By: Brent Oakley, CEO & Co-Founder, Vibenomics

Since our launch in 2017, Vibenomics has helped thousands of location-based businesses and connected cities create and control the right audio  “vibe” in their environments driving enhanced sales and enriching visitor experiences. In the process, we have created a national footprint that we know will be much sought after by both audio and out-of-home (OOH) advertisers. Today, we are pleased to announce the launch of the Vibenomics Audio Out-of-Home Advertising Marketplace, offering advertisers access to  150 million on-the-go consumers in the places where they shop, work, travel, and play.

To shepherd the official launch of our Audio Out-of-Home Advertising Marketplace, Vibenomics has brought on visionary broadcast and technology veteran Paul Brenner, a former President of NextRadio/TagStation and SVP of Emmis Communications, to serve as Chief Strategy Officer.

Building a Network Effect

Prior to developing our new Audio Out-of-Home Advertising Marketplace, the Vibenomics team spent two years focused on building a location-based audio experience solution that’s easy to use for a single site, yet powerful enough to handle the most complex demands of multi-site organizations. The result was a complete solution for managing audio experiences that combines cloud technology with full-service audio programming and content production capabilities. Our audio experience offering has quickly scaled to over 4,000 environments, reaching over 150 million unique visitors annually with just the right mix of licensed background music, professionally recorded voice messaging, and live announcements.

The right music and announcements enable retailers, chains, and connected cities to create differentiated experiences that engage audiences in memorable, non-intrusive ways when and where other mediums cannot. That’s the power of Vibenomics: enabling locations to dynamically control their vibe ensuring an environment conducive to building brand loyalty and driving higher sales.

Establishing a Track Record

The appeal of audio out-of-home advertising as part of the shopper marketing mix has already attracted over 100 local and national advertisers who participated in an 8-month beta testing program with targeted ads running in retail stores, attractions, and public spaces such as Royal Farms, Ricker’s (acquired by GetGo), Georgia Street in Downtown Indianapolis, The Waterpark at Monon Center, and Grand Park Sports Complex. Participating advertisers include Monster Energy, Live Nation, General Mills, Body Armor, Pepsi, Purdue University, and Red Bull. Brand advertisers as well as our advertising marketplace locations reported consistently positive results, with a retail chain partner achieving 42% sales lift and $1.9 million incremental revenue for an entertainment category advertiser.

“How and where audio is consumed is changing rapidly with the emergence of podcasting, streaming services, and smart speakers, but inventory has been limited. Vibenomics is enabling brands to make the most of the emerging digital audio ecosystem by unlocking a whole new placement option that serves both the audio and OOH advertiser markets. We will build up our Audio Out-of-Home Advertising Marketplace with real-time custom branded and curated content, dynamic music and programmatic advertising across all marketing verticals and categories.”
— Paul Brenner, Chief Strategy Officer

Message Received

Our customers, as well as the broader audio and OOH advertising ecosystems, all echo the same message about the potential for our new audio out-of-home offering. Here’s what our Executive Chairman Scott McCorkle had to say about this important new direction for Vibenomics:

“The OOH market is expected to grow from $8 billion to $11.5 billion through 2022, and we are already taking market share from others by offering more efficiency and better results. The Vibenomics Audio Out-of-Home Advertising Marketplace is proving very attractive to national advertisers.  They want to reach the unique audience we have created and amplify the voice of their brands in an entirely new way – right at the point of sale – when it matters most.”

— Scott McCorkle, Executive Chairman, Vibenomics

The Out of Home Advertising Association of America reports that the out-of-home (OOH) industry is experiencing growth not seen in more than a decade. Revenue grew 7.7% to nearly $2.7 billion for the second quarter of 2019 compared to the same period in 2018, marking the sector’s highest quarterly growth since 2007. For the first half of the year, revenue was up 7%. The strong quarterly growth occurred across all four major OOH channels: billboards, street furniture, transit and place-based. Moreover, nearly 70% of the top 100 advertisers in the space increased their spend in the second quarter compared to the same timeframe last year, while 25% more than doubled their OOH investment.

Some key highlights of the new Vibenomics Out-of-Home Advertising Marketplace include:

• 100% uninterrupted share of voice in places where other ad channels can’t reach
• Endemic advertisers reach consumers right at the point of sale
• Non-endemic advertisers gain new context addressing audiences on the go
• Brand-safe placements immune to ad fraud
• Dynamic, in-stream, programmatic digital audio ad insertion
• Full-service in-house audio production team can turn around IAB-standard digital audio creative in hours

For more about Vibenomics, you can read our story here.