[Interview] Digitizing the OOH Industry—From Korea to the World

Manual operations, lack of standardization, and inefficiency—these are the structural problems that Choi Jae-won, CEO of Smart Media Laboratory Korea (SMLK), identifies as long-standing issues in the out-of-home (OOH) advertising industry in South Korea.

“Despite the existence of thousands of OOH media assets in Korea, media buying proposals are still made manually using Excel and PowerPoint, and due to a lack of data, measuring campaign performance is often unreliable,” Choi explained. “This inefficiency impacts everything from advertisers' budget planning to the operational flow of agencies and media owners.” This problem led to the development of SMLKOMS (SMLK OOH Media Suite), a comprehensive digital platform designed to transform the system.

SMLKOMS aims to automate and standardize the entire OOH advertising process—from planning and proposal to execution and performance analysis. Advertisers simply input their desired location, target audience, and campaign objectives.
The platform’s AI-powered system then recommends optimal media placements, automatically generates proposals and media plans, and provides performance reports upon campaign completion. “It’s an end-to-end solution designed so that anyone can execute OOH campaigns easily, quickly, and based on data,” Choi said.

The first thing users notice is the platform’s speed and clarity. What once took several hours or even days—proposal creation—is now reduced to under three minutes. Strategic proposals based on quantitative data like floating population, traffic volume, and commuter statistics are auto-generated. This gives advertisers a clear rationale for media selection and enables media owners and agencies to deliver persuasive, data-backed proposals quickly. “Clients often tell us they’re now able to make objective decisions more confidently,” Choi added.

One feature that has garnered particular attention is the campaign simulation function, still under development. This allows users to compare the performance and efficiency of different budgets—e.g., USD100,000 vs. USD10,000—or between different plan options with the same budget. Currently, the system is backed by a database of over 100,000 media assets, which continues to grow.

Global scalability is another strength of SMLKOMS. The platform supports AI-driven multilingual translation, enabling real-time communication with overseas clients and generation of localized proposals and reports. SMLK has already executed campaigns through agency partnerships in the U.S., Japan, Singapore, and most recently in Slovakia. The company also offers international media buying services and is looking to expand its global execution network.

Above all, SMLKOMS differentiates itself through its attempt to “quantify” OOH performance. By collecting and visualizing data from telecom providers, such as floating population and traffic volume, the platform calculates media coverage, reach, and projected impressions. After a campaign concludes, advertisers receive a performance report including ROI estimates and actionable insights.

Recognized for its technical innovation, the system has been certified by Korea Technology Finance Corporation (KIBO) as a “Global Standard OOH Advertising System.” The company currently holds one registered patent, 12 copyrights, and is officially certified as a venture company with a dedicated in-house R&D team.

Naturally, some advertisers and media owners have concerns—particularly about managing and updating such a vast inventory of media assets. To this, Choi replied, “Just like platforms such as Baedal Minjok or Coupang Eats manage tens of thousands of vendors, we have a systematic and repeatable process for maintaining our media database.”

Concerns also persist that platforms like SMLKOMS may replace human roles. Choi is clear on this point: “The goal is not to replace the roles of agencies or media companies, but to minimize repetitive manual tasks so they can focus on strategy and sales. This is a tool that empowers, not replaces.” Partner companies who have adopted the system report improved efficiency, saying it has made their work easier and allowed them to manage more accounts simultaneously. The system is particularly effective in handling a high volume of ad-hoc proposals (ASAPs) more efficiently.

On the transformation the platform could bring to the domestic OOH industry, Choi said, “Planners will spend more time on strategic thinking and ideation, and salespeople will be able to persuade clients with data-driven insights. Simple, repetitive work will be handled by automation, allowing for greater expertise and focus across teams.” He emphasized that the OOH sector still remains undervalued compared to online media, and that digitization is essential for the industry's revitalization.

SMLK aims to be more than an advertising agency—it is positioning itself as a tech-driven company that designs and operates OOH infrastructure. According to the World Out of Home Organization, Korea ranked 8th globally in OOH market size as of 2024. Seoul, in particular, offers ideal conditions as a global testbed with its high population density, media saturation, and advanced IT infrastructure. “Our goal is to build the best-in-class Korean OOH Tech model and use that to connect markets around the world,” Choi said. “We aspire to be the Google of OOH advertising.”