Talon finds 'missing link' in OOH - serving programmatic ads to live sport pubs
Talon, the independent out of home advertising company, has identified an opportunity to programmatically sell adspace to live sports audiences in pubs, via sports broadcaster Screach.
Talon grasps pub programmatic advertising in deal with Screach
The OTT service, reportedly available in 1,000 drinking venues including Marston's, Rileys, Stonegate and Blackrose, currently serves up Premier Sports to venues for a reduced fee, undercutting BT Sports and Sky Sports.
Working with Talon, Screach subsidises subscription costs by delivering targeted ads to pub-goers, rather than expanding the reach of linear spots. In exchange, it is opening up access to Premier Sports which includes La Liga, Serie A, Scottish Cup, MLS, NHL and all of the Guinness Pro14. The service boasts that there are 125,000 TV screens in pubs and bars throughout the UK.
Clients can buy inventory at a hyper-local or national scale and are then given access to real-time audience measurement and dynamic ad insertion tools.
With the move, the OOH company is opening up the potential of venues via programmatic TV and around 1.1 billion annual pub-goers. It is reportedly linked to bar sales to measure footfall. Talon is opening up the premises to media agencies it works with including Omnicom Media Group and Havas Media Group.
Robert Rawlinson, chief executive of Screach, said: "Talon has built its success by offering clients innovative ways to reach audiences, and by making smart use of technology and delivering better impact measurement.
“Screach offers brands of all sizes and budgets a way to combine the reach and power of OOH advertising with the data-led, precision targeting of programmatic content."
He branded pub patrons as "the ultimate captive audience" and cited an average dwell time of a customer watching live sport as one hour 45 minutes.
Barry Cupples, chief executive of Talon, described Screach's offering as a "missing link" in OOH advertising for its blend of broadcast reach, and digital targeting, paired with live sports and a communal viewing experience.
“Its AI technology may be in its infancy, but even at this stage the insight and power it offers is compelling. This is a bold new form of OOH, and particularly for those categories which face restrictions in how they advertise elsewhere, the potential is huge.”