Brands Triple DOOH Adoption Says Research
A joint study by Keen Decision Systems and Accretive reports DOOH adoption tripling over the past year, with marginal profit ROI of $7.97 and median DOOH ROI of $1.76, though no methodology or sample size was disclosed.
A joint study published by Keen Decision Systems, a marketing mix SaaS platform, and Accretive, an OOH data and technology platform, reports that digital out-of-home adoption rose from 1.1% to 3.4% over the past year. Broader OOH adoption grew from 21.3% to 25.2%, and OOH's share of total media spend increased from 1.3% to 1.6%. The study also reports that returns depend on execution discipline rather than the medium alone. Neither company disclosed the sample size, methodology, or time period behind the figures, and no independent reporting has corroborated the results.
The Numbers Behind the Study
Optimized marginal profit ROI for OOH stands at $7.97, up from $7.58 in 2025. On a profit ROI basis, OOH generated $1.48, which the study reports as higher than social, display and partnerships, though no channel-level benchmark numbers for those comparators were provided. For DOOH specifically, median ROI came in at $1.76 versus $1.78 for the broader OOH channel. The study also found a wide efficiency spread: the 75th percentile of DOOH advertisers sees ROI of $3.37, while the 25th percentile sees under a dollar.
Craig Benner, Chief Executive Officer at Accretive, said: "The rapid acceleration of DOOH proves brands recognize the power of real-world exposure, yet the wide range in returns shows that execution strategy largely determines success. Treating out-of-home as a nice-to-have tacked onto a generic omnichannel DSP strategy, buying it like a cheap impression on the open web, severely diminishes its impact. Proper DOOH execution requires real audience planning, purpose-built data, and rigorous outcomes measurement."
Enterprise Divide and Mid-Market Opportunity
The study segments adoption by company size: 58% of brands generating more than $1 billion in annual revenue leverage OOH in their media mix, while only 10% of businesses under $50 million in revenue currently invest in the channel. No sample sizes per revenue band or market breakdown were disclosed.
Justin Jefferson, VP of Insights at Keen Decision Systems, said: "Concentrating marketing dollars entirely within saturated digital inventory creates diminishing returns and inflates acquisition costs. Enterprise leaders already understand that real-world media diversification provides scalable headroom for profit. Expanding the media mix to include channels like out-of-home delivers the balance brands need to drive sustained, incremental growth."
Both study publishers have a commercial interest in the findings: Keen sells marketing mix planning software and Accretive provides OOH data and technology services.