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2025 looks exciting for DOOH. More AI, more personalization, more social media and more bombastic interactive activations. We’re looking at the top digital out-of-home advertising trends to see what will be hot this year. Discover the most interesting digital signage applications in out-of-home.
Demand for deeper personalization
Personalization is what will define 2025. We wrote about it in our digital signage trends article. It’s as relevant for digital out-of-home advertising trends. People want brands to get personal with them and deliver tailored visual experiences. But before going into details, let’s look at some important statistics.
– 81% of customers prefer companies that offer personalized experiences – 2024 Forbes State of Customer Service and CX Survey.
– personalization marketing reduces customer acquisition costs by as much as 50% – McKinsey.
– personalization lifts revenues by 5 to 15 percent, and increases marketing ROI by 10 to 30 percent – McKinsey.
– 76% of customers get frustrated when brands don’t do personalized marketing – McKinsey.
There’s a big demand for getting more personal for brands. Digital out-of-home advertising is how brands will satisfy that demand.
It’s the time for the so-called “Tête-à-Tête” marketing (meaning head-to-head in French). This approach gets brands up close to customers through the power of personalized digital experiences. Enabled by AI and machine learning technology, digital signage can create a feeling of closeness and uniqueness of interaction. That’s what brands will be focused on doing in 2025.
Smaller, more intimate digital out-of-home experiences
While huge digital signage activations like Las Vegas Sphere, TSX Broadway stage, or Shibuya 3D anamorphic billboards are not going away, the pivot in 2025 will be to smaller-scale installations. The reason for that is hyper-personalization.
As we mentioned in a previous passage, customers expect to feel “unique” for the brand and get a “one-on-one” treatment. A 3D billboard on Times Square is good for impressing, but it’s not the best solution for a fine-tuned personalized experience.
That’s why brands will invest in small-scale screen technology and try to interact with customers through more fine-tuned content marketing.
AI and machine learning are finally getting the spotlight and will help companies gather data and use it to enable memorable out-of-home activations. Artificial intelligence, for example, will be used to analyze demographics, behaviors and interests to craft more personalized content in real time.
Another big part of brand engagement with screens will be through pop-ups. The creative temporary installations are perfect for engaging with customers and providing a one-of-a-kind brand experience. That’s why creating awesome digital signage-enabled pop-ups is among the top digital out-of-home advertising trends.
Kitcast digital signage is an amazing tool for driving personalized experiences.
Our app can be used for effective outdoor advertising. You can take advantage of the many customizable templates and smart widgets for creating unforgettable digital out-of-home campaigns, driving foot traffic through stunning window video walls and enabling AR experiences through QR codes.
Generative AI has a field day
Everyone is talking about how AI technology takes over and they are right. Generative artificial intelligence allows brands to save money and resources while creating great content. It’s among the top digital out-of-home advertising trends as signage technology also benefits from AI now.
Kitcast has an AI Template Builder that allows companies to access the power of generative AI. All you have to do is write a text prompt of what you’d like your screen to show. In seconds, the image or video will be generated.
While not everything can be AI-generated as there as still many limitations to the technology, companies can use it for reference, inspiration and brainstorming. Also, AI capabilities can be used to automate outdoor ads and adapt them to weather conditions using real-time data.
Better integration with mobile devices
This is another digital out-of-home advertising trend that comes from personalization demand. A mobile phone has become an indispensable item in the everyday life of almost everyone. Brands that interact with customers through a combination of out-of-home advertising and personalized mobile integrations will win in 2025.
QR codes will play the most important part in this process. They enable online links and drive traffic to websites. Also, they make people act. It’s one thing to just see an ad. It’s a whole different level of engagement to interact with it through the mobile phone.
What it gives brands is data. And the role of data is increasingly important in the age of AI and machine learning. It’s the “food” that feeds these technologies. With more data brands get a better picture of what their audience cares about. That’s why QR codes are vital for targeted data gathering.
Social media interactions are another part of mobile integration. Out-of-home advertising that sparks online conversations and drives user-generated content is the best marketing strategy for 2025.
Sustainable and energy-efficient screens
We mentioned sustainability campaigning among the top digital out-of-home trends of 2024. The tendency doesn’t go away in 2025, customers are still very much concerned about how sustainable the brand is and how green its practices are. However, there’s a trend for more eco-friendly hardware part of digital signage technology.
