advertising Archives - Mediastreet

In Uncategorized

These Gorillaz x Spotify ads are hiding something really cool

May 8, 2026 No Comments

The band breaks the mould to promote their new album, The Mountain.

In today’s advertising world, plain ol’ billboards don’t seem to cut the mustard anymore. With this in mind, Spotify has teamed up with virtual brand Gorillaz to create an immersive treasure-hunt campaign, marking their new album, The Mountain.

Reimagining the static, one-sided nature of traditional billboard ads, the Spotify x Gorillaz campaign is all about creating an immersive fan-first experience. Vivid, playful and interactive, the new campaign is a prime example of how audiences are increasingly shaping the brand world.

Bringing Gorillaz’s digital world to the streets of London, the album promo campaign features custom murals starring each of the iconic Gorillaz band members. Hidden within each artwork is a QR code that unlocks a real-world treasure hunt for fans. When all four are found, fans have the opportunity to win tour tickets, merch, and exclusive signed memorabilia.

(Image credit: Spotify)

The artwork will be appearing in Peckham, Shoreditch, Hackney, and Portobello Road, alongside a digital activation for fans in the U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil, Italy, Poland, and Spain who can’t make the pilgrimage. Gorillaz Character Match uses users’ listening history to match them with one of the four characters. Created in collaboration with Gorillaz’s own creative team, the custom character cards also unlock a personalised playlist featuring tracks from The Mountain alongside curated favourites from the band’s discography.

What do you think?

Who’s your favourite Gorillaz character?

2D, obviously

Noodle, is that even a question?

Murdoc, I love that strange guy!

Russel of course, my under appreciated king

Feature image credit: Spotify

By Natalie Fear

Natalie Fear is Creative Bloq’s staff writer. With an eye for trending topics and a passion for internet culture, she brings you the latest in art and design news. Natalie also runs Creative Bloq’s 5 Questions series, spotlighting diverse talent across the creative industries. Outside of work, she loves all things literature and music (although she’s partial to a spot of TikTok brain rot).

Sourced from CREATIVE BLOQ

In News

87% of agency pros say the traditional agency model is broken

May 5, 2026 No Comments

By Luis Rijo

Basis survey of 213 professionals finds 87% believe the traditional agency model is broken, as AI adoption, layoffs, and in-housing reshape advertising in 2026.

Basis today published its 2026 Advertising Agency Report, a survey of more than 200 advertising professionals that delivers one of the most sobering assessments of the industry’s structural health in years. The findings, released April 20, 2026, show that 87.3% of agency professionals believe the traditional agency model is either broken today or will be within three to five years. Among senior leaders at the VP level or above, that figure climbs to 91.5%.

The Chicago-based company, which operates a software platform connecting media planning, operations, reporting, and financial reconciliation across programmatic, publisher-direct, search, social, and connected TV channels, conducted the annual study across 213 respondents at leading agencies. The sample is larger than prior waves – 113 respondents in 2024 and 171 in 2025 – giving the 2026 data more statistical weight and making the year-over-year declines in confidence more significant.

The traditional agency model under pressure

The headline finding breaks down further when examined by response category. According to the report, 29.1% of all respondents said the traditional agency model is already broken outright. Another 35.7% described it as “somewhat” broken. A further 22.5% said the model is not broken yet but will be within three to five years. Just 12.7% believed the model remains intact. Among senior leaders specifically, more than 70% believe the model is already broken in some form.

The traditional model in question was built on billable hours, bundled services, and human-driven execution. As the report explains, that structure is proving increasingly difficult to sustain as AI compresses timelines and clients expect more output for less cost. When a task that once required 20 hours of labor now takes two, the arithmetic of the billable-hour model breaks down.

Ryan Manchee, SVP of Brand Marketing at Basis, described the dynamic in the press release accompanying the report: “Basis’ 2026 Advertising Agency Report illustrates an industry in flux, where operational complexity, economic pressure, and AI-driven disruption are forcing agencies to rethink how they work, how they deliver value, and how they are compensated. As the agency model transforms, the question now is what tools, technologies and practices these businesses will use to refit and remodel. While AI can be a business accelerator and force multiplier for agencies, it is only effective if it operates on advertising systems that are structured and connected.”

Work is getting harder, client relationships more strained

Seventy percent of agency professionals said their jobs are more difficult today than they were two years ago. That figure represents a sharp deterioration in working conditions at a time when the industry is simultaneously expected to do more with less. Two-thirds of respondents – 66.2% – also said that digital advertising itself has become harder over the same period, up from 58.4% in 2025 and 58.4% in 2024, a consistent upward trend across three consecutive survey waves.

Client relationships are deteriorating in parallel. Fifty-four percent of agency professionals reported that their agency’s client relationships are more strained today than two years ago, up from 50.9% in 2025 and 43.4% in 2024. The progression across three years reflects clients arriving with higher expectations and less patience, compressing timelines while increasing scrutiny over results.

Transparency remains a persistent concern. A decisive 88.3% of respondents said there should be more transparency across digital advertising, reflecting frustration with accountability gaps around ad fraud, made-for-advertising websites, incomplete performance data, and supply chain opacity. The figure has remained stubbornly high across survey years.

Operational dysfunction: processes and siloed systems

Despite years of technology investment, the top challenges facing agencies remain the same ones identified in prior waves of this research. Inefficient processes topped the list, cited by 44.1% of respondents. Siloed or disconnected systems came second at 40.4%. These two challenges are not independent – disconnected systems are a primary driver of process inefficiency, creating a reinforcing cycle that proves difficult to break.

Shrinking profits ranked third at 39.0%, followed by rising costs at 36.6%. The pairing illustrates a margin squeeze: costs rising on one side while clients push back against fee structures on the other. For senior leaders specifically, the picture is slightly more acute: inefficient processes were cited by 48.9% of VPs and above, siloed systems by 41.5%, and shrinking profits by 36.2%.

Tech stack sprawl has doubled in two years

One of the more striking technical findings in the report concerns the expansion of agency adtech stacks. Among full-service and media agencies, 36.8% now manage ten or more tools as part of their adtech and martech infrastructure. Two years ago, that figure was just 17.3% – meaning the proportion of agencies running ten-plus tools has more than doubled in that timeframe. Nearly half of all respondents – 46.7% – reported managing eight or more tools. The growth in stack complexity explains in part why inefficiency and silos remain so persistent: the more fragmented the tooling, the harder it becomes to achieve coordinated workflows.

This pattern fits a broader industry picture. IAB forecasts for 2026 show that two-thirds of advertisers now concentrate on agentic AI for campaign execution, yet most organizations lack the unified infrastructure to deploy those systems effectively. The Basis data reinforces that gap at the agency level.

