The out-of-home (OOH) industry has a long history, dating back all the way back to the 1800s, so it’s not surprising that OOH ads are seemingly everywhere, including in media and popular culture.
AI and OOH Advertising
Artificial intelligence (more commonly referred to as AI) is a really hot topic online right now, especially in the out-of-home (OOH) industry. From art and text generators to helpful tools used to enhance and automate workflows, there are plenty of ways that AI can be used when it comes to the world of OOH.
QR Codes and OOH
Over the past few years, QR codes have been one of the go-to calls to action for marketers and advertisers everywhere. Whether they’re at the bottom of a newsletter, included at the end of a book, or plastered all over a poster, they’re all over the place—including in out-of-home (OOH) advertisements.
Market Overview: Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia is one of the most populous cities in the United States and has over 496,000 residents, making it a great spot in the south for outdoor advertising.
Internationally famous, Atlanta is home to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport, a huge international hub and one of the primary locations for international travel in the United States. With roughly 275,000 passengers traveling through daily, the airport is a popular and effective location for out-of-home (OOH) ads, such as digital screens.
Atlanta is also one of the south’s biggest attraction cities and a frequent vacation spot, with activities such as attending the Georgia Aquarium or World of Coca-Cola, visiting one of the city’s many parks, or spending leisure time at the cities’ large number of bars and restaurants.
The downtown area is also fairly walkable, which helps in making it an OOH hub with bunches of advertisements. Walking down any street, whether it’s a main road like Peachtree Street or even a side street, you’ll be met with ad after ad, ranging from static and digital billboards to kiosks.
Major outdoor advertising companies like OUTFRONT Media, Clear Channel Outdoor, and Lamar Advertising have a large number of inventory in Atlanta and the surrounding areas, but other vendors like Link Media have some media available in the area as well.
The city also has a large public transportation system, providing space to promote brand messages inside stations, in the train cars and buses, or at transit shelters.
Major advertisers like Intersection play a huge part in transit advertising, with ads ranging from transit shelters to all sorts of bus and train ads, perfect for targeting both local and visiting commuters using public transportation in Atlanta.
Interactive Out-of-Home Advertising
Interactive experiences have always been a novelty—from build-your-own adventure books to improv theater, and, more recently, experiences like escape rooms and even interactive Netflix series’ have been on the rise.
The OOH (out-of-home) industry has also decided to jump in on the interactive trend, and multiple campaigns have sparked globally in the past few years that prompt the ads’ viewers to participate, with calls to action ranging from scanning QR codes that lead to real-time interaction to motion-activated digital displays to physical, touchable posters to interactive digital screens.
Interactive OOH is cool and innovative for a few reasons, one of which being that these ads are more engaging than most standard ads. Often placed in walkable areas and cities, they provide quite a bit of read time for passersby; since these passersby are on foot or in slow traffic, they’re given the opportunity to interact, and typically have the time to do so.
For example, these motion-activated digital displays are a great example of getting people to stop in their tracks: the street-side placement plus the eye-catching digital screens are perfect for grabbing attention.
Additionally, interactive ad experiences are sure to be the talk of the town, and stick in the brains of both those who participated in the ad’s engagement and those who just passed by. As a general rule, memorable ads—design, imagery, taglines. etc.—make for effective advertising; what better way to make a statement and a memory than getting potential customers to participate in your ad campaign?
Plus, some of these participants are sure to continue about their days, and mention it to their friends and family as a unique experience they had that day, especially if its an ad they walk by regularly on their commute.
TL;DR: interactive ads are hot in the OOH industry, and for good reason—they’re memorable and engaging, and we hope to see more innovative ads pop up in the future.
