What Is Out-Of-Home Advertising? – Types & Examples

Advertising is one of the best tools to communicate with customers. It helps them get to know about the latest trends and developments in the market and be informed about the availability of different varieties of products and services around them.

In recent years, with changing technology and increasing consumer awareness, out-of-home advertising has vastly evolved. It is gaining momentum each day as more companies are investing in this sector.

Therefore, this article will discuss what out-of-home advertising is, its types, emerging trends, and its future scope.

What Is Out-Of-Home Advertising?

Out-of-home advertising (OOH), also known as outdoor advertising, refers to advertising that reaches consumers outside their homes.

These advertisements are a component of above the line advertising strategy that is largely non-targeted and has a wide reach. The main motive of out-of-home advertising is to spread awareness, reinforce, reassure, or direct someone towards the brand or an offering. It’s a shotgun marketing approach where a business give less importance to conversion rates and more to brand awareness and brand engagement.

According to Out-Of-Home Advertising Association of America, an average customer spends seventy percent of their time outside their homes. Outdoor advertising refers to when a business capitalise on that seventy percent of customer time to publicise it’s offerings.

Major Types Of Out Of Home Advertising

While most people are familiar with billboard advertising, it’ll be surprising to know that there are a total of six different types that can be used as a means for advertising in the outdoor space. These are:

Billboard Advertising 

Billboard advertising is one of the most commonly used mediums of OOH advertising. These generally consist of large print ads displayed on high elevated boards. 

They are often placed along roadsides (on highways or independent stands) and are close to high footfall areas, such as shopping complexes, malls, and stadiums.

Additionally, billboards offer advertisers an effective way for building brand and offering awareness as a large number of pedestrians and commuters can see them on the way.

Types Of Billboards 

Billboards come in many different shapes and sizes and can be categorised as follows:

• Static billboards: These billboards are stationary in nature and can be typically seen on the roadside.
• Mobile billboards: A mobile billboard is a type of transit media and is generally transported on the back of a vehicle, such as a bus or a truck.
• Digital billboards: Digital billboards are dynamic computer-controlled electronic displays that use LED screens to showcase advertisements. 

Transit Advertising

Advertising through transport or transit media is a prevalent form of OOH advertising. This form of advertising can be commonly found on public transportation. 

A viral example of this can be the ad campaign created by the Martin Agency. 

During the great recession, suicide rates were going up as more people started losing their jobs. Therefore, The Martin Agency, in collaboration with careerbuilders.com, came up with the strategy to put “Don’t jump” signs on top of all public transport buses. 

This campaign became a huge sensation and eventually won the Cannes Bronze Lion Award.

These particular advertisements were placed on tops of buses and could be seen from tops of buildings and offices and helped Martin Agency win a Bronze Lion from Cannes

Types Of Transit Advertising 

Transit or vehicular advertising is a very efficient and economical method to advertise brands and can be further divided into the following categories:

• Advertisements on buses: Advertisements can be displayed both on the exterior and the interior of a bus. This way, as the bus cruises through the city, the Ads message can be effectively conveyed to the bus commuters and the pedestrians.
• Advertisements wrapped around taxis: Advertisements wrapped around taxis can include both partial and full wraps. Like bus adverts, they help local brands circulate their message to the public to increase brand awareness.
• Advertisements on subways: Subway systems are a perfect location for advertisements. These offer brands an effective strategy to bring awareness about their product to commuters when and where commuters are in need of a distraction. 

Point-Of-Sale Advertising

Point-of-sale, also known as point-of-purchase advertising, includes communication materials used to draw consumers’ attention at the moment of purchase.

The main purpose of POS is to encourage customers to make last-minute purchases.

For instance, displaying complementary products like phone covers and earphones at a mobile store can be considered a form of point-of-sale advertising.

Types Of POS Advertising 

Some of the most common and recognisable forms of POS advertising include:

• Counter display: They includeprinted and branded display stands made of materials ranging from cardboard, printed Perspex, etc., to name a few.
• Other Visual aids: A simple poster placed above a container full of the promoted products can be considered as a form of POS advertising 

Street Furniture 

Street furniture advertising refers to ad displays placed on sidewalks, bus shelters, kiosks, newsstands, benches, and other related equipment and furniture.

Companies who want crisp, clear signage that communicates well from a distance use this form of advertising. 

Further, street furniture advertisements are affixed in a way that it is at close proximity to pedestrians so that advertisers can effectively bring about brand awareness of their product.

