OOH advertising reaches 98% of the population at least once a week (1). It’s effective at reaching commuters, early risers, late-nighters, parents, drivers and shoppers; it can reach just about anyone. And when used as part of an overall advertising strategy, OOH advertising is synergistic and maximises impact.

In this article, we explore the many different types of OOH advertising and unveil the ways in which they elevate your brand’s impact.

What is OOH Advertising?

OOH advertising is the collective term for advertising that reaches the consumer outside of the home. OOH advertising is beneficial for its ability to reach a large and diverse audience without consumers being able to block, switch off or skip advertisements.

From eye-catching billboards to mesmerising transit ads, understanding each type of OOH advertising format is crucial to developing a strategic approach that effectively targets your audience. So what are the types of OOH advertising and how do they fit seamlessly into your advertising strategy? Read on to find out.

Out-of-Home Advertising — Example of out-of-home advertising with billboard advertising.

Types of OOH advertising

1 - Billboard Advertising

Billboard advertising was once considered too expensive or too unattainable, only accessible to established brands and businesses. Today, it is an advertising format that is widely accepted by consumers and accessible to most brands. It helps build brand awareness (and keeps brands top-of-mind), maximises exposure and is fully customisable beyond standard formats.

As a highly effective form of brand promotion and awareness building, billboard advertising presents the ability to not only reach mass amounts of people but also keep your target audience engaged throughout their daily journey outside of the home. By strategically placing billboards in areas that your target audience frequents, you can keep your brand at the forefront of their minds.

Like most OOH advertising methods, billboard advertising provides differentiality through its unique ability to capture attention in a non-intrusive manner. Their visual impact, strategic location and creative flexibility mean billboard advertising is impactful and effective without the invasive nature of other marketing methods such as pop-up ads or telemarketing calls.

There are several different types of billboard advertising formats such as 96-sheets, classic 48-sheets, bus stop billboard ads and more. Whether your goal is to target locally or on a national scale, the type of billboard you choose can have a profound impact. For instance, 6-sheet billboard ads are ideal for businesses with limited budgets that want to target local communities, whereas 96-sheets are ideal for businesses looking for maximum reach and visibility. Nevertheless, they can be used together and in conjunction with other advertising channels to increase reach, visibility, engagement and more.

Your billboard strategy can be a key touchpoint in a wider cross-channel out-of-home advertising campaign whereby brands that target consumers via social media marketing can use billboards to remain top-of-mind when the consumer is out and about in the real world. Similarly, billboards can act as an effective tool for increasing reach online with viral creative billboard campaigns.

At One Day Agency, we cover main world markets such as the USA, all EMEA and APAC as well as working with some of the largest and smallest brands in the world covering all billboard formats listed here.

2 - Wall Mural Art

Wall murals are a creative advertising format that overextends into online spaces. Wall murals are hands down the most likeable type of advertising. The artistic expression and incredible detail are often more than enough to make people stop in their tracks and stare, leaving a lasting unforgettable impression.

This impression extends online. Wall mural advertisements are the most offline-to-online shared experience that a brand can create and produce a lasting impact that will live on publishers and social media pages for decades to come. When used as part of an overall advertising strategy, wall murals can be an integral tool for generating buzz online and increasing brand awareness.

3 - Transport Advertising

The majority of a consumer’s time is often spent on public transport, especially in urban areas. The average usual commuting time in Great Britain was 27 minutes in 2021 (2) and transport advertising capitalises on these long commute dwell times.

What’s more, transport advertising is not only viewed by transport users. Widely accepted as a highly effective, high-frequency media, transport advertising reaches just about anyone, from tourists to employees. Bus advertising, mobile billboards, taxi advertising and more are all seen by the public as they go about their daily lives. Because this advertising format is linked to people’s twice-a-day daily commutes, these areas can be targeted specifically to reach specific audiences increasing the frequency of exposure.

Within the transport advertising ecosystem, there are plenty of great options and placements that drive awareness or direct response for any brand of any size. You can choose from:

Airport Advertising

Airports are the perfect environment for advertising since they allow advertisers to target business travellers, leisure travellers, tourists, commuters, HNWIs, and frequent flyers. Research shows that 83% of frequent flyers notice airport advertising with 3 out of 4 associating airport advertising with high-quality brands. (3)

Bus Advertising

Bus advertising can reach a huge audience nationwide that not only includes bus users but also pedestrians, tourists and motorists. In 2022, 2.8 billion passenger journeys were made by local buses in England. (4)

Rail Advertising

Rail advertising gives brands the opportunity to reach their potential buyers at a time when they have the longest dwell time, fewer distractions and are more receptive to consumer messaging.

London Underground Advertising

Brands can target commuters inside train cars, entire stations or just one, specific platform, escalators or access tunnels with a wide selection of options. 5 million passengers every single day will see Tube ads!

