In the last few years, many companies have focused their marketing strategies on the digital space. However, traditional out-of-home or OOH advertising is highly effective in boosting brand awareness and conversions.
The increase in digital advertising just upped the creativity of marketing campaigns, including outdoor advertising.
Digital marketing and OOH advertising are not in direct competition, and when leveraged correctly, they can complement each other and take your brand to the next level.
What Is OOH Advertising?
Good examples of OOH advertising are the large advertisements on major thoroughfares and urban centers. They are advertisements you experience or see when you step out of your home. They range from words on a billboard or complex digital advertisements on large screens.
Global spending for out-of-home advertisements is projected to reach $36.64 billion at the end of 2022. Traditional OOH advertising, like billboards and posters, covers a large chunk of the market volume at $20.54 billion.
Each year, print advertisement spending decreases, but OOH marketing continues growing. However, gone are the simple billboards or blown-up versions of print ads. Out-of-home ads are more creative than ever, giving birth to digital out-of-home advertising.
Spending on digital advertising increases yearly and is expected to be on par with traditional OOH media numbers by 2027.
Five countries spent billions of dollars on outdoor advertisement in 2022:
- China – $9.1 billion
- United States – $8.6 billion
- Japan – $4.6 billion
- Germany – $1.8 billion
- United Kingdom – $1.3 billion
Types of Outdoor Media and OOH Advertising Examples
Out-of-home media refers to the medium used for OOH advertising.
Here are common types of OOH media and some out-of-home advertising examples.
Billboards
These are the most popular types of traditional OOH advertising. It involves using large-scale print advertisements to market a brand’s products, services, or message. Billboards are typically situated on major highways, urban centers, or business districts with high vehicle and foot traffic.
Billboards are meant to be eye-catching, so marketers continue investing in them. But before you lease a billboard, you must first think about what to put on it. Ads must be strategically placed in front of an audience that will respond to them.
Successful Billboard Ads: Netflix
Netflix billboard ads are as entertaining as their shows. Some of them don’t even have images, just words. One billboard states: “Don’t give up on your dreams. We started with DVDs.” The ad refers to Netflix’s history as a multibillion-dollar company that began as a subscription-based DVD mailing service.
Some of the brand’s billboards showcase posters for movies or shows. But the funny and relatable messages are very memorable, such as: “Scare your ex. Change your password” and “If you can read this, you can read subtitles.”
Posters
Posters are similar to billboards but are much smaller in size. They are often situated within commercial and industrial areas where vehicular and foot traffic is heavy.
Posters have more versatility than billboards because of their size. You can see them attached to public infrastructures, such as waiting areas for public transportation, train stations, and other such spaces.
Because posters don’t have the size advantage of the billboard, they must be more interesting and attractive. There should be an intelligent use of colors and visuals.
Successful Poster Ads: Oreo
Oreo is the most successful cookie brand in the world and employs highly creative poster advertising. Almost every year, Oreo demonstrates the best out-of-home ad examples, including a collection of posters depicting landmark events through the creative use of the cookie.
For Pride Month, Oreo released a poster with a piece of multi-stuffed cookie with eight cream fillings that showcased the different colors of the Pride flag. Another poster has a half-eaten Oreo in a sea of milk commemorating its 100th anniversary. Still, it’s also a reference to the movie Jaws, as the cookie also looked like a shark fin.
Transit
Transit advertising is the creative use of buses and taxis to promote a brand. This type of advertising helps carry the message across a city or major roads. It’s a mobile type of out-of-home marketing that covers a much larger area than billboards and posters, which are stationary.
It’s a fantastic OOH campaign because you can choose the type of transit based on your target demographics. Bus ads use the vehicle’s body as a canvas, while most taxi ads sit on top of the car or run on televisions within the vehicle.
