Out Of Home Advertising Examples that Go All Out

Most OOH ads are insanely expensive rubbish.

Why?

Because agencies, and their trusting clients, aren’t thinking like the people who see them. (Which is all kinds of ironic, because when they’re not working, they’re the same people.)

First, OOH needs to grab your attention fast. Especially in a place like Times Square, which is a sea of billboard banality.

But even if they do pull in a few eyeballs, they deliver word salad messages, confused visuals, and above all… no reward for engaging. Which equals a message as forgettable as the winner of season 7 of American Idol (admit it… you have no idea).

We don’t play those games. Not with your money. That’s why we only develop OOH that gets the head-turns you deserve. We arm ourselves with the latest tech, like 3D billboards, transit digital, and AR, and make sure that once we have your audience’s attention, we keep it. And make it more memorable than your first kiss.

Check out these examples so you can see firsthand what gets results. This should spark fresh ideas for your own OOH campaign.

1. Star Trek: Picard in Times Square

3D billboards, which use ground-breaking technology to create an optical illusion, make ads look like they’re literally jumping off the screen. For anyone passing by, this creates an instant jolt of excitement they can’t turn away from.

One second they’re walking down the street. The next, they’re transported to another universe.

When compared with traditional 2D billboards, 3D billboards receive over 50% more attention, which shows how this uber-creative advertising technique pops and that people just can’t keep their eyeballs away.

This was the approach we took when promoting Star Trek: Picard, where we used a 3D billboard to build buzz around the final episode of the show. We needed to concisely get the series on the radars of newer generations and reward older generations for years of fandom, and, in just a few seconds, get them excited about the show.

Making use of a 3D billboard allowed us to boldly go where no one has gone before (Captain Kirk would be proud), and it let us try something new with OOH advertising that most brands can only dream of.

With an outdoor media campaign, this mind-melting 3D billboard docked the Starship Enterprise in Times Square and created a social buzz that had people stopping to snap pictures on their phones. We even invited Trekkies from all over NYC to come to Times Square to be part of this social-ready event. We shot the moment with video cameras so the client could add it to their social media content.

With jaw-dropping digital motion, images that seemed to leap off the screen, and neon lights that illuminated the Gotham night, this 3D billboard used some of the most cutting-edge elements available today (holds up Spock’s Vulcan salute hand gesture).

2. The NBA Playoffs 75th Anniversary

Basketball is the second most popular sport in the US after football. Every year in spring running through summer, basketball fans get themselves in a frenzy over the NBA Playoffs.

A few years ago, 2021 marked the 75th Anniversary of the NBA Playoffs. Although this generated plenty of attention on its own, OOH advertising threw fuel on the fire and featured a potent mix of outdoor advertising to send viewership through the roof.

Case in point — this eye-popping digital billboard that drivers and pedestrians couldn’t help but stare at.

There were live updates via digital out of home (DOOH advertising) on screens and kiosks that targeted consumers as they moved throughout their day.

There was DOOH ad messaging at bus stops,…

…DOOH advertising at bus shelters,...

…digital billboards,...

…and pretty much anywhere else you can imagine.

The “final score” (see what we did there) for this digital out of home advertising campaign was:

• A 7% increase in awareness
• A 25% increase in consideration
• A 25% increase in tune-in intent

And with TV viewership up by 24% from the previous year, you could say this campaign was a slam dunk.

3. The Misery Index: Subway, Billboards, and Bathroom

You sat in a mystery puddle on the subway…. Your retainer just slipped out of your mouth and into a public urinal… Your vindictive ex has your Facebook password…

Which would ruin your day more?

These types of dread-inducing scenarios are routinely contemplated in TBS’ The Misery Index.
To nail this campaign, we knew we had to create contextually aware, micro-localized, hyper-targeted out of home placements that gave consumers a taste of what to expect by tuning into the show. Our goal was to quickly show potential viewers what The Misery Index was all about while using jarring messaging that captured even the most limited attention spans.

And we must say. We had a blast with this OOH advertising campaign.

We wanted to conjure genuine laughs while targeting consumers in the most relevant and unavoidable ad space locations imaginable. It’s like guerrilla advertising meets next-level design.

Site placements were key for developing custom creative that provided maximum impact and drove awareness of the new game show. Sure, our innocent little stick figure animations look sweet, but they showed up in places your mom would blush at — billboards over strip clubs,...

…subway ads,...

…even toilet placards — you name it.

We even gamified banner ads to give people a spicy taste. It was all about targeting the kind of placements that screamed, “You have to share this.”

The real challenge? Figuring out how wild we can get.

4. Twisted Metal on Paramount+

Twisted Metal is an insanely popular vehicle combat video game that was originally released back in 1995. You can think of it as a demolition derby on steroids.

When Paramount+ in Canada wanted to promote its recent action-comedy TV adaptation of Twisted Metal for its streaming service, we were all in. And we used digital OOH to demolish consumer recall.

Those who have played the video game know a big part of the appeal is its fast-paced, frenetic energy with vehicles being crashed and smashed in every direction. That’s the feel we aimed to capture with this out of home advertising campaign.

To do this, we used grindhouse-style digital art complete with vehicles, guns, and explosions.

We paid homage to one of the game’s most popular characters Sweet Tooth the Clown.

For placement, we featured three synced 3D billboards in Yonge & Dundas Square in Toronto for maximum visibility.

