How to Ace Out of Home and Outdoor advertising

For the past decade, the only form of nondigital advertising to see global growth in investment is out of home and outdoor advertising. And with good reason. Out of home cannot be skipped. Out of home and outdoor advertising is the only medium viewers reportedly find non-disruptive, and out of home fills valuable visual space in consumer’s worlds.

Our out of home media planning and buying complements both brand-building and direct response media buying through its impact and innovation. Laser-focused location selection and frequency planning – to ensure viewers encounter the message multiple times for assured impact – are hallmarks of our work using this traditional channel in disruptive ways. 

Between 2010 and 2020, global out of home spending is expected to grow 49% (from $25.54 in 2010 to a projected $38.06 B U.S. dollars 1), with emerging economies seeing demand without precedent.

Despite this growing demand for outdoor and out of home advertising, global restrictions on new inventory for legal billboard spaces mean out of home advertising costs are rising.  To illustrate: in the US, two out of home advertising firms collect nearly half of the out-of-home industry’s revenues.

As an independent media buying agency, our role is to objectively weigh the cost-benefit of advertising placements, and negotiate for the greatest value, in light of the unique benefits that out of home may offer to a brand’s multichannel media mix. Similarly, our counsel for clients has evaluated the advertising value of off-market opportunities, such as the billboard-value of a cruise line’s signage at an international port.

Growth of the out-of-home advertising market is assured in the transition to digital.

In 2018, digital billboards totaled roughly 2% of global out of home inventory, yet digital formats pulled in 15% of outdoor advertising revenue. Digital out of home allows a rotation of multiple advertisers based on share of voice, or even time of day, rather than 100% sponsorship. Digital out of home means that advertisers must inevitably pay higher rates for less exposure – great news for the out of home industry, so-so news for many multinational brand advertisers.

Whatever the format, we work to ensure the added benefit of digital – bright lighting, video and animation, dayparting, and digital-to-offline measurement – yields returns proportional to our client’s advertising investment.

Too often, outdoor and out of home advertising is the complement to a multichannel campaign. Creative often “echoes” the messaging of ads seen elsewhere in a campaign. But to the consumer, outdoor and out of home may in fact be a first point of contact with your message.

Across all our campaigns, we believe all channels must withstand the rigors of a lead channel (a first, primary touchpoint), and a “follow at frequency” which can support the driving message to carry the consumer through to conversion. Lazy creative renders outdoor and out of home ad investment particularly ineffective given the size, and visual potential of the medium. Wild posting isn’t the place for plain messaging (or faces, which are easily defaced). Billboards should be bold. And out of home in speciality environments, such as transit hubs, should consider the consumer’s attention span in the context of their surroundings.