Omnichannel advertising solutions-focused company Locala has launched a new product called Panel Optimizer, designed to improve the way marketers plan, optimize and measure their DOOH campaigns.

Using real-time passerby data and advanced audience insights, the Panel Optimizer calculates a DOOH score to identify the most impactful locations and times for ad placement, Hadrien Bailly, Locala managing director in Canada, tells MiC.

By focusing on the advertising boards that are most relevant to their audience, Bailly says advertisers can reduce wasted ad spend and increase efficiency, especially in a country where the urban landscapes are diverse, with each region attracting different demographics, behaviours and movement patterns.

Bailly notes that while DOOH ad spend is expected to reach $30 billion by 2029 (according to Statista), today’s marketers still face significant challenges, such as limited optimization capabilities and incomplete, static data. “We recognized a significant gap in the market for data-driven planning and optimization capabilities tailored to DOOH,” he says. “While digital advertising has embraced essential metrics like viewability and attention to maximize impact, DOOH has lacked these same standards.”

According to Locala, early users of the solution have seen significant improvements in brand awareness, impact scores and ad recall rates, with some seeing increases of up to 24% in brand awareness alone. The company says it is unable to disclose the names of the clients at this time.