VIOOH today announced a strategic partnership with ISM Intelligent Signage for Media that brings programmatic advertising capabilities to 784 digital screens across Germany's extensive Shell gas station network. The collaboration delivers access to 204 million monthly impressions throughout major cities and regional areas, positioning the London-based supply-side platform to capitalize on consumer attention during high-value moments at fuel forecourts.

The partnership provides international media buyers with automated access to 75-inch and 85-inch digital displays strategically positioned across Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne and additional urban markets throughout Germany. According to the announcement, ISM's network generates over 200 million monthly impressions through comprehensive national coverage at Shell locations where consumers demonstrate extended dwell times and strong purchase intent during refueling activities.

Digital screens at these forecourt locations maintain visibility throughout multiple consumer touchpoints. The Hi-Light displays remain visible while drivers enter the gas station premises, throughout the entire refueling process, and when customers enter Shell convenience stores. This multi-exposure approach enables brands to connect with audiences across several high-value interactions within a single visit, creating opportunities for message reinforcement that roadside digital out-of-home formats cannot replicate.

"This partnership with ISM adds depth to our European inventory, connecting media buyers with high-quality screens that reach audiences when they're receptive to messaging and actively buying goods," said Gavin Wilson, Global Chief Commercial Officer at VIOOH. The forecourt placements create opportunities to influence purchase decisions across Germany's diverse consumer base while leveraging the real-time flexibility delivered by programmatic DOOH advertising infrastructure.

The partnership positions VIOOH within Germany's growing programmatic advertising market, which demonstrated significant momentum throughout 2025. Adform clients expanded DOOH spending by 118% year-on-year during the first quarter of 2025, reflecting accelerating advertiser interest in automated outdoor advertising channels across German-speaking markets.

Germany represents one of Europe's three largest advertising economies alongside the United Kingdom and France. These three markets collectively account for 60% of total European digital advertising expenditure, according to IAB Europe's comprehensive market analysis. The European digital advertising market surpassed €100 billion for the first time in 2024, reaching €118.9 billion with 16% year-over-year growth.

ISM has operated as the exclusive advertising spaces marketer for Shell Germany since 2012. The company expanded from door media into digital DOOH advertising spaces throughout recent years while managing technical infrastructure for more than 5,000 screens across Germany. "By integrating with VIOOH's platform, we're giving brands programmatic tools to reach consumers at high-value moments efficiently," said Nico Grüßinger, Business Development Manager at ISM.

The partnership opens ISM's inventory to international buyers who understand the strategic value of reaching consumers during active purchasing mindsets. Gas station environments deliver unique advantages for advertisers because visitors already demonstrate clear intention to spend money, having arrived specifically to purchase fuel and potentially additional convenience store items. This differs fundamentally from passive exposure in transit or public spaces where consumers may not be in commercial mindsets.

Programmatic buying infrastructure continues expanding across digital out-of-home markets throughout 2025 and into 2026. Place Exchange launched Programmatic Guaranteed for DOOH within Google's Display & Video 360 platform in December 2025, enabling advertisers to secure premium inventory with guaranteed pricing and placements while maintaining programmatic workflow efficiency. This development marked a significant infrastructure advancement for the outdoor advertising sector by bringing automated transaction capabilities to formats traditionally reliant on direct negotiation processes.

For marketing professionals managing multi-market campaigns, the VIOOH-ISM partnership demonstrates how supply-side platforms aggregate premium inventory across diverse European markets through unified buying interfaces. Advertisers planning campaigns spanning multiple countries can now incorporate German forecourt inventory into broader programmatic strategies without establishing separate direct sales relationships with individual media owners.

VIOOH operates in 36 markets globally and maintains partnerships with more than 50 demand-side platforms. The company launched in 2018 as a supply-side platform specifically designed for digital out-of-home advertising, connecting buyers and sellers through what it characterizes as a premium marketplace. The platform processes millions of bid requests while optimizing campaign delivery through machine learning and data analysis capabilities.

Recent VIOOH expansions demonstrate the company's strategy of targeting high-frequency consumer environments where purchasing decisions occur. The platform added over 65,000 digital screens across the United States in August 2025 through partnership with Vengo, representing 9% of the US digital OOH market. That integration enabled advertisers to access inventory across grocery stores, bars, casual dining venues, malls, offices, gyms and additional retail environments generating 13 billion monthly impressions.

VIOOH's January 2026 partnership with Dolphin OOH provided programmatic access to more than 5,000 digital screens across major American markets including New York City, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, Atlanta and Long Beach. Grocery stores within Dolphin's network deliver 112 million monthly impressions, while convenience stores generate 63 million monthly impressions through placement strategies focused on extended consumer dwell periods.