AI adoption surpasses 99% – but anxiety is rising alongside it

AI is now used at over 99% of agencies surveyed, according to the report. That figure marks near-universal penetration across the sample. Daily use has reached 59.2% of agency professionals in 2026, up sharply from 15.9% in 2024 and 38.6% in 2025. An additional 27.2% use AI tools three to four times per week, meaning 86.4% of agency professionals use AI at least several times weekly.

The tasks where AI has taken hold are concentrated in the earlier, less consequential stages of workflow. Ideation and brainstorming lead at 86.9%, followed by research at 84.0%, drafting content or creative at 72.3%, and producing images or videos at 56.3%. Streamlining processes reached 52.1% and repurposing existing content 43.7%. But at the stages where AI could deliver the most operational leverage – media planning, which was recorded at 29.1%, and media buying strategy at 22.1% – adoption remains comparatively low.

Agentic AI, which allows systems to move from insight to action autonomously, has reached 46% of surveyed agencies, with 54% yet to adopt. Among those that have, the leading use cases are reporting and analytics at 61.2%, campaign brief creation at 58.2%, and content creation at 57.1%. Creative optimization reached 43.9% and personalization 36.7%. Media planning agents are used by 20.4% and media buying agents by just 9.2%.

Agentic advertising infrastructure has been expanding rapidly across the industry, with multiple platforms introducing autonomous campaign execution capabilities. Yet the Basis data shows most agencies are still deploying these tools in reporting and content functions rather than the media buying and planning tasks where the efficiency gains would be most financially significant.

For the second consecutive year, agency leaders named AI as their top investment priority. Among VPs and above, 77.7% said they plan to increase AI spending over the next 12 months. Automation tools and reporting and analytics capabilities each drew 44.7% of leaders planning increased investment, tying for second. Talent acquisition was cited by 38.3% and data management tools by 34.0%. Across all respondents, 73.7% said their organization has plans to invest in new technology to automate or streamline processes within the next year.

AI poses a revenue threat – and most agencies know it

The same technology agencies are counting on to reduce costs is also the technology most likely to compress their own revenue. Ninety percent of all agency professionals said they believe AI poses a threat to their agency’s primary revenue streams. Among senior leaders, that figure reaches 95%. More than half of all respondents – 57.3% – characterized AI as a moderate-to-significant threat, with 42.7% describing it as a moderate threat and 14.6% a significant one.

The mechanism is clear. AI reduces the labour hours required to execute tasks across the full campaign lifecycle, from strategy and planning through creative, buying, and reporting. As the report notes, when a 20-hour task becomes a 2-hour task, billing models built on time and headcount begin to lose their structural rationale. Clients, increasingly aware of this compression, apply downward pressure on fees.

The number of AI pessimists – those who believe AI will have a negative impact on agencies over the next three to five years – has grown sharply. The share stood at 19.9% in 2025. In 2026, it has risen to 32.0%. Even among those who remain positive about AI’s impact, the character of that optimism has shifted: only 26.8% now believe the impact will be “mostly positive,” compared to 36.3% who held that view the year before. Among senior leaders, more than 25% now expect AI to have a net negative impact on agencies, roughly double the number who held that view in 2025.

The ad industry’s relationship with AI across 2025 and early 2026 has been characterized by exactly this ambivalence, with platforms racing to launch agentic capabilities while practitioners reported operational chaos distinguishing actionable automation from vendor hype.

In-housing accelerates as AI lowers the barriers

The primary structural barriers to brand in-housing have historically been talent and infrastructure – two things that AI has begun to erode. A lean internal team equipped with the right tools can now execute what once required a full-service agency relationship. That shift is measurable in the Basis data: 65.3% of agencies said that in the past 12 months, at least some clients moved work that the agency previously handled in-house. The figure adds to the client tension data, reflecting pressure that compounds year on year.

In-housing was also cited as a challenge by 23.9% of all respondents and by 29.8% of senior leaders – a notably higher proportion at leadership level, suggesting that agency executives are watching the trend with more concern than their teams below.

Layoffs, workforce confidence, and the talent pipeline

Nearly 40% of agencies – specifically 39.9% – reported conducting layoffs within the past 12 months. The workforce reductions reflect agencies adjusting headcount in response to AI-driven efficiency gains and the resulting downward pressure on margins. Layoffs driven by AI adoption have been documented across multiple data and advertising technology companies throughout 2025 and into 2026.

For the first time in the survey’s history, fewer than half of all agency professionals feel optimistic about the future of digital advertising. Specifically, 48.8% described themselves as feeling good, optimistic, or confident about digital advertising’s future. The figure was 56.1% in 2025 and 62.8% in 2024. The decline of nearly 14 percentage points over two years marks the first time confidence has fallen below the 50% threshold.

Industry confidence among leaders has fallen even faster. Senior leaders who felt optimistic about digital advertising’s future stood at 72.5% in 2024, dropped to 64.6% in 2025, and now sit at 51.1% in 2026 – a cumulative decline of 21.4 percentage points in two years.

A confidence gap is emerging between leadership and junior staff that carries long-term implications. Senior leaders remain relatively confident about the futures of their own agencies at 73.4%, while entry-to-mid level employees report confidence in their agency’s future at just 57.1%. The 16-point gap reflects an uneven distribution of anxiety across organizational levels. Junior roles are the ones most exposed to AI-driven displacement, and 80.7% of entry-to-mid level employees said they are likely to search for a new job within the next 12 months. Only 27.7% of respondents overall said they were somewhat or very likely to job-hunt – suggesting most workers are holding their positions rather than actively seeking moves, but that the pressure is concentrated among those with the least tenure.

Why this matters for the marketing community

Global advertising spend is projected to cross $1 trillion for the first time in 2026, according to industry forecasts cited in the Basis report. That growth creates real opportunity. But as programmatic advertising crossed $162.4 billion in 2025 in the US alone and agentic AI begins reshaping how campaigns are bought and sold, the question of which agency structures can survive is pressing. An industry in which nearly nine in ten professionals doubt the long-term viability of the foundational business model cannot continue in its current form indefinitely.

The data points to a set of structural adaptations that the most durable agencies will need to pursue: consolidating fragmented tech stacks, eliminating siloes that drive inefficiency, investing in AI infrastructure that connects rather than fragments workflows, and rethinking revenue models that no longer work when AI compresses time dramatically. The report frames these not as optional improvements but as conditions for survival.

For professionals in paid search, programmatic, and broader digital media, the Basis findings reinforce a pattern visible across multiple 2026 industry outlooks: the organizations that treat AI adoption as a technology checkbox rather than a structural transformation are the ones most likely to find themselves on the wrong side of the confidence gap.

