Unlocking the Power of OOH and DOOH Advertising: A Complete Guide for Modern Marketers

In advertising, where attention is as fleeting as a Liz Truss leadership, out-of-home (OOH) and digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising offer the visibility, engagement, and flexibility brands need to thrive. But what exactly are OOH and DOOH advertising, and how do they differ? Is it just that one is the sound a ghost makes and the other the sound Homer Simpson makes? Well, this guide will break down the essentials, explain the advantages of each, and show you how to maximise the impact of both.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• What is OOH Advertising, what is DOOH Advertising and what are the key differences between the two?
• The Benefits of OOH and DOOH Advertising
• How to use OOH and DOOH in complementary strategies
• The Future of OOH and DOOH

What is OOH Advertising?

Out-of-home advertising, commonly known as OOH, refers to advertising that reaches consumers when they are outside of their homes (not literally right outside, that would be limiting). This includes familiar formats like billboards, bus shelters, and other forms of street furniture. OOH advertising traditionally covers static displays designed to capture attention in high-traffic areas, whether it’s on a bustling city street or along a busy highway.

Historically, OOH was one of the earliest forms of advertising, and continues to be powerful today due to its ability to deliver messages on a massive scale. With its proven reach and effectiveness, OOH remains a critical component in many brand-building strategies, creating high visibility and lasting impressions.

What is DOOH Advertising?

Digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising is the evolution of traditional OOH in the digital age. DOOH advertising takes place on digital screens, such as digital billboards, shopping mall screens, and programmatic displays that can be dynamically updated and controlled.

Unlike those old school, static OOH ads, DOOH can leverage real-time data, allowing brands to deliver content that changes based on factors like time of day, weather, or audience demographics. This digital upgrade enables brands to tailor their campaigns to be highly relevant, engaging and interactive.

Key Differences Between OOH and DOOH

The Benefits of OOH Advertising

While DOOH has introduced new possibilities, traditional OOH advertising remains a powerful choice for brands. Here’s why:

1. Broad Reach

Like a flasher standing beside a dual-carriageway, OOH advertising provides mass exposure in high-traffic areas, ensuring your brand message reaches large audiences.

2. Long-Term Exposure

Because OOH ads are static and typically in place for weeks or months, they provide consistent, ongoing - in fact, inescapable - brand presence.

3. Cost-Effective for Brand Awareness

For broad awareness campaigns, OOH is often more cost-effective than digital media, making it a smart choice for advertisers looking to get bang for their buck when it comes to maximising reach within budget.

4. Memorable Impressions

Studies show that larger-than-life ads, such as those on billboards or bus shelters, leave a lasting impression. This familiarity can significantly boost brand recall.

Global Witness - Oily Fans

A powerful example of how OOH advertising can drive impactful attention and awareness is our own "Oily Fans" campaign, made for Global Witness. The organisation wanted to contrast the soaring profits of oil and gas giants and the cost-of-living crisis facing ordinary people. With only five days to create a reactive campaign, the OOH format was the perfect choice for reaching a mass audience in a short time frame. Our strategy capitalised on the buzz surrounding OnlyFans model Eliza Rose Watson’s controversial billboards, which featured an image of her in underwear to reduce the stigma around her platform.

Inspired by this, we launched "OilyFans", a provocative OOH campaign that featured a topless BP CEO, Bernard Looney, and highlighted his, ahem, enormous (pay) package. The campaign was placed at the exact locations of Watson’s billboards, ensuring it tapped into the public discourse while also drawing on the broad reach of high-traffic areas across London. The memorable impressions created by these striking visuals generated a significant impact, with the campaign quickly gaining traction on social media, including over 700,000 impressions on Twitter, 12,000 views on Instagram, and becoming the top post on Reddit for five hours.

This OOH campaign not only captured widespread attention but also amplified the message through the scale of traditional billboards, perfectly exemplifying how OOH can be a highly effective tool for creating bold, memorable statements that resonate across physical spaces.

The Benefits of DOOH Advertising

The flexibility and dynamism of DOOH advertising allow brands to engage with audiences in new and innovative ways. Here’s how:

1. Enhanced Targeting

With programmatic DOOH, advertisers can customise messages for specific audiences and contexts, making ads more relevant and impactful.

2. Real-Time Campaign Adjustments

Like being in charge? DOOH allows for real-time changes based on factors like location and time of day, giving brands control to respond instantly to events and conditions.