The environmental performance of programmatic DOOH advertising represents an additional consideration for marketers evaluating channel sustainability. VIOOH reported in November 2025 that its platform generates carbon emissions of 0.041 grams CO2e per ad impression, demonstrating more than 20 times better carbon efficiency than programmatic display advertising's typical 0.84g CO2e per impression and over 30 times more efficiently than programmatic video's 1.24g CO2e per impression. The broadcast nature of digital out-of-home allows multiple viewers to simultaneously receive content, distributing energy consumption across numerous impressions compared to individualized digital channels where each impression requires separate data transmission to specific devices.

The gas station advertising format offers distinct measurement advantages compared to traditional roadside billboards. Extended consumer dwell times at forecourts enable more sophisticated audience verification methodologies than brief highway exposures where viewers pass at high speeds. Media buyers can leverage venue-specific targeting parameters to differentiate between various retail environments, optimizing campaign delivery based on consumer behavior patterns associated with different location types.

ISM's network provides comprehensive national coverage spanning Germany's diverse geographic markets. Major metropolitan areas including Berlin, Munich, Hamburg and Cologne receive substantial coverage, while regional markets throughout Germany maintain presence through Shell's extensive fuel station distribution. This geographic breadth enables advertisers to execute both concentrated urban campaigns and broader national reach strategies through a single inventory source.

The partnership reflects broader trends toward place-based digital advertising that targets consumers in specific commercial environments. Retail media networks demonstrated 22.1% growth in Germany during 2024 compared to overall advertising market expansion of 6.1%, nearly quadrupling total market growth rates according to analysis from the Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft. Retailers increasingly recognize substantial revenue potential from customer data and digital real estate monetization as privacy regulations limit traditional digital advertising targeting capabilities.

Global projections indicate retail media will capture 20% of worldwide advertising revenue by 2030, exceeding $300 billion in spending. The expansion reflects sustained advertiser interest in reaching consumers during high-purchase-intent moments across physical retail environments where advertising exposure directly precedes buying decisions.

Through programmatic buying via VIOOH's supply-side platform, advertisers gain enhanced flexibility, precision targeting and improved efficiency across ISM's comprehensive national network. The technology infrastructure enables real-time campaign optimization, dynamic creative delivery based on contextual factors, and measurement capabilities aligned with digital advertising standards that outdoor formats have historically lacked.

The announcement arrives as digital out-of-home adoption accelerates across advertising channels. Search dollars have started shifting to alternative digital channels including paid social, audio, connected TV and digital out-of-home according to December 2025 analysis from Intentsify. This migration reflects fundamental changes in how consumers discover information and make purchasing decisions across integrated digital and physical environments.

For the German advertising market specifically, the VIOOH-ISM partnership provides international agencies with streamlined access to premium forecourt inventory through programmatic infrastructure they already use for other markets. This reduces operational complexity for media buyers managing multi-country campaigns while expanding available inventory options for advertisers seeking to reach German consumers during high-value commercial moments.

Timeline

Summary

Who: VIOOH, a London-based global digital out-of-home supply-side platform operating in 36 markets with partnerships across more than 50 demand-side platforms, announced a strategic partnership with ISM Intelligent Signage for Media, the exclusive advertising spaces marketer for Shell Germany since 2012 that manages technical infrastructure for more than 5,000 screens across Germany.

What: The partnership provides programmatic access to 784 strategically positioned 75-inch to 85-inch digital screens generating over 200 million monthly impressions throughout Germany's Shell gas station network. The ISM network delivers 204 million monthly impressions with national coverage spanning Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne and additional cities. Hi-Light screens maintain visibility while drivers enter forecourts, throughout refueling, and when entering convenience stores, enabling multi-touchpoint brand exposure during single visits. Through VIOOH's supply-side platform, advertisers gain automated buying capabilities, enhanced flexibility, precision targeting and improved efficiency with real-time campaign optimization and measurement capabilities.

When: VIOOH announced the partnership on January 26, 2026, in London.

Where: The partnership operates across Germany's extensive Shell gas station network, providing comprehensive national coverage throughout major cities including Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne and regional areas across the country. VIOOH's platform enables international and domestic media buyers to access this inventory through programmatic infrastructure used for multi-market campaigns.

Why: The partnership addresses growing demand for programmatic DOOH capabilities in German-speaking markets, where Adform clients expanded DOOH spending by 118% year-on-year during Q1 2025. Gas station forecourts deliver unique advertising value by reaching consumers during high-purchase-intent moments with extended dwell times, enabling brands to influence purchasing decisions across audiences already demonstrating active commercial behavior. The collaboration expands VIOOH's European inventory while providing ISM with access to international programmatic advertising budgets, eliminating manual negotiation processes typical of traditional outdoor advertising sales while maintaining premium inventory positioning.

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