The Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising sector in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has once again recorded remarkable growth in 2024. For the third consecutive year, OOH media investments have surged by double digits, marking an +16.3% increase compared to 2023. Notably, Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) now accounts for over one-third of the market, representing 36% of total OOH investments.
Sustained Growth in OOH Media
Following the upward trajectory observed in 2022 and 2023, the OOH market continues to expand significantly. According to Thomas De Greef, Head of OOH Investment Operations at GroupM, the consistent growth was anticipated after the first half of 2024 recorded a substantial 23% increase. However, the second half of the year saw a slight slowdown, bringing the annual growth to +16%. Despite this, the cumulative effect of three consecutive years of expansion has resulted in an overall market growth of 53% since 2021.
DOOH’s Increasing Market Share and Changing Buying Patterns
The growing significance of DOOH is another key finding of the 2024 UMA OOH Benchmark. Digital formats now command a market share of 36.4%. Within this segment, investment patterns have shown an interesting shift, with programmatic DOOH (prDOOH) experiencing a decline of 18% for the first time. Programmatic purchases now account for 20% of total digital screen investments.
The growth of OOH is largely driven by traditional insertion order (IO) purchases. While DOOH as a whole has continued to expand, programmatic buying has not performed as strongly in the latter half of the year.
Programmatic DOOH is not evolving at the same pace as the broader market. This represents a significant growth opportunity that remains underutilized. To maximize impact and maintain competitive CPMs, it is crucial to integrate programmatic buying more effectively into our OOH strategies.