Timeline

2023: Basis begins tracking AI usage in its annual agency survey; 32.7% of respondents reported not using AI at all, with daily AI use at just 9.9%
2024: Basis surveys 113 agency professionals; daily AI use was 15.9%; 62.8% of respondents felt optimistic about digital advertising; agencies managing 8 or more adtech tools stood at 22.1%
2025: Basis surveys 171 agency professionals; daily AI use reaches 38.6%; industry optimism falls to 56.1%; 50.9% of agencies reported more strained client relationships
December 2025: WPP Media projects global ad spending to surpass $1 trillion; programmatic advertising reaches $162.4 billion in the US with 20.5% year-over-year growth
January 2026: IAB releases 2026 Outlook Study forecasting 9.5% US ad spend growth, with five of six top advertiser priorities linked to AI
January 2026: Mediaocean survey shows 54% of marketers increasing AI media spend while 42% struggle with data quality issues limiting broader implementation
January 5, 2026: PubMatic launches AgenticOS with live campaigns running through agent-led workflows, partnering with WPP Media, Butler/Till, and MiQ
February 26, 2026: IAB Tech Lab formally names its agentic initiative AAMP, consolidating the Agentic Advertising Management Protocols under a single architecture
April 16, 2026: IAB releases 2025 Internet Advertising Revenue Report, showing US digital ad revenue reaching $294.6 billion with programmatic crossing $162.4 billion
April 20, 2026: Basis releases the 2026 Advertising Agency Report, based on 213 respondents; 87.3% believe the traditional agency model is broken or will be; daily AI use reaches 59.2%; fewer than half of agency professionals feel optimistic about the industry’s future for the first time in the survey’s history

Summary

Who: Basis, a Chicago-based advertising software company operating since 2001, surveyed 213 advertising professionals at leading agencies for its annual industry study. Ryan Manchee, SVP of Brand Marketing at Basis, commented on the findings.

What: The 2026 Advertising Agency Report found that 87.3% of agency professionals believe the traditional agency model is either already broken or will be within three to five years. The report documents accelerating AI adoption, rising layoffs, client in-housing, tech stack sprawl, and a historic drop in industry confidence below the 50% threshold for the first time.

When: The report was released on April 20, 2026. The survey covered the current state of advertising agencies as of early 2026, with comparative data going back to 2023 and 2024.

Where: The findings apply to the US advertising agency industry, with Basis headquartered at 11 E Madison St, 6th Floor, Chicago, IL 60602. The full report is available at basis.com/reports/2026-advertising-agency-report.

Why: The report matters because it documents structural cracks in the agency model at a moment when global advertising spend is projected to cross $1 trillion for the first time. As AI compresses the labour-intensive work on which billable-hour models depend, and as brands increasingly bring work in-house, agencies face simultaneous pressure on revenue, workforce, and operational efficiency. The findings signal that the industry has moved past theoretical disruption into measurable decline of confidence in the existing model.

By Luis Rijo

Sourced from PPC Land

In News

Understanding people’s ‘New World’ brand expectations

April 29, 2026 No Comments

By Richard Barrett

If you work in marketing, you might want to look away now. The brutal truth is… the vast majority of people don’t care about your brand. In fact, 81% of the brands sold across Europe could disappear overnight and consumers wouldn’t be concerned… They probably wouldn’t even notice.

Various dynamics are at play here. Firstly, abundance. With up to 30,000 new products being launched every year, we’re all spoilt for choice. With so much variety on offer, very few brands feel truly indispensable. Secondly, unbrands. We’re increasingly exposed to no name brands from the likes of Amazon, Aldi and Lidl. When these perform well, it undercuts the perceived value of traditional brands. Finally, loss of trust. It doesn’t take many rotten apples to spoil the brand barrel and there have been lots of examples recently of world-famous brands apparently acting in bad faith.

These are all significant, but there’s one factor that’s even more important. People’s expectations of brands have risen faster than brands’ ability to meet those expectations. It’s an important issue, one we first touched on in our previous MarTech focused article on why marketing technology needs to be brand-led and how to achieve it.

This expectation gap can’t be ignored. And the first step towards tackling it is understanding what people want from ‘new world’ brands.

CLARITY OF PURPOSE. This isn’t necessarily about ‘doing good’ for society. It’s more about any brand being crystal clear on the role it wants to play in people’s lives.
TRANSPARENCY. People demand that brands be authentic and consistent in their behaviour. When they ask questions, they want the brand to respond quickly and honestly.
ACTIVE CONTRIBUTION. Increasingly, people want brands to help them do or experience more. They expect brands to go beyond providing mere product utility.
PERMANENCE. Thanks to social media, people are ‘always on’ and they want the same from brands. They’re looking for brands to be working 365 days a year, constantly feeding their social and cultural passions.
DEMONSTRABLY NATIVE. People are highly attuned to the codes and customs of individual media channels. For brands to be welcomed in these spaces, they must act in a way that is perfectly tailored to the environment.
EXCEPTIONAL EXPERIENCES. It’s never been truer that the customer is always right. Consumers drive the agenda and they expect brands to deliver excellence however and whenever they engage.
CONTEXTUAL RELEVANCE. ‘Good enough’ isn’t good enough. People want brands to provide solutions that specifically resolve their needs in the moment.
APPROPRIATE PERSONALISATION. People don’t see themselves as part of the crowd and they don’t want to be treated as such, especially if they’re current customers. If it’s dangerous for brands to be overly familiar, it’s even more dangerous when they appear blind to existing relationships.

Meeting these expectations consistently is an extraordinarily high bar, one that will require technology to reach it. Not tech just for the sake of it, but solutions specifically designed to meet one or more of the expectations outlined above. One single imperative should drive every decision: will this help me provide better answers to my customers’ needs?

By Richard Barrett

Sourced from The Drum

In News

Why Brands That Still Run Ads Are Losing to Brands That Tell Stories

April 1, 2026 No Comments

By Jonny Caplan | Edited by Micah Zimmerman

Modern brands can no longer buy attention through advertising — they must earn it by becoming storytellers people choose to spend time with.

Key Takeaways

People don’t remember ads. They remember stories that reflect who they are and what they value.
Attention isn’t bought anymore; it’s earned through meaning, emotion and sustained narrative.

We are living through the age of brand-built entertainment.

This is not a marketing trend, and it is not a creative fad. It is a structural shift in how attention is earned, how trust is built, and how value is created. Brands are no longer competing only with each other. They are competing with entertainment, culture and story itself.

For decades, brands relied on repetition and interruption. You bought media, you pushed messages and you hoped frequency would do the work. That model is breaking down because attention has fundamentally changed. Audiences are more selective, more distracted and far less tolerant of anything that feels like an advert. The moment something feels transactional, people scroll past it.

