Insights from JCDecaux and Lumen Research identify OOH as a high-impact tool that can restore online ad engagement as cookies are phased out.
The Cookie Is Crumbling
Google recently announced a new feature within their Chrome browser where users could disable third-party cookies that allow advertisers to track consumers’ cross-site activity for the purpose of serving relevant ads.
Research published by PrimeAudience found that 56% of US marketers are testing privacy-safe alternatives to prepare for this new reality that will fundamentally change the digital advertising landscape.
JCDecaux partnered with Lumen Research to analyze how OOH, which has always been cookieless, can bridge the gap which the removal of third-party cookies is going to create.
The Research: Methodology
1,800 participants were broken into three distinct test groups. Each group would eventually be asked to read an online news page with advertising.
Group 1- Cookie: Completed a task on one website, then visited an online news web page with an ad that would pertain to the task prior to mimic cookie targeting behavior.
Example: a participant was tasked with identifying the cheapest available tickets on an airline website. Afterwards, on the news web page, they were exposed to an airline advertisement.
Group 2- Cookieless: Viewed a roadside walkthrough video that features OOH advertisements then visited an online news web page. The OOH ads in the walkthrough did not relate to the ad on the online news web page.
Group 3- Primed with OOH: Viewed a roadside walkthrough video that features OOH advertisements then visited an online news web page. One of the OOH ads in the walkthrough would appear on the online news web page.
The experiment included six test ads relating to distinct product categories including fashion, travel, grocery, and automotive.
Ad view time was measured using Lumen’s eye tracking technology. Awareness was measured by asking participants questions about the online ad. Click-through rates were also recorded among all three groups.
Longer online ad view times are achievable with prior OOH exposure
The ‘cookieless’ participants who were not primed with OOH viewed the online ad for an average of 1.1 seconds, whereas the participants who were primed with OOH viewed the ad for an average of 1.5 seconds or +37% longer.
Also tested was how the ad’s impact differed among those interested in the ad’s subject.
Those primed participants who were interested in the ad’s subject viewed the ad for 2 seconds compared to 1.5 seconds of view time from the average primed participant- a +33% increase in attention.
Internet users are more susceptible to online ads if exposed to OOH first
The research proves that cookies work as the cookieless group saw a 40% decline in awareness. That awareness, however, was totally restored through OOH priming.
Click-through rates also dropped without cookies, but OOH priming was able to replace some of that drop.
Key takeaway: OOH priming works
Cookies allowed for highly relevant, effective online advertising. However, brands are not buying cookies. Brands are buying what cookies deliver which is relevancy, and by priming consumers with outdoor ad exposure in the cookieless future, that gap is filled.