Taxi Advertising

Taxi advertising offers a few options such as Taxi Wraps or Taxi Full Livery for maximum brand impact, Taxi Super Sides that can be scaled into hundreds of taxis with cost-effective coverage, and finally, close engagement with passengers using Taxi Tip Seats ads.

Mobile Ad Vans

Booked in 8-hour slots, with the same or different message (ad rotation) during your campaign, ad vans are a great mobile media to tap into locations where, for example, other media are not present such as events, football grounds and more.

Transport advertising provides on-the-go engagement and exposure, extending your brand’s reach beyond static advertising methods. Advertisements on public transport can be strategically placed to target specific locations, reaching audiences in particular communities or areas.

Incorporating transport ads into your overall advertising strategy offers a unique opportunity for targeted and dynamic communication that follows your target audience as they go about their day.

Example of Digital Out-of-Home Advertising.

4 - Digital Out-of-Home Advertising

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) is the future of OOH advertising. Only, it’s already here! DOOH brings the dynamic nature of digital screens and smarter placements to advertising with some being available to buy programmatically. With DOOH, you can unlock personalisation, better targeting and decreased wastage, amplifying the effect of your advertising campaign.

Several traditional OOH formats have been digitised including billboards, some transport ads, and place-based advertising. Some DOOH formats even offer interactive features which can make your brand more memorable and leave a lasting impression.

Digital OOH advertising means that advertisers can tap into their target audience’s habits and control the frequency and scheduling of their ads. An example of this is weather tracking. A fashion retailer can leverage the dynamism of digital OOH by tracking the weather and temperature so that when warm, the advert shows models in dresses and sandals, and when cold, the advert shows the models in warm fluffy coats, woolly hats and scarves.

As a dynamic and versatile channel, DOOH can be used to significantly enhance your overall advertising strategy. DOOH provides brands with excellent flexibility and leverages specified content, with the ability to adapt campaigns in real time increasing engagement and relevance. The medium complements other advertising channels to strengthen brand presence in both the real and online world.

5 - Street Furniture Advertising

Street furniture is an effective way of connecting with your audience on a more personal level. There isn’t any other way to be at eye level with pedestrians or at a close distance to vehicular traffic.

This high-frequency, low-cost advertising aimed at a specific target market should be an important consideration for your media campaign for a variety of reasons, including providing the ideal opportunity to increase brand awareness.

There are a number of street furniture formats to choose from:

Bus Stop Advertising and Bus Shelters

Bus shelters can make the most of commuter dwell time and reach a large number of people each day. Found across the country, this format allows advertisers to hone in on specific locations and can therefore suit small, local businesses to build awareness and drive store traffic.

Urban Panels

Urban panels are eye-level ads designed to capture the attention of passersby. With most city dwellers spending a large chunk of their time OOH, urban panels are an excellent way to get your brand in front of a diverse demographic.

Bike Shares

Bike share ads cater to a city-based, young, eco-conscious audience, making them a good option for targeting millennials. As well as the static location of bike shares, your ads will be mobile as users take them around the city, exposing your ad to many more people in different demographics. These therefore have the advantage of being static as well as a mobile transport ad.

Metro Lights

Metro light panels are eye-level street furniture ads often placed in busy urban locations. With these, you can reach all types of people including those travelling to where they live, work, relax and play.

Urban Furniture

Urban furniture is primarily located curbside in high-traffic areas of major cities. This means that they can be seen by pedestrians as well as motorists. They are often used for point-of-purchase marketing located near physical stores to influence consumer behaviour.

Street furniture ensures maximum attention for a relatively low cost, making it highly effective for all business types. They offer high-frequency exposure, and targeted advertising ensuring your message is not only consistently seen but reaching the right people. Furthermore, with today’s programmatic out-of-home advertising platforms, you can change and adapt messaging to reflect external factors such as time of day, weather, temperature or trending topics, providing greater flexibility and strategic options for businesses.

By strategically using street furniture, advertisers can enhance their overall advertising strategy and maximise impact for your brand.

6 - Place-Based Advertising

Place-based advertising is advertising in arenas, stadiums, retail networks, health clubs and more. The opportunity with place-based media is that every venue or event attracts a very specific and engaged audience depending on the topic.

For example, a pop star in a city-centre arena will attract a different audience compared to a horror movie in a local cinema. Understanding the type of audience that will be visiting the ‘place’ can help to create a strategic and effective advertising campaign using place-based advertising.

Arena & Stadium Advertising

Arena and stadium advertising takes advantage of the opportunity to have a large number of people in one place who can be exposed to your ad. Depending on the arena or stadium, a set number of people can fill the space and it therefore provides a set number of guaranteed impressions.