As a result, brands are struggling to sell to their customers in the normal way. Not because their products are worse, but because the mechanics of persuasion have shifted. People do not want to be marketed to. They want to feel something. They want to be engaged. They want to be drawn into a narrative in which they recognise themselves.

Content is changing

That is why we are seeing such a sharp rise in vertical dramas, short-form series, mini dramas and episodic storytelling designed specifically for mobile and social platforms. These formats are not a downgrade from television. They are a response to how people actually consume content today. Short episodes, strong hooks, emotional continuity and characters that return again and again.

What brands are beginning to understand is that audiences do not build relationships with products. They build relationships with stories. When a brand becomes part of a story world, rather than an interruption around it, the dynamic changes completely. Trust forms, then memory and then attachment.

This is where brands stop behaving like advertisers and start behaving like media companies.

At that point, the focus shifts away from surface-level messaging and towards meaning. It is no longer about how a product looks, but what it represents. This is not a new idea. It is an old one, articulated long before marketing departments existed.

As Aristotle remarked, “Art aims to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.” That is exactly what is happening now. Brands that move into storytelling are no longer selling features. They are expressing values, identity and emotional truth.

I have been working at the intersection of brands and media for over twenty years, and the last five in particular have made this shift impossible to ignore. Media companies are learning how to think like brands, and brands are learning how to build studios, intellectual property and story engines. The line between the two has collapsed because audiences no longer separate them. They only decide what is worth their time.

AI has accelerated this change, but it has not altered the fundamentals. Production is faster, distribution is cheaper and experimentation is easier than ever. But as the volume of content increases, meaning becomes scarcer. Technology does not replace storytelling. It amplifies the importance of those who know how to do it well.

By Jonny Caplan

Edited by Micah Zimmerman

Sourced from Entrepreneur

In News

GB News whines that brands are ‘scared’ of advertising with them

March 24, 2026 No Comments

By Amelia Hansford

GB News is being urged to ‘reflect’ on the type of content it produces after a host complained about an advertising boycott yet again.

Presenter Nana Akua claimed during an episode of The Interview that potential advertisers were being “scared off” by human rights groups that argue the news and opinion channel is pushing division in the UK.

During an interview with former professional football coach, Steve Harrison, the 54-year-old said: “We’ve been through the whole thing where, you know, there was this [call], ‘Well, they’re horrible, don’t advertise with them’. Some were scared off from advertising on the channel.”

GB News has reportedly lost over £131 million since its launch in 2021 as major brands join a boycott started by the political pressure group Stop Funding Hate, which argued the channel uses “fear and division” to gain viewers.

The broadcaster has routinely come under fire for airing anti-LGBTQ+ views. Most notably was GB News host Josh Howie’s remark that the LGBTQ+ acronym includes “paedos,” as well as is on-air apology that denied the existence of trans people.

GB News host Josh Howie in the studio. — GB News host Josh Howie. (GB News/Instagram)

Stop Funding Hatemade a call to boycott the right-wing broadcaster in February 2021 – four months before the broadcaster officially launched – calling for prospective advertisers to pull support in the lead-up to its first broadcast.

Major brands including Ikea, Nivea and OVO Energy pulled advertising almost immediately following the channel’s launch, with many more pulling their sponsorships over the next few years.

During the broadcast, Harrison claimed that advertisers were “complicit” in the channel’s losses for “not standing up to Stop Funding Hate.”

Responding in a post on social media, the political pressure group called on GB News to “reflect on whether the content of GB News might explain this reluctance” for brands to advertise on the channel.

“We’ve seen time and time again that when enough of us speak out & urge advertisers to avoid GB News, companies will respond,” they added. “This only works because it’s also very clear how toxic an environment GB News is – advertisers can see that the public has a point and is right to be concerned.”

Akua’s comments came just a week after fellow GB News host Charlie Downes claimed she was not truly British, despite being born in Newcastle.

During a heated debate, Downes claimed that Akua was not truly British because, in his view, “there’s a difference between someone who has come here within the last five years and gotten themselves a passport and somebody like me whose family have been in this country for thousands of years.”

The pair clashed after Downes claimed that Britishness is not defined by a “set of abstract, corporate values like democracy,” claiming instead that it was defined by what he called the “ancient peoples” of Britain.

Akua responded by citing Cheddar Man – a Mesolithic human male whose skeleton was found in Cheddar Gorge and is believed to be the oldest complete skeleton of a human found in Britain. In 2018, DNA analysis found that Cheddar Man was Black.

After Downes said he disagreed because of his Christian beliefs, Akua responded: “You might believe that, but science says otherwise.”

Feature image credit: GB News host Nana Akua (left) spoke with Steve Harrison (right) on the channel’s issues with advertisers. (screenshot/Facebook)

By Amelia Hansford

Sourced from PinkNews

In News

Out-of-home advertising: The unsung hero of brand-building?

February 16, 2026 No Comments

By Dan Bayford

Dan Bayford of Posterscope (part of Dentsu) argues that out-of-home ads are still undervalued in the brand builder’s toolkit.

Is out-of-home advertising a secret weapon for brand-building?

Historically during times of economic uncertainty (and despite all the overwhelming evidence that it’s a bad idea, like from Binet & Field), short-termism remains prevalent among many advertisers.

But the most recent IPA Bellwether Report makes for refreshing reading. It reveals that investment in main media advertising (the core traditional media channels, and especially events) was on the increase, suggesting that advertisers are shifting their focus to more long-term, brand-building strategies to protect and grow market share and maintain customer loyalty.

And while digital media still accounts for a sizeable proportion of ad spend, there’s evidence that while advertisers see the value in it, it is not a medium favored by consumers. Kantar’s 2023 Media Reactions report suggested that many forms of digital advertising are in fact actively ignored when compared to channels such as out-of-home (OOH) and live experiences.

So, for those advertisers refocusing on brand building, it’s time to take a fresh look at OOH. It offers a plethora of ways to enable advertisers to grab attention, increase brand recognition, and drive engagement with target audiences. There are multiple benefits to using OOH advertising for brand building. Here are six ways to make the most of this traditional yet ever-innovating medium.

1. Broad reach and local impact

OOH advertising offers a unique combination of broad reach with local impact, reaching 98% of the UK population every week, according to Route. Impossible to ignore, it can provide a 24/7 presence across the nation, reaching commuters, pedestrians, motorists, shoppers, and leisure seekers.

OOH advertising allows for geographically targeted campaigns, offering strategic ad placements in key locations where a specific demographic is known to be more prevalent. This combination of wide-reaching visibility with local relevance builds connections at both national and local levels.

