OOH: The Advertising Supercharger

Out of Home advertising (OOH) can be traced back to ancient civilisations, with ancient Egyptians publicising notices on large obelisks, however it is said that more ‘modern’ OOH first came in to play in the 1830’s, a time when the Liverpool Manchester railway opened and the Belgian revolution, the first posters were created, advertising a circus. This modern version of OOH has been active for hundreds of years, and still to this day continues to be an important way to relay advertising messages.

 

It is easy to brush off OOH as simply a poster or billboard, but it is so, so much more than that. OOH really is the advertising supercharger.

As one of the most effective advertising mediums for brand building, it is imperative to include Outdoor on a media plan. Not only does OOH assist in elevating a campaign by offering brands high visibility coupled with wide reach, but it can also create lasting recall, with studies reporting ad recall rates over an impressive 80%. As consumers are spending time out and about, OOH ads are hard to avoid, with approximately 98% of the UK population being exposed various OOH ads each week.

The Harvard Business Review have reported that 73% of global consumers use a multi channel approach when shopping before making their final purchase. This leaves an ample opportunity for OOH to elevate a campaign, providing key brand awareness, and demonstrating just how effective an omni-channel approach is when it comes to planning campaigns. Unlike many other advertising methods, OOH can provide engagement whilst simultaneously influence a purchase decision.

It is reported that more than 40% of advertisers believe multi-channel advertising is important for achieving upper and lower funnel goals. For example, a campaign plan including social media, video on demand and OOH are an ideal mix for a successful awareness campaign.

 

Not only this but the number of online activations that OOH generates across search, and social media platforms, has an engagement rate of three-times of relative ad spend, which underlines the effectiveness of several media forms within a campaign plan and how it continues to deliver a superior ROI.

Research has been found to support the added value or using mobile and OOH in tandem. In particular, spontaneous brand recall increases to 21% when exposed to both OOH advertising and mobile. Other research conducted by Outsmart showed an impressive 17% uplift in smartphone brand actions when the user is exposed to the OOH ad first.

 

From the 1800’s to the present day, OOH has always been the advertising supercharger and will continue to be for years to come. With the advent of new technology and data sources, OOH advertising has a bright future and is well placed on any campaign plan.

 

To learn more about how OOH can help your brand, contact sales@openmedia.uk.com

 

Sources:75 Media, Broadsign, Clear Channel, dragonflyai, Harvard Business Review, Kantar, Outsmart, Vistar Media, StackAdapt, Statista