3. Interactive and Engaging

Digital displays can incorporate interactive elements, such as QR codes, touchscreens, and social media integration, to enhance engagement.

4. Cost-Effective Dynamic Content

Although initial costs may be higher, DOOH campaigns can be updated remotely, reducing the need for physical production changes and allowing for creative experimentation. That means getting more DOOH for your dough.

British Airways - Look Up

A great example of a brand leveraging DOOH for a data-driven, real-time campaign is British Airways' award-winning "Look Up" campaign.

The airline used digital billboards in high-traffic locations across London to display interactive ads that tracked real-time flights passing overhead. Each time a British Airways plane flew above, the billboard would show a child pointing up toward the sky, along with information about the flight's origin and destination.

This campaign wasn’t just great for plane nerds in Anoraks - it was a perfect example of enhanced targeting, as it captured the attention of travellers and created an emotional connection by highlighting genuine flights in the viewers' immediate surroundings. It also demonstrated the real-time adjustment capability of DOOH by using live flight data to make the experience dynamic and location-specific. Additionally, by incorporating interactive elements like hashtags, British Airways encouraged social media engagement, making the campaign highly memorable and shareable.

This strategy showcases how DOOH can use real-time, data-driven content to engage audiences in a unique, personal, and visually impactful way. That’s great advertising, plane and simple.

OOH and DOOH: Complementary Strategies

Many brands are now combining OOH and DOOH advertising to create more impactful, integrated campaigns. By using both traditional and digital formats, brands can amplify reach while enhancing relevance and interactivity.

Health Equals - Lives Cut Short

We worked with Health Equals, a coalition of UK charities, to launch the "Lives Cut Short" campaign to raise awareness of health inequalities affecting life expectancy across the UK. This campaign strategically combined traditional OOH billboards and DOOH elements to maximise emotional resonance and engagement.

We placed striking portraits of newborns on billboards in cities with lower life expectancies, such as Sheffield and Glasgow, with each image highlighting the local average life expectancy on the baby’s hospital wristband instead of a date of birth. This powerful visual on traditional billboards tapped into broad brand reach, drawing attention to the issue on a large scale. Digital was then leveraged to deepen engagement through geo-targeted social media posts that dynamically adapted based on the viewer’s location, making the message feel immediate and personal.

This approach also demonstrates the targeting and flexibility of DOOH, as digital content was tailored to local health data, providing information specific to each viewer’s area. We complemented these visuals by directing audiences to a dedicated website where they could check the life expectancy in their area, prompting discussions about health inequality online.

By combining the scale of traditional OOH with the precision of DOOH, we not only sparked meaningful social conversations, but also influenced public awareness, causing a surge in Google Trends for "life expectancy" during the campaign’s launch. This synergy between traditional and digital formats showcases how brands can combine the reach of OOH with the dynamic, real-time capabilities of DOOH to drive powerful, socially relevant campaigns that foster both awareness and action. Now that’s what you call a campaign!

The Future of OOH and DOOH: Trends to Watch

1. Programmatic DOOH

The rise of programmatic DOOH is allowing brands to buy and display ads with incredible precision - although you can see why they haven’t shortened it to “PDOOH”. Nevertheless, by using audience data, programmatic DOOH optimises ad placement and timing, providing cost-effective options for advertisers.

2. Interactive Digital Ads

Expect to see more campaigns that engage consumers in real-time, inviting them to participate through their mobile devices, social media, or interactive elements.

3. Smart City Integration

With cities embracing smart technology, DOOH is likely to become even more integrated into urban infrastructure. Look out for DOOH placements in places like smart bus shelters and digital kiosks, offering additional value to brands.

4. AI-Driven Content Personalisation

As AI technology advances slightly menacingly onwards, DOOH campaigns will become even more personalised, adapting content automatically to match the needs of viewers.

Choosing the Right Strategy: Working with Don’t Panic

Selecting the right OOH or DOOH approach depends on your goals, budget, and audience targeting needs. If you want to make a lasting impression with a high-impact, static message, then traditional OOH is the way to go. For campaigns requiring flexibility and targeted engagement, DOOH offers unmatched capabilities.

At Don’t Panic, we specialise in crafting both OOH and DOOH campaigns that resonate. Our team of experts will help you determine the right approach, whether it’s a bold OOH installation, a dynamic DOOH campaign that reacts in real time, or even a little bit of both if you’re feeling dangerous. So - what are you waiting for? Get in touch today!