2. Visual impact

OOH has a unique visual impact: a creative canvas designed to grab attention. In a world filled with digital noise and distractions, OOH ads can’t be skipped, scrolled past, or ad-blocked. They command immediate visual attention and engage viewers on a visceral level.

A well-designed ad can convey your brand’s essence and deliver your message in a split second, while digital OOH campaigns that use contextually relevant messaging can achieve a 17% more effective response.

3. Consistent brand presence

Building a brand involves fostering recognition and trust over time. OOH advertising contributes to this process by providing consistent brand visibility. When people encounter a brand repeatedly in various OOH locations, it reinforces their perception. This consistency helps to establish trust and reliability in the minds of consumers.

OOH (and digital OOH) are among consumers’ and marketers’ top five most preferred media channels in Kantar’s Media Reactions report, reinforcing its status as a liked and trusted medium.

Consistency extends beyond just the visuals of the ad; it also involves delivering a consistent message and tone. Consistency builds brand recognition and makes brand more memorable in the long run.

4. Driving online brand engagement

Contra the notion that OOH and digital marketing are mutually exclusive, they complement each other very effectively. Businesses can incorporate QR codes, hashtags, and URLs into OOH ads to drive online engagement; this seamless integration enables potential customers to transition swiftly from seeing an out-of-home ad to visiting a website or online shop to make a purchase.

OOH ads can also be a powerful catalyst for online discussions and user-generated content. Encouraging the sharing of out-of-home ads on social media platforms can initiate a conversation online. This cross-channel synergy helps amplify brand messaging, increases its reach, and drives deeper brand engagement.

Research by the OAAA and Harris Poll revealed that social media is a potent amplification tool for OOH campaigns, with 91% of gen Z and 82% of millennials expressing willingness to reshare OOH ads on social media.

5. Creativity and innovation

In OOH, creativity knows no bounds. Brands can experiment with unconventional ad formats and locations to create memorable experiences. From interactive bus stop panels and full location dominations to full-motion digital panels and anamorphic 3D billboards, OOH advertising allows brands to push the boundaries of creativity and innovation.

Meanwhile, innovative OOH campaigns increasingly go viral, generating significant buzz and media coverage. These campaigns build brand awareness and demonstrate a brand’s commitment to creativity and originality.

6. Measurable effectiveness

Like all media, out-of-home measurement grows in sophistication all the time. Brands can utilize a variety of tools to track the effectiveness of their OOH campaigns. You can employ geolocation data to understand foot traffic around OOH sites, conduct surveys to gauge brand recall among target audiences, and perform real-time data collection and analysis. This enables adaptation and optimization of campaigns on the fly.

It’s time to recognize the enduring power of OOH advertising for brand building. Its broad reach, visual impact, consistency, and ability to enhance digital marketing efforts make it an incredibly valuable tool. It is accessible and proven to be effective for a wide range of business, from start-ups and scale-ups to established high-street retailers and global brands. By harnessing creativity, data-driven insights, and the unique strengths of OOH advertising, businesses can effectively drive brand awareness, recognition, and connection with their audiences in ways that are increasingly important in challenging market conditions.

By Dan Bayford

Sourced from The Drum

In News

Story archetypes and their use in digital marketing strategies

December 19, 2025 No Comments

By Rumble Romagnoli,

Archetypes have long been used by marketers to help define a brand’s personality, which in turn allows for a powerful and cohesive digital marketing strategy to be rolled out. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the world of luxury marketing, where story archetypes help brands to define their image and tailor their marketing to a very specific group of individuals.

Relevance explain how story archetypes can be a powerful tool in luxury brand storytelling.

There are 12 archetypes, which were defined by famed Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Carl Jung. These carefully constructed story archetypes each reflect enduring personas that feed into the human experience, helping a brand to discover its personality and brand voice by anchoring it to a clearly defined story archetype that is already embedded within humanity. This story archetype ultimately defines how and the way that brand communicates to its target audience, helping to make the brand instantly recognisable.

By identifying the specific archetype that a brand embodies, marketers can tap into what that brand’s clients consciously, or unconsciously, desire to experience. Archetypes are, at their very essence, story characters, whose symbolic or personal significance evokes emotional reactions in the listener.

Once a luxury brand has chosen their story archetype, they can create a powerful and compelling story that resonates with individuals’ desires, essentially enabling their target audience to better relate to a brand and their product. And, when you consider that a survey by Meaningful Brands in 2017 highlighted that 84 percent of people expect brands to produce content that entertains, provides solutions, experiences and events, carefully selecting the right story archetype and producing compelling content to appeal to that archetype has never been more important, or powerful.

A brand’s overall digital marketing strategy will also be driven by their archetype, dictating where their marketing focus should lie as well as what social media platforms will work best for them.

Story archetypes run the gamut from those that create excitement, to those that convey comfort to others, and choosing the right one is essential for the success of any brand.

The following 12 archetypes are typically used by marketers, with each story archetype tapping into the common narrative that individuals experience and see on a day-to-day basis.

The 12 story archetypes

The Creator

Naturally expressive, original and imaginative, the Creator wishes to see new ideas take shape and see visions realised. This is the ideal story archetype for technology brands, in addition to marketing and design brands, companies who believe that anything is possible and that ideas should not be stifled. Novel and experimental digital marketing strategies tend to work best with this archetype, with brands often focusing on their creative and innovative ideas. The multinational technology company Apple ideally fits this story archetype as it constantly pushes the boundaries of technological evolution.

The Everyman

Naturally empathetic, unpretentious and resilient, the Everyman’s purpose in life is to be accepted and belong. This is the story archetype for brands that wish to be known for their reliability and quality. Trust is central to this archetype, along with a feeling of belonging. Digital marketing strategies that offer a realistic down-to-earth view will appeal best. Luxury fashion and beauty brand Fenty appeals to the Everyman, with its no no-nonsense products designed to appeal to a wide range of people.

The Innocent

Idealistic, optimistic and hopeful, the Innocent wishes to live life in harmony and is the archetype for brands that offer wholesome fun, alongside brands that promote wellness, or those selling natural products, for example. Simple, yet cheerful marketing campaigns tend to appeal best to this archetype. Exclusive brand Chanel appeals to this story archetype with its luxurious goods that promote happiness and wellbeing.

The Explorer

Naturally independent, authentic and curious, this archetype craves, freedom, and adventure, with marketing campaigns tapping into this archetype’s desire by focusing on risk taking, travel and discovery. Ambitious and innovative, Explorer brands aim to push the boundaries and embrace anything is possible attitude. The Explorer story archetype is perfect for brands that promote exploration, such as Land Rover and its go anywhere rugged off-road vehicles.

