OUTFRONT Media expands data analysis with Oracle Cloud
The outdoor media company uses Oracle Autonomous Database and Oracle Analytics to advise customers on where to spend ad dollars most effectively.
“Oracle helps us achieve maximum results for our customers, which in turn grows our business.”
Business challenges
Out-of-home (OOH) advertising—not just on conventional roadside billboards, but also on digital screens, street furniture, various forms of public transportation, and other platforms—remains a vital component of companies’ ad mix. In the US, much of that advertising is powered by OUTFRONT Media, which operates more than 500,000 digital and static billboards seen by more than 70% of Americans every day. Some 90% of people recall seeing an OOH ad, 25 percent have shared an OOH ad on social media, and 74% who have visited a store after seeing such an ad make a purchase, according to OUTFRONT research.
By analyzing third-party data, OUTFRONT is advising customers on the ideal mix of OOH advertising. As one of the largest out-of-home advertising companies in North America, the firm analyzes third-party media spend along with transactional sales data to give customers a clearer picture of how their ad spending is performing with target audiences in all media markets and channels. But loading all of that third-party data—about a terabyte—for sales and marketing reporting purposes previously took the company two to three weeks.
We realized that we had to change our data platform to something more robust.
Why OUTFRONT chose Oracle
Company leaders recognized that Oracle Autonomous Database’s comprehensive automation for managing manual tasks such as performance tuning, patching and security would mean that tech staffers would no longer have to spend 25% of their time on administrative activities. They would be free to work on data modeling, which would bring more value to the company.
Results
OUTFRONT turned to Oracle Autonomous Database and Oracle Analytics to speed the process and expand the insights. Today, in just minutes, the company can load and merge terabytes of data and securely publish interactive dashboards for its salesforce. The salesforce can now share a comprehensive view of customers’ ad spending—across outdoor, online, TV, radio, and print channels—to show them how their investment would perform better by shifting spend to outdoor.
The cloud-based Oracle Autonomous Database requires OUTFRONT to pay only for the capacity it uses, so it costs less than on-premises and other subscription database cloud solutions, while delivering more robust performance and security. Oracle Autonomous Database delivered comprehensive automation for managing manual tasks such as performance tuning, patching and security.
About the customer
As one of North America’s most innovative media companies, OUTFRONT Media leverages the power of creative excellence, unbeatable locations, and smart audience data to change the game for advertisers.