholders for collaboration.
This was specifically addressed in a panel discussion on ‘Strengthening industry relationships and partnerships’, moderated by Sami Al Mufleh, CEO, Hills Advertising who was joined on stage by Mai Cheblak, Head of Corporate Marketing, Emirates NBD; Beatriz Benedetti, Head of Marketing & Innovation, BRF; Ghassan Kassabji, Chief Growth Officer MENA and CEO – UAE, Impact BBDO Group; Rachel Devereux, CMO, Brand, Marketing & Digital Director, Virgin Mobile UAE; and Atharv Ruparel, Head of Marketing, Pan HOME.
Marketers on the panel agreed with the need for media and creative agencies, media suppliers and media owners to get involved in the early stages of a brief, and to create campaigns that are specifically made for each platform rather than attempting to fit the ‘one-size’ into all platforms.
They agreed that “there’s a need to get more people around the table to have real conversations”, which they agreed would create an atmosphere for taking the innovative route to meet brand objectives. “Education before innovation is essential,” the leaders agreed.
Clients and advertisers shared a great appetite for programmatic and called for stakeholders within OOH to increase the digital inventory with a wider network and transparent measurement to prove ROI. Taking the “build and they will come” conversation a step forward, marketers representing brands called for meaningful partnerships and clear communication that clearly “demonstrates how clients can optimise budget allocations” before committing to innovations such as programmatic.
Overall, the panel concluded that there is a clear need for education, better research, collaboration and standardised measurement, all of which come together to highlight how real impact can be generated to differentiate brands and drive recall in a highly cluttered, competitive and fast-paced market.
Panel 5 – The region’s OOH … the path to further growth
The final panel of the day aimed to chart ‘a path to further growth’ within the region’s OOH industry. Leaders discussed the success of the OOH landscape and what’s driving this success, including investments in premium digital OOH, the establishment of a standardised measurement currency to boost advertisers’ trust, programmatic capabilities, and advanced targeting technologies.
Moderated by Maud Moawad, CEO and Co-founder, Seventh Decimal, the speakers on panel included David Hawkins, Managing Director, Billups; Eamon Sallam, Chief Operating Officer, Elevision; Mansour Wehbeh, Client Director, Talon Outdoor; and Stavroula Kalogeras, MBA Programme Director, Heriot-Watt University.
Panelists spoke about standardised measurement to boost client confidence; the use of DOOH – quality products and placements – as an organic addition to urban expansion; the need to improve creativity and collaboration within the industry; as well as the need for OOH stakeholders to go beyond searching for new inventory and focus on new audiences.
Leaders on the panel addressed the gap in the market for hyper-local supply and small-format inventory such as in gyms and cafes with an eye on granular data and targeted marketing. Panelists also debated the pros and cons of smaller volumes with more premium pricing, while addressing the need to to add scalable diversification to DOOH.
They also discussed attribution, direct buys, tactical OOH approaches, and tapping into the untapped potential of ad servers. They talked about what clients want in terms of flexibility within within scheduling, budget and creativity; effective ad formats, and ways to drive and demonstrate efficiencies. Panelists concluded that the ultimate goal was to create meaningful value for clients, while collaborating on the best ways to drive both brand and business outcomes.
All said and done, what’s the consensus?
The OOH industry remains resilient and robust, but there’s a need for better collaboration, greater adoption of premium DOOH, wider programmatic capabilities, and a standardised measurement currency to ensure sustained industry growth.
After the keynotes and panels at the Campaign Breakfast Briefing: Out of Home 2025 event, delegates stayed back for a time of networking, collaborating, engaging with ideas, learning, and brainstorming together.
For those of you who were unable to attend this stellar gathering of like-minded leaders shaping the top trends and addressing the top challenges in the industry, keep an eye out for the YouTube video of the entire event.
Mark you calendars. Campaign Middle East‘s next event, the Agency of the Year Awards, which will be held on 12 December at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi.