Keep in mind that an OOH campaign can have over 80% remembrance rates. Along those lines, this particular OOH campaign was a smash! It perfectly captured the fun, chaotic feel of the game but without going overboard.

What Are the Types of Out of Home Advertising?

The beauty of OOH media is that it’s insanely diverse. It gives you the chance to reach your target audience in a way that’s hard to achieve with any other type of campaign.

To recap, some of our examples include:

• Traditional billboards and digital billboards
• Poster advertising
• Transit ads
• Kiosks
• Taxi tops
• Street furniture
• Gas stations
• Subways
• Exhibit design and activations

It’s this diversity that results in nearly limitless combinations, and being ever-present is a big part of what helps OOH advertising messages stick. Even if someone glances at one digital ad and thinks little of it, there’s a good chance they’ll take note after multiple touchpoints.

So when it comes to brand awareness, brand recognition, and recall, out of home advertising is one of the best in the biz.

With all that said, let’s focus on what we consider to be three of the best ways to reach your target audience, especially if you’re an advertiser who’s just getting your feet wet.

Billboard Advertising

When it comes to traditional OOH advertising, it doesn’t get any more OG than billboard advertising. These are the types of ads that many of us grew up seeing along highways and in urban areas.

And guess what? Billboard advertising is still as effective as ever.

Data from the Out of Home Advertising Association of America found that billboards are up to “86% effective at provoking a consumer response.” Even on the low end, billboards are 38% effective.

And that’s just referring to static billboards with no movement. A billboard with digital signage gets a 46% consumer response at bare minimum, with the top digital billboards getting a response from more than 8 out of 10 consumers.

The bottom line is that a well-designed billboard ad campaign can magnetically gravitate eyeballs to ads like no other. What’s cool is that you’re not just limited to highways and urban areas.

Although Stadium Graphics are classified as their own ad buy type, we really like how these particular creatives landed:

Keep in mind that Stadium Graphics are a special kind of OOH advertising category that requires unique sizes. We often customize the creatives for the stadium and team they appear above.

And movie theaters:

So you can really get creative with this type of digital out of home advertising.

Poster Advertising

Billboards are all about commanding serious attention on a large scale. Poster advertising, on the other hand, is more subtle and scaled down.

But when done correctly, these OOH ads still pack a punch and can pull customers in like a supercharged magnet.

Again, this form of OOH advertising has evolved by leaps and bounds, and you’re no longer limited to static, motionless posters.

Not that static posters don’t work. They do.

But adding motion to the equation gives an advertisement that extra bit of oomph that customers can’t help but notice. Case in point, this digital signage poster for the Australian-based Mad Mex restaurant.

Or check out this digital advertising poster for liquor brand, Aperol Spritz.

What’s really mind-melting about this particular advertisement is that it automatically appears during “cocktail weather” when temperatures exceed 66 degrees. How clever is that?

Transit Advertising

This refers to marketing messages placed in buses, on bus stops, subways, and taxis — anywhere people are using transportation. We’ve already included a few transit advertising examples earlier like this one featuring the NBA Playoffs…

…and this one from The Misery Index.

But let’s go a little deeper and show you how far you can go with this form of OOH advertising.

Going back once again to our DOOH campaign for The Misery Index, we dished up this digital advertisement for two misery-prompting scenarios — your mom arguing politics on your Facebook wall and your first-round fantasy draft pick having mono.

We created this animated digital signage poster for the New York Subway for The Stand, a miniseries based on the Stephen King novel of the same name. We think the slightly spooky subterranean atmosphere lent itself well to the vibe of the digital ad.

So as you can see, these OOH ads have tons of possibilities.

What Makes an Effective OOH Advertisement?

With high reach, high frequency, and a visual blast, out of home advertising can have a huge impact for many brands.

Research shows that 98% of people see at least one OOH advertisement per week, and 71% of consumers not only look at billboard messaging but stop to digest it.

But it doesn’t stop there. The majority of consumers who see OOH ads engage with them in some fashion. 76% search up the product to learn more about it, and 43% straight up make a purchase.

But what exactly are the elements that make for effective OOH advertising?

First off, the visuals need to be on point. It’s all about having the “it factor” that instantly grabs people’s attention so they can’t help but notice an outdoor ad.

Note that you don’t want to be obnoxious about it and roast the retinas of passersby with needlessly gaudy imagery. But it should capture their gaze right off the bat.

Next, branding needs to be super consistent. We always create a master art file that we can use to match the different offline and online ad formats/campaigns together for NeoPangea clients to ensure everything flows seamlessly.

For instance, you’d want to use the same branding on social media that you use on a digital billboard or poster.

Finally, OOH advertising needs to be ever-present. Again, a big part of driving new customers is providing multiple touchpoints, such as advertising on a billboard, on street furniture, at a bus stop, or any other social and digital campaigns.

So even if someone doesn’t respond with the first interaction of out of home advertising, there’s a good chance they will after the third or fourth.

And as you probably know, most consumers don’t respond with the first touchpoint. It often takes at least eight touchpoints before they ever take action.

The great thing about OOH advertising is that it’s ideal for getting a brand in front of consumers repeatedly. It’s the ultimate steady drip that plants the initial seed and nurtures it until it converts.

Also remember that ongoing testing and refining are vital for ensuring your campaign hits its mark and is fully optimized.