What do we mean by that? Brands will be more concerned about the screens they use for digital out-of-home advertising. These solutions will have a more widespread implementation:
– energy-efficient LED and OLED technology
– DOOH screens powered by alternative energy
– circular approaches to screen maintenance and refurbishment
Here’s our article about top digital out-of-home advertising trends 2024
Let’s talk about the DOOH trends. 2023 has streamlined the application of AI in advertising. The AR has become more widespread. Brands are looking for more ways to immerse the audience and give them a unique experience. We saw it at CES 2024 and first-hand at ISE 2024 in Barcelona. Here are the hottest digital out-of-home advertising trends everyone talks about in 2024.
Going bigger and bolder is one of the top DOOH trends
The “wow” factor is not going anywhere. In fact, in 2024 it becomes a go-to effect every brand is looking for when it comes to outdoor advertising. The Las Vegas Sphere is partially to blame for this. The end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 were marked by the prevalence of news about the boldest spherical LED screen in the world.
Brands competed in the most impressive ad campaigns using The Sphere. We’ve written about the 6 best Sphere activations too. Las Vegas has become a hotspot of visual technology and everyone has got an appetite for mega DOOH.
We’ve also seen a 4,000-square-foot TSX Broadway stage unveiled in New York City. It just proved that bigger installations are among the top digital out-of-home trends.
Why are we seeing such a movement toward megalomania on screens? There are several reasons for that.
First of all, in 2024, the digital is a vital part of human lives. The phones, the laptops, the screens, screens, and screens again. Years of exposure to content created display fatigue where you’re not easily impressed by anything and treat the brand campaigns thrown at you as mere noise. Brands feel that and they are trying to create memorable content activations.
Secondly, it’s the technological capabilities. The progress goes further, and the screens get better. Why not profit from them advertising-wise?
However, the rise of mega solutions brings risks too. The Sphere suffered almost 100 million operating losses in the last quarter of 2023. The “wow” effect comes at a cost while the economy stands on the brink of recession and inflation. We’re yet to see how sustainable is the movement toward bolder DOOH.
Multichannel approach for the win
In September 2023, Coca-Cola launched a #TakeATaste Now campaign across the UK. It would be a classic case of DOOH advertising with a big Picadilly billboard save for one detail. The passers-by could scan a QR code on the ad to change the visual using just the phone. It was an exemplary use of AR technology and a very engaging campaign overall.
Also, it’s a great case of a multichannel approach to outdoor advertising. It’s not just putting your content on the billboard in 2024. It’s about making the audience interact with the ad through their mobile device. It’s about bringing more personalization to the traditionally distant DOOH.
When a person, like in this Coca-Cola activation, can reshape the digital canvas, it also psychologically tells him or her that “you’re in control.” And that is a new approach to signage and one of the hottest digital out-of-home advertising trends.
“By using interactivity and gamification, this is a fun and digital-first approach to sampling whilst living and breathing our Real Magic philosophy,” commented Laura Moon, Senior Brand Manager for Coca-Cola Zero Sugar about the campaign. Interactivity and gamification become widespread in the world of DOOH advertising and we’re all in.
A multichannel approach means looking for diversified solutions. Brands can combine the offline and online. An outdoor screen can ask for user-generated content to be published in the special brand shop in the metaverse. This is how it works, going out of the ordinary and utilizing all the technologies available.
Striving for sustainability
Screens and sustainability, huh? But you would be surprised how much is done in this direction.
Numbers don’t lie and the advertisers are listening. According to The Roundup, 78% of consumers feel that sustainability is important. Then, 55% wouldn’t mind paying more for eco-friendly brands. Finally, the most important stat is the fact that 84% will stop buying the brand’s products if the company is engaged in poor environmental practices.
In 2024 these questions matter and we are going to see more and more green initiatives in DOOH. There are several dimensions here.
On one hand, it’s about power consumption awareness and trying to achieve lower levels of energy efficiency. We’ve written about these sustainability trends in the blog. Basically, it means that the screens used for outdoor advertising become more environmentally friendly by conserving energy, using less power to display content, and turning to greener solutions like e-ink.
On the other hand, we will see more campaigns raising environmental awareness that use DOOH to get the message through. A good example of that is the Earth Day campaign by Public Disruptors that took over the Picadilly’s biggest billboard in London in 2023.