Successful Transit Ad: Copenhagen City Zoo, King Kong Movie, Snickers
Copenhagen City Zoo and the King Kong movie have the most attractive yet terrifying bus advertisements. Buses in Denmark have giant snakes wrapped around the vehicles, while buses promoting King Kong in Orange County looked like they were being crushed by a giant creature’s hand.
The chocolate bar Snickers used taxi roof signs creatively by making it look like a bar of Snickers, but instead of the famous chocolate’s name, you’ll see “Snaxi”—get it? Snickers taxi?
Airport
Thousands of people are in airports at any time of the day, which makes them a great place to advertise. Airport ads are mostly unmissable wherever they are placed.
According to a study, 80% of frequent flyers notice airport advertising, and 42% take action, whether they visit the brand website, research the product or service, or pay money to the brand.
Successful Airport Advertisement: Ford, Casino Di Venezia
There are thousands of ads in major airports. Many are on the walls, while some are overhead on indoor billboards. Some posters also have their own stands.
Ford and Casino Di Venezia found clever ways to advertise their brands on the conveyor belt at the Budapest Airport and Venice Marco Polo Airport, respectively. The Ford ad makes it seem like the bags are coming out of a Ford car’s trunk, while the casino ad makes the conveyor belt look like a life-sized roulette wheel.
Street Furniture
Street furniture advertising, also known as street-level urban media, is one of the most effective outdoor advertising examples. Furniture in public places and high-traffic pedestrian areas is often available for OOH media buying.
Some examples of street furniture used in OOH advertising include the following:
- Public benches
- ATM kiosks
- Bus shelters
- Pedestrian panels
- Mall ad panels
- Phone booths
Successful Street Furniture Advertisement: KitKat
KitKat’s famous tagline is “Have a break, have a KitKat.” For their street furniture advertisements, they made public benches look like KitKat bars, and people can sit and have a break.
Digital Out-of-Home Ads
Any OOH media can be turned into digital advertisements. The digital OOH media definition is any digital display ad that people can view in a public setting. It can be OOH billboard advertising or digital posters in any public space.
DOOH advertising is also expected to become more popular than traditional formats in the near future. Here, brands can resort to programmatic buying of media. What is programmatic out-of-home OOH media buying? They are instant transactions that can be completed on your mobile device. It’s very convenient, especially for companies who need the service quickly.
What You Need To Consider in OOH Advertising
OOH media are in public spaces with high traffic, but they do not mean instant success for your brand. You must be highly purposeful and strategic in creating your OOH advertising campaign.
Here are some things to consider:
Circulation
How many people pass by the area? This is a crucial question that must be answered during OOH media buying. Local transportation authorities may have an approximate number for billboards on highways or major thoroughfares.
Demographics
What are the demographics (age, gender, profession, income level, and other characteristics) of motorists and passersby in that area? Businesses must be strategic in their OOH media buying and ensure that their target audience will see the ads.
Impressions
Impressions refer to the total number of exposures to your outdoor billboard advertising. It’s based on circulation or the number of people who see the ads, the size of the billboard, and its visibility.
Message/Story
Successful billboards tell a story—one that is interesting or relatable. It must be expressed succinctly, as most billboards and posters on roadways are only visible to motorists for a few seconds.
Benefits of OOH Advertising Media
Here are the many benefits of OOH media for your brand:
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- People rarely miss them because of their size and positioning.
- Brands can be highly creative with their messaging.
- They are not affected by ad blockers.
- They cannot be turned off as in broadcast or mobile ads.
- There is great potential to capture a vast audience.
What’s the Future of OOH Advertising?
Physical advertising through OOH media is here to stay. When well-crafted and well-planned, an OOH advertisement meant to attract motorists and pedestrians can also grab the attention of social media users.
It’s best to partner with SaaS platforms like Mediatool to simplify OOH advertising campaign planning and implementation through a cloud-based platform. You can plan, measure, evaluate, and recalibrate your campaign in one space for convenient communication and collaboration.
Request a Mediatool demo today!
