With all the digital advertising opportunities out there – mobile, digital video, native ads—it would seem only logical that outdoor advertising would be a dying market. Not so. Recently, many brands are finding creative ways to grab people’s attention while they're on-the-go.
The new technology brands are using for outdoor ads is breathing new life into the medium. See how these five brands are utilizing outdoor ad space for innovative campaigns.
Starting November 24, visitors to Times Square in New York will be met with an impressively large billboard – the biggest the city has ever seen. The digital screen, owned by Clear Channel Outdoor, spans an entire NYC block and has a higher resolution that most TVs. To put that in perspective, the screen is as long as a football field and spans half an acre. The result is not only a jaw-dropping view—it’s also one of the most sought after billboard sites in the world.
Google will be the first brand to advertise on the billboard. The going rate for the space is $2.5 million per month – although there’s speculation that Google worked out a better deal to be the first on the screen.
Microsoft
The daily bus commuters can be a tough bunch to impress. Generally tired, grumpy, feeling either too hot or too cold, and glued to a smartphone: It’s a tough crowd. In order to get commuters to look up, Microsoft launched a campaign in San Francisco, London, and Melbourne to make the ad experience at bus stops interactive.
The campaign was for its new game series Sunset Overdrive and featured billboards with augmented reality features. The ads look like normal billboards from afar, but close up commuters can experience characters that seem to pop out while other images from the game flash by.
After being criticized for its over-the-top and impersonal ads – like last year’s Home ads and 2012 “Chairs” spot – Facebook decided to show off its softer side this year. That campaign – called “Say Love You Better” – centered around a sentimental video spot focused on the social giant’s new stand-alone app Messenger.
An extension of the video spot is Facebook’s first ever out-of-home advertising campaign. The social network put up billboards on freeways and at the airports in Chicago and Los Angeles to promote the campaign and the mobile messaging app.
:
Netflix
For it’s launch into France, Netflix gave its advertising a little twist. For the first time ever, the digital media subscription service created its first-ever digital outdoor campaign that ran in bus stops and other public areas in France.
Instead of just putting up digital images or videos, Netflix utilized a pop culture reference: The animated .gif. Digital billboards featured animated .gifs of scenes from popular shows on Netflix that complement what’s going on in the outside world—like weather and major events.