Cinema Advertising

There are numerous formats that your ad could take in a cinema environment before, during and after the film but the most unique option that cinema offers is video ads on the big screen. You can target your ads based on the genre of film being shown and tap into the audience demographics and interests associated with it. Cinema advertising presents the unique opportunity to target a captive and engaged audience meaning that one ad can have all the impact needed to drive consumers to take action.

Digital Place-based Advertising

Digital place-based advertising allows companies to create dynamic content based on the location, time and even weather meaning you can tailor and deliver highly relevant messaging.

Interior Place-based Advertising

Interior place-based advertising involves strategically positioning ads within physical spaces such as shopping centres or airports. These ads often capitalise on high dwell times and a captive audience in waiting areas close to points of purchase to reach consumers who are highly likely to make purchases.

Exterior Place-based Advertising

Exterior Place-based advertising involves placing advertising in outdoor spaces with the aim of capturing the attention of audiences as they go about their day.

Place-based advertising can be an effective part of an overall advertising strategy by targeting consumers with contextually relevant information and messaging in specific locations. This means that there can be a more targeted approach to your advertising campaign to engage your audience as they go about their daily lives and a likelihood that your brand influences their purchasing behaviour. With programmatic DOOH advertising, you can effectively automate ad displays to showcase advertising messages in stadiums, arenas or shopping centres, depending on your target audience and campaign objectives.

7 - Digital Radio & Audio Advertising

Did you know that audio is one of the fastest-growing advertising channels? Audio ads are an excellent way to reach consumers in an intimate and engaging setting and there are a number of key opportunities to deliver your messaging.

Digital Radio, DAX & More

This traditional advertising method can carry an inherent trust or emotional response from listeners due to its longstanding popularity. Each station has its own unique audience that you can tap into to find customers most valuable to you based on location, age, interests and more.

Dax is a pioneering digital advertising exchange which connects brands with audiences across audio and outdoor. DAX lets you deliver ads on platforms such as radio, smart speakers, on-demand services and podcasts. You can create personalised ads that can be dynamically served to listeners based on detailed targeting data.

Spotify Advertising

Spotify has a huge worldwide audience which spans a variety of demographics making it a great platform to expand your brand’s reach. With Spotify’s accessibility and availability, you can reach audiences far and wide. The platform allows for precise targeting options including age, gender and location, whilst also enabling detailed focus on user interests in genre and listening activity.

Overall, radio and audio ads can serve as an important part of an advertising strategy providing brand visibility and engagement. Using voice, music and sound effects, you can create a compelling audio advert that creates a memorable and emotional connection with your audience. This format allows for creative storytelling that aligns well with the overarching narrative of a brand’s media campaign.

Summary

In summary, there are a variety of versatile OOH advertising formats that each come with their own set of unique advantages, goals and purposes. They can work harmoniously with other advertising channels to enhance your campaign and drive impact as well as independently. This comprehensive guide serves to advise you on each format and help inform decisions on which suits best for your advertising campaign.

Ready to transform your brand’s advertising strategy? Our specialised team at One Day Agency work with your brand to get a thorough understanding of the audience and their behaviours with research, but also with your valuable data.

Once we have a complete picture, we’ll scope an effective strategy considering the various types of advertising formats and media best suited to your budget and campaign objectives. For more information on our approach, get in touch with our team today.

FAQs

What is the strategy of OOH advertising?

OOH advertising is placed in areas where people are likely to see them for long periods of time but also in high-traffic areas where they can be seen by mass amounts of people.

What are the main types of OOH advertising?

Traditional (Billboard Advertising)
Wallscape and Mural Advertising
Transport Advertising
Digital Out-of-Home Advertising
Street Furniture Advertising
Place-Based Advertising.
Radio Advertising.

Why use OOH advertising?

OOH advertising offers unparalleled visibility, reach and engagement in high-traffic areas. It can deliver messaging quickly and effectively to the right people in the right place, taking into account factors such as location, demographics, consumer behaviour and even time of day.

References

https://www.outsmart.org.uk/who-sees-ooh

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/transport-statistics-great-britain-2022/transport-statistics-great-britain-2022-domestic-travel#:~:text=How%20we%20commute,-Data%20Source%3A%20TSGB0108&text=The%20average%20usual%20commuting%20time,broadly%20similar%20to%20previous%20years.

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-research-shows-airport-advertising-is-highly-effective--drives-frequent-flyers-to-act-after-ad-exposure-301832669.html#:~:text=83%25%20of%20Frequent%20Flyers%20notice,to%20connect%20consumers%20with%20brands.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march-2022/annual-bus-statistics-year-ending-march-2022#:~:text=In%20the%20financial%20year%20ending%202022%2C%202.8%20billion%20passenger%20journeys,the%20financial%20year%20ending%202022.

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