This article first appeared in the Backlite 2024 magazine.

Creativity is the key to unlocking the potential of Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising by revolutionizing our urban landscapes with dynamic and engaging content, messaging and activations. Of course, I would say this… I’ve spent the last 20 years of my professional life devoted to ensuring this is the case. However, it’s important to note that it’s only possible with the perfect synergy between the media and creative worlds. What good is the world’s best DOOH campaign if the intended audience doesn’t see/care/act?

By merging innovative concepts with technology, DOOH has transformed boring old static billboards into interactive opportunities, a chance to engage with consumers like never before, to excite, entertain, inform, interact, and communicate. The world’s oldest medium is arguably the most trusted and rewarding for brands to play with creatively as part of the modern marketing mix.

Creative content that captivates audiences by leveraging location-based targeting and real-time data to deliver relevant messages is a real game changer for OOH and has been made possible through the investment that media owners worldwide have made in on-the-ground technology and screens.

Data-driven dynamic creative can ensure your campaign is always relevant to OOH audiences at given times. In some circles, this is known as Dynamic Creative Optimization or DCO, aligning itself with the online world. We talk about this technique internally as AMM – Audience + Moment = Message. Who’s around, what factors might affect them, and how or what should we communicate with them?

Whether immersive storytelling to gamification, augmented reality, anamorphic content, CGI, technology or technique-driven, creative executions can help elevate brand visibility, drive consumer engagement, and improve effectiveness on DOOH screens.

Creativity in the DOOH media space helps campaigns transcend traditional advertising boundaries, it amplifies brand narratives and helps foster memorable connections between brands and consumers. It’s the catalyst for transforming urban environments into dynamic canvases, where brands come alive to leave lasting impressions on audiences worldwide.

There’s a quote I love to use from one of the most decorated creative advertising people in the world Mark Tutsell, who I interviewed on my Behind the Billboard podcast:

“Think of the streets as your stage and your goal is to earn a standing ovation.”