The Caregiver

Compassionate, nurturing and dedicated, the Caregiver’s purpose in life is to help others. Brands that align with this story archetype offer protection, safety and support for their customers, and often includes healthcare, education, resorts, and baby care brands. Emotionally driven digital marketing strategies tend to appeal best to this archetype. The Four Seasons Hotels are ideal for this, with their latest marketing campaigns tapping into how they can help families spend more quality time together.

The Ruler

Confident, competent, and responsible, the Ruler aims to be a role model to others. Digital marketing strategies for brands that align with this story archetype need to have an authoritative voice, infused with a sense of wealth and success. Brands such as Porsche are an ideal fit for the Ruler archetype.

The Magician

Intuitive, insightful and inspiring, the Magician’s purpose in life is to transform the ordinary into extraordinary. Digital marketing strategies should be imaginative and inspiring, aimed at making dreams comes true and turning problems into opportunities. Italian jewellery company Bvglari’s extraordinary and exceptional designs perfectly resonates with the ideals of this story archetype.

The Rebel

Unconventional thinkers who can develop new, cutting-edge approaches, the Rebel’s purpose in life is to shake up the status quo, a great fit for action-orientated brands that want to stand out and be different. Digital marketing strategies should demonstrate the brand as an alternative to the mainstream in order to be successful. Balenciaga’s forward-thinking and cutting-edge designs perfectly align with this archetype.

The Entertainer

Playful, spontaneous, and humorous, the Entertainer aims to make people feel good, lighten the mood, and enjoy themselves. Fun-filled creative marketing strategies that create an emotional response work best. A great story archetype for fun-loving brands that are aimed at encouraging people to have a good time, such as historic fashion house Gucci.

The Lover

Appreciative, passionate and committed, the lover’s purpose in life is to make people feel special. Brands tap into this feel-good attitude by creating compelling digital marketing strategies that pleasure the senses. A great fit for aesthetically beautiful brands, especially very exclusive ones, such as Hermes.

The Sage

Intelligent, knowledgeable and reflective, the Sage seeks to find answers to their questions. This story archetype is a great fit for educational or research-based brands, as well as news outlets. Factual digital marketing strategies that challenge the audience to think differently and discover more about the world will work best with this archetype. Patek Philippe, one of the oldest luxury watch manufacturers in the world, is a great example of an iconic brand that perfectly fits with this story archetype.

The Hero

Determined, achievement-orientated and focused, the Hero’s purpose in life is to improve the world. Brands that align with this story archetype promote themselves as being superior to their competitors, often creating loud and bold marketing campaigns, such as the prestigious watchmaker Rolex.

At Relevance, we use story archetypes to help us craft compelling stories that align perfectly with our client’s brand personality but we also go beyond the traditional story archetypes to develop our own. Based on data and assumptions that we have in-house, we really believe in the power of creating your own archetypes that uniquely characterise a specific brand. For example, we have a huge amount of information on high-net-worth-individuals and ultra-high-net-worth-individuals, from their lifestyles and spending habits, to their education and business profiles. This unique data enables us to identify trends amongst this audience, create our own story archetypes, and then craft innovative digital marketing strategies and campaigns that are based on data and facts, not assumptions.

Contact the team of digital marketing experts at Relevance if you require digital marketing strategies that work coupled with severe standards of excellence. And, for a bit of fun, why not check out our quiz and discover your archetype.

By Rumble Romagnoli

CEO at Relevance.

Sourced from The Drum

In News

Inside The Startup Paying Regular People To Promote Brands They Love

November 28, 2025 No Comments

By Ian Shepherd

When James Watt talks about advertising, he sounds less like the founder of billion dollar beer brand BrewDog and more like a man ready to take on a trillion-dollar industry.

“Advertising hasn’t really evolved in a century,” he says. “It’s still this one-to-many model, brands spending huge amounts of money to get exposure and hoping something sticks. But we see between 4,000 and 10,000 ads a day now. The more we see, the less impact they have.”

Watt’s new venture, Social Tip, launched just 14 weeks ago, is his attempt to rewrite that playbook. Instead of paying influencers or pouring more money into digital ads, Social Tip turns everyday customers into brand advocates and pays them cash when they post about the products they genuinely love.

It’s a simple but radical idea. And one that might hint at where the future of advertising is headed.

From Beer To Brand Democracy

After 17 years growing BrewDog into one of the UK’s most recognizable consumer brands, Watt says he wanted to build something that redefines how marketing works.

“I love building businesses,” he says. “But I’m even more passionate about marketing and community. Peer-to-peer influence is where the future of that lives.”

The irony, he adds with a grin, is that his wife is an influencer. “So I’ve launched a company that, if successful, might just put her out of a job.”

Social Tip’s model is disarmingly simple. When a user buys from one of the platform’s 350 partner brands — including Unilever, HelloFresh, MyProtein, and Marks & Spencer — they can share a post about the product on TikTok or Instagram. Social Tip’s algorithm analyses reach, engagement and content quality, then pays users an average of £5.60 ($7.50) per post directly into their account.

Brands, meanwhile, gain a steady stream of authentic user-generated content (UGC) and measurable exposure. “We’re seeing CPMs of about $7,” Watt says. “Traditional influencer campaigns are five times this. So it’s massively more efficient and the money goes back to customers, not platforms.”

Authenticity Over Influence

At the core of Watt’s thesis is a belief that authenticity has become the rarest currency in marketing.

“If you’ve got 200 followers and a private Instagram account, that’s fine,” he says. “If you share something that fits naturally into your life, that’s where the magic happens.”

The platform’s user base has grown to 50,000 in just a few months. Some have hundreds of followers; others have hundreds of thousands. The common denominator is genuine enthusiasm.

His favourite example isn’t a multinational brand but a neighbourhood café. “There’s a small place in my village called Coffee Apothecary,” he says. “They put £200 into their Social Tip account, and suddenly the whole community was posting about them. It works for huge global brands and tiny independents alike.”

The vision, Watt says, is to make having a Social Tip presence as fundamental to a brand as having an Instagram page. “Ten years ago, Instagram was a competitive advantage,” he says. “Now it’s table stakes. I want Social Tip to be the same.”

SocialTip-PAMedia-London-160624-0157-JPEG Full size-resized-to-large

A Change In Consumer Trust

Social Tip’s timing is deliberate. Consumers are tuning out traditional ads, and marketers are struggling to keep pace with fragmented attention.

Kantar’s Media Reactions 2024 study found that people trust peer recommendations and word-of-mouth far more than social-media or streaming ads. Meanwhile, Nielsen’s 2024 Annual Marketing Report revealed that while 72 percent of marketers expect higher ad budgets this year, only 38 percent measure their digital and traditional channels together, a clear sign that legacy models aren’t keeping up with behaviour.