Retail Advertising  

A retaileris an intermediary who makes products available to their consumers by using different channels. Therefore, in retail advertising, retailers use store advertising to drive awareness and interest towards their products to generate in order to generate more sales. 

This way, a retailer can effectively attempt to influence their target customers’ opinions to take specific actions, like buying complementary products from the store.

An excellent example of this type of advertising can be a retailer using the ‘buy one get one free’ or ‘up to 50% sale’ poster on top of their products.

Types Of Retail Advertising 

A retailer strives to promote its brand awareness amongst the masses to increase brand loyalty so that a customer revisits the store. Further, retail advertising can be categorised into the following types:

• Mall media: It refers to advertising displayed on roofs, window films, and banners. The retailers generally opt for this mode of advertising in large stores or malls. 
• Elevator advertisement: Banners and posters displayed on the elevator walls are known as lift or elevator advertising.
• Floor graphics: Floor graphics are placed on the floor of a retail store that, in turn, allows marketers to provide an immersive advertising environment creatively.

Construction Advertising  

Construction advertising refers to placing advertisements on a temporary boarded fence in a public place and is usually erected around a construction site.

This type of advertising protects the public from site works while offering companies an opportunity to promote their products and services to generate brand awareness effectively.

Types Of Construction Advertising

• Hoarding graphics: A hoarding is defined as a temporary boarded fence in a public place. It offers a fantastic opportunity for out-of-home advertising. 
• Scaffold wraps: Scaffold advertising includes graphic ads printed on protective meshes of a scaffolding. It, in turn, makes them an eye-catching method of advertising.
• Building wraps: For projects with extensive scaffolding and structural support, building wrap ads can be printed to cover the construction site.

What Is Digital Out-Of-Home Advertising?

There is no second thought in saying that growing digitisation is the main driving force behind the advertising industry. Some say it’s the future.

Therefore, there can be seen a trend in Brands and Ad agencies making huge investments in their DOOH advertising in recent times.

Digital out-of-home advertising, also known as digital signage, is gaining momentum in the advertising industry today.

DOOH advertising offers companies an interactive and attractive advertising method by using a digital medium such as digital billboards, digital signage, display screens, etc.

As per a recent report recently published by PQ Media, DOOH is predicted to rise to 38.3% by the year 2023, in turn, making the shift from traditional out-of-home to digital out-of-home advertising inevitable.

Examples For Out-Of-Home Advertising

Almost every renowned brand, especially the retail brands, make use of outdoor advertising for some of their marketing campaigns. Here are a few examples of outdoor advertising that stood out of the crowd.

McDonald’s Sundial Ad

The billboard ad used by McDonald’s back in 2006 was and still is rated as one of the best examples of out-home advertising campaigns.

McDonald’s opted for an M-shaped sundial in the ad that presented a range of McDonald’s food items. 

Further, the ad showed what snacks were served at what time — for instance, coffee in the morning and cheeseburgers in the afternoon, and so forth.

Spotify Latest Playlist Ad

Another example of OOH advertising is the 2017 ad campaign created by Spotify. This advertisement highlighted some of the best trending playlists on their platform. 

The Ad campaign became a huge sensation in no time, and the number of Spotify users increased dramatically.

Pros And Cons Of Out Of Home Advertising 

Out-of-home advertising remains a prevalent way for companies and start-ups to market their brand to the public. However, it comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. These are:

Pros

• Out-of-home advertising is the best advertising medium to inform the moving population.
• It gives the public a lasting impression of the brand as they are installed for a fairly long period and, in turn, increase audience engagement.
• They offer advertisers the most cost-effective method to increase their brand awareness.
• Additionally, they can be installed in various hotspots with high footfall, such as a city center, train stations, bus stations, commercial hubs, shopping markets, etc. 

Cons

• Outdoor advertisements can convey only a limited amount of information to the public about a brand or a service.
• Billboards, ads on transits, and posters are all meant to be seen within the span of a few seconds. This, in turn, makes it very difficult for people to take down the contact information.
• Because of the high frequency of exposure, outdoor may lead to quick wear out. People are likely to get tired of seeing the same ad every day.
• The outdoor advertisement’s effectiveness cannot be easily measured, and it is doubtful whether it will provide action value.

Bottom-Line?

These days, out-of-home advertising is stronger than ever. As technology continues to improve, OOH’s capabilities continue to expand.

Hopefully, this article helped you understand the meaning, different types, and importance of OOH in widening a brand’s reach.

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