“Community is the new media,” Watt says. “People don’t trust ads. They don’t trust influencers. They trust people they know. Social Tip takes that timeless truth and makes it scalable.”

He’s careful, though, to position the company as a complement for traditional marketing. “We’re not the hero in any Social Tip story,” he says. “The hero is the customer and the brand. We’re just the connection.”

Early Results And Expansion Plans

Since its launch, Social Tip has paid out over £150,000 ($201,000) to users and partnered with hundreds of consumer brands. The company recently began testing in the U.S., starting with 10 businesses and 500 users, with plans to scale rapidly in 2025.

Watt admits that building a new model comes with challenges. “Any startup is hard, and disruption never comes easy,” he says. “But the early signs are phenomenal.. real engagement, real ROI, real excitement.”

He also sees the platform as part of a wider movement toward shared value in marketing. “We want to shorten the bond between brands and customers,” he says. “If you love a brand and you talk about it, that brand should share some of its value back with you. That’s the future.”

Expert Take: What This Means For Marketers

As someone who studies the evolution of the creator economy, what strikes me about Social Tip is how it reframes influence as infrastructure, not entertainment. We’ve spent years optimizing for followers and reach; now the real opportunity lies in community credibility and authentic micro-advocacy.

The next wave of marketing innovation will come from building systems that let brand love scale organically. In a fragmented world, trust is the true growth channel.

The Bottom Line

Advertising as we know it is evolving. In a world oversaturated with content and skepticism, the most powerful voices will be the ones with the most authenticity.

As Watt puts it, “If you can make customers feel like partners, not targets, that’s when marketing really works.”

And if Social Tip is right, the future of advertising might belong to regular people, posting about what they love.

This article is based on an interview with James Watt from my podcast, The Business of Creators.

Feature image credit: Getty

By Ian Shepherd

Find Ian Shepherd on LinkedIn and X. Visit Ian’s website.

Sourced from Forbes

In News

LED mask ads banned over acne and rosacea claims

November 25, 2025 No Comments

By Jennifer Meierhans

A number of adverts for LED face masks have been banned for making unauthorised claims they can improve acne and rosacea.

The popularity of at-home beauty devices has surged in recent years with social media feeds filled with influencers unboxing and reviewing the masks as the latest skincare trend.

However, dermatologists are divided over whether light-emitting diodes (LED) in at-home masks can deliver the results of medical-grade devices used in clinics.

The advertising watchdog banned adverts for cosmetic devices which were not registered with the medicines regulator.

LED therapy is thought to stimulate cells and improve the skin, but devices must be registered with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to make medical claims about skin conditions like acne and rosacea.

Devices registered with the MHRA can be searched on its Public Access Registration Database (PARD). But the MHRA told the BBC “there are currently no LED face masks currently registered.”

Dermatologists have previously told the BBC there have not been clinical trials with large enough sample sizes for long enough periods of time to know the benefits of at-home LED masks.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) used AI to search for ads which might break the rules, and the bans followed that search.

‘My acne had disappeared’

An advert on Project E Beauty’s website showed before and after images of a woman’s forehead with and without acne, with the words: “By week three, my acne had disappeared”.

The ad stated: “Our most advanced LED mask for deeper skin renewal”. It claimed it “treats acne” and offered “83% improvement in acne lesions in four weeks”.

The ASA said “no medical claims could be made for the product, whether or not such claims appeared in customer testimonials.”

Project E Beauty LLC said it had removed potential medical claims relating to “healing”, “treating acne” and “rosacea”.

It also said it had amended the advert to state that any references to acne in before/after photos and reviews were testimonials based on personal experiences.

Silk'n A Silk'n advert showing a woman in a black tank top with dark curly hair wearing a white LED face mask and holding the controller while it beams red light on to her face — This advert was banned for making a medicinal claim about acne

A paid-for social media ad for Silk’n featured a video of a woman using an LED face mask with the caption: “Finished with the blue light to help treat my acne and scars”.

Invention Works BV, trading as Silk’n, acknowledged the term “acne” constituted a medical claim. It said the advert was created by a woman after prolonged use of the mask and the wording reflected her individual perception and results.

The ASA told Silk’n the adverts must not appear again in that form.

Beautaholics

Beautaholics agreed not to make claims about acne in adverts in future

Other adverts banned include one on the Beautaholics website for a RejuvaLux mask which stated: “This mask provides targeted solutions for…acne…rosacea.”

Beautaholics said it would not make claims regarding the treatment or prevention of medical conditions in future.

A paid-for social media ad for a mask by Luyors Retail Inc was also banned after it stated: “It helps tackle everything from acne…with clinical precision.”

Luyors said it would ensure future advertising did not refer to “acne” or other terms that could imply a medicinal claim.

Izzy Dharmasiri at the ASA said ads “can have an influence on what people buy,” so it was “important that advertisers don’t blur the line between cosmetic benefits and medicinal claims.”

She said advertisers “need to have evidence to back up any claims they make in their ads”. She said the banning of the adverts was part of its work to protect vulnerable people “seeking genuine solutions to medical problems”.

Feature image credit: Getty Images

By Jennifer Meierhans

Sourced from BBC

In News

Brands are rethinking their out-of-home advertising strategies to focus less on awareness and more on conversion

May 10, 2024 No Comments

By Gabriela Barkho.

For years, startup brands have used out-of-home advertising campaigns in major cities to get people talking about them.

From Thinx’s provocative subway ads to Casper’s Broadway-inspired billboard campaigns, the goal for many out-of-home campaigns has long been to get more people to remember their brand, share photos of the activations in social media, and, hopefully, ink some sales down the line.

That is largely still in place for many new brand advertisers. However, as profitability has become a bigger concern and marketing budgets have shrunk, more brands are weighing whether the money spent on splashy billboards is worth it. Increasingly, outdoor advertising is viewed as more than just a top-of-funnel channel. Now, companies are using it to target particular groups of shoppers, and help drive sales by running OOH campaigns in areas that are close to where products are stocked.

Brands like Saint James, Dagne Dover and Coterie, for example, are using OOH to not only build brand awareness but also to drive sales at particular events, promote new product launches and change people’s perceptions of their brand.

Kevani founder Kevin Bartanian, whose out-of-home media company specializes in localized advertising, said, “Traditionally, back in the late 1800s, out-of-home started out directional and had a clear call to action.” But when DTC brands began embracing the channel years ago, they saw it as an opportunity to create clever or provocative campaigns. By virtue of being venture capital-backed, these brands had the cash to buy out big billboard placements. Particularly for DTC brands, they viewed an OOH campaign as a significant company milestone, as it was a way to bring their presence offline and into the real world.

But in recent years, the goals of OOH campaigns have gotten more granular.

“Here in the real world, we have real-life ‘cookies’ that can be leveraged,” Bartanian said. For example, he said, brands can use digital, AI-powered displays that can be programmed to target local demographics in each city — and promote a nearby retailer where customers can purchase the product.

Venturing off Instagram and into the real world

Indeed, digitally-native brands testing the out-of-home waters are trying to be more intentional with their investment in this channel.

One example is Coterie — a diaper brand that launched in 2019 — which is using its first major OOH campaign to establish brand awareness with the help of Coterie investor and brand ambassador Karlie Kloss.

More specifically, the goal of the test is to target areas that are frequented by children and their high-income parents who may be interested in Coterie’s diapers. Starting February 5, Coterie kicked off a four-week run of the out-of-home campaign in its key markets of New York City and Los Angeles, which featured Kloss and several babies wearing Coterie.

The company’s director of brand marketing, Brittany Deems, told Modern Retail the idea was to utilize storytelling to showcase modern parenting. Deems said featuring Kloss, who has appeared on countless billboards throughout her career promoting fashion brands, is a way to spark enough interest for passersby to at least look up the brand she’s promoting.

“Karlie has been on a lot of billboards, but you’ve never seen her on a billboard with babies,” Deems said. “You also don’t see a lot of diaper brands in out of home, so it’s a good medium to stand out.” The concept’s theme, Deems said, leans into debunking expectations of modern parenting after having a baby. “Seeing Karlie wrangling babies, we’re conveying that being a parent doesn’t take away from what you do for a career,” Deems explained.

Some of the biggest Coterie placements include the City National Bank wall on Los Angeles’ Sunset Boulevard and Wythe Ave & N. 12th in Williamsburg. Additionally, digital video OOH placements went live across select malls, including Century City in Topanga and San Diego’s Westfields. In addition, the campaign is being cross-promoted on Coterie’s social channels, email, Instagram and TikTok to drive added views and engagement.

The company will assess metrics after the campaign’s run wraps up. But Deems said in New York and Los Angeles, thus far average sessions on Coterie’s website have increased by 20% and 18% week-over-week, respectively.

Meanwhile, iced tea brand Saint James, which launched in 2022, is another company delving into out-of-home ads, but is timing them with specific performance goals in mind. Saint James president and CEO Brad Neumann said out-of-home has been performing well for the beverage brand. Its first foray was a Times Square ad that announced the brand’s launch. To track the outdoor campaigns’ performance, the company places QR code coupons on billboards and wild postings.

Saint James’ next major out-of-home push is set for this spring. For Stagecoach and Coachella festivals, Neumann said the company will have “billboards along routes out in the desert heading towards the event,” which will promote the brand’s sampling activations on Coachella’s festival grounds. Select Uber riders will be met with coolers of iced tea when they get into their ride, with those vehicles also featuring car wrap Saint James ads. “We’re going to look at how many bottles and samples were distributed at Coachella, and the net sales from Stagecoach – where we’ll be sold at all concession stands,” Neumann said.

Moreover, Neumann said the brand’s OOH strategy is doubling as a means to target retail buyers and shoppers. The brand began to roll out in Costco at the end of February and is running OOH placements near the highest-grossing Costco locations around the country.

“Right now we’re trying to get into Whole Foods — so I’m taking out a bunch of billboards in the Austin area near their headquarters,” Neumann said, quipping that if a buyer is faced with seeing the brand’s teas daily, “you’re going to return my call.”

On the other end of the spectrum, brands experienced with the ad format are now viewing OOH’s role as an effective customer conversion tool and not just an awareness play.

Out-of-home advertising is not new to bag brand Dagne Dover, as the company has been running billboard and subway ads for nearly a decade. Deepa Gandhi, co-founder and COO at Dagne Dover, said the company’s latest OOH campaign was centered on promoting its new travel bag collection; The campaign ran throughout the fourth quarter of 2023 to align with the new product launch and holiday season.

“We launched our Travel 1.0 collection in late 2023 and this was a perfect moment to tell the story of Dagne Dover and our new collection through targeted OOH placements in high commuter and traveler locations,” Gandhi said. These New York City spots include Moynihan Station, Long Island Rail Road trains and JFK International Airport.

“The focus of the campaign was to pique the interest of potential customers to learn more about our fantastic products through strong imagery and enticing copy,” she said. Dagne Dover’s bag organization features are the most important value proposition to highlight, so the creatives specifically targeted travelers’ lifestyle needs. For instance, packing videos of Dagne Dover’s best-selling commuter bags ran on LIRR’s digital screens.

Evolving expectations

Over time, Gandhi said, the brand’s expectations of OOH’s impact have leveled up — with an increased aim to target more specific demographics that are likely to purchase the bags.

“It has definitely evolved,” Gandhi said. “With our first push on NYC subways, we were a much younger brand, so we saw this immediate pop in traffic in NYC during rush hour.” The company began to monitor whether the traffic is steadily increasing in the areas where Dagne Dover has done OOH pushes. Gandhi said this is because the now-established brand now experiences “a steadier flow of traffic to site from all major markets at all times.”

With the recent travel-themed campaign, Gandhi said the company ended up seeing increased interest in demographics outside of its target audience of young urban professionals. In turn, the new conversions skewed toward suburban commuters.

When entering into channels like OOH, Gandhi said the hope is to expand a brand’s top-of-funnel reach. “Being able to appeal to demographics outside of our ‘norm’ was a huge win,” she said. Another on-the-ground finding was that Dagne Dover started to physically spot more of its products in the areas where it had longer placements, like on the LIRR commuter trains. “This is the best proof point of the OOH placements resonating with specific audiences,” she said. To build on the momentum, the company expanded the campaign in some of its key designated market areas like Dallas and Austin as it continues to expand its footprint across the country.

Despite the increased use of data to target specific markets, the OOH format largely has had the same perception for decades: that is, that it’s solely an awareness play. “The basic fundamentals of out-of-home have largely stayed the same,” Bartanian said. “It’s a one-to-many way to reach people out in the real world, but now it’s a matter of utilizing this channel in a modern and more effective way.”

But that theory may be changing.

Saint James’ Neumann said investing in billboards can quickly bring legitimacy to a new brand, but it can also double as an effective conversion tool when used in specific instances. “It’s a way to bridge the gap between awareness and a direct call-to-action to promote products at retailers nearby,” Neumann said.

Feature Image Credit: Ivy Liu

By Gabriela Barkho

Sourced from Modern Retail