And we’re definitely going to see more campaigns like Saatchi & Saatchi and Goodstuff-created OVO activation that used data from the National Grid ESO and ran only when the power grid was using green energy (hydro, wind, and solar power).
Going all in on new cool tech
Boring no more. Outdoor advertising fully embraces the latest technology and gives consumers the joyride of experiences. We’re talking AI, VR, holograms, 3D, and everything in between. Thus, one of the top outdoor advertising trends in 2024 is being exciting to your target audience.
All of the aforementioned works perfectly for creating unforgettable immersive experiences. Kitcast has participated in ISE 2024 in Barcelona and the immersion was omnipresent on the floor. From the dancing squirrel holograms to Samsung’s spectacular The Wall, from talking AI helpers to mesmerizing LG Public Media Art kinetic installation.
The brands are looking to give consumers something more in terms of digital experiences, they are going the extra mile for bolder solutions in DOOH. Utilizing the cool new tech is exactly what they need to realize the wildest creative plans. In 2024 we will see more of that.
Here’s our previous list of Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Trends
2020 and 2021 have changed the ways people interact with businesses. This also touched the digital signage space. As the world recovers from the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve made this article about the digital out-of-home advertising trends in 2022 for you to better orient yourself in the place the industry finds itself in.
What does 2022 mean for commerce?
You can’t underestimate the effect of the COVID-19 on indoor space. Although, with the success of vaccination and the large return to the pre-pandemic normals, 2022 is still a very much different place. And successful businesses can’t ignore the past and should look for profitable ways to engage with their audience that are durable for the future.
But what has changed? (you may ask)
E-commerce is the answer.
2021 saw e-commerce reach nearly $5 trillion worldwide. All projections point to the steady growth of this sector that doesn’t seem to have anything holding it back. Just look at that graph done by eMarketer.
Although its rise has always been out of the question, the pandemic has accelerated it and put a big question mark on the future of physical commerce.
Two years of isolation and social distancing (that is still very much ongoing) have been enough to change the customer habits that switched to a comfortable click&pay structure of shopping. The latest full lockdown in such an important economic center as Shanghai only showed how fragile the current health landscape is and how quickly tides can turn on physical businesses.
Is it the death of commerce as we know it?
We’ve seen unprecedented closing of big retailers, empty malls waiting for the lockdowns to be lifted, and an emphasis on spending as little time as possible inside the commercial spaces. Does it mean that retail is doomed?
Not so fast would be the answer. There are two ways of looking at it, and two different paths for retailers. Innovation is essential for retail’s future.
It’s either you don’t innovate and die a slow death. Or you innovate and adapt to the changing landscape in the industry. How is this connected to digital out of home? In the most direct way possible. In 2022 digital signage and digital out-of-home advertising are the ways to innovate and save the business in the midst of uncertainty.
Technology is powerful. With the right application, it can do magic, it can transform things, it can be a lifeline to a better future.
What is digital out-of-home?
You may have seen it in its abbreviated form: DOOH. Yes, this means digital out-of-home. In practice, it’s the technology that allows you to broadcast content in outdoor spaces.
Digital signage solutions enable that. That’s why another name for DOOH is outdoor digital signage.
If you’re still doubting whether you got it right, let’s go to the examples. Remember all those billboards found on the buildings, on the streets, on the roads? This is signage too. But it’s called static signage.
Now, if we go to Times Square, there are many digital screens rolling out various promotional content. Bingo! Now that’s digital out-of-home. One of its applications. Because this technology is pretty versatile and can be used not only in public spaces like Times Square but also in the window of a brick-and-mortar store, as a streetside billboard or a shopping mall ad.
Connecting two worlds: physical and digital
If we’re talking about the digital out-of-home trends, in 2022 the most important would be the bridging.
As we’ve mentioned in the beginning, e-commerce has rapidly conquered the world. While many retailers chose the defensive approach by juxtapositioning the physical space to the online medium, there were the visionaries that embraced the change straight away and started using such a wonderful technology as digital out-of-home advertising to serve as a bridge between their online and the offline incarnations.
And instead of confrontation, we’ve witnessed a future. If you think about it, that’s a very smart and worthwhile move.
Example.
There is a bookstore. It sells books both online and offline. In order to direct customers to the online store, the physical one installs several beautiful displays in its windows. The great content it shows promotes online-only propositions and constantly shows call-to-actions. Also, it promotes social media channels. This is the way to do it properly.
Being relatable through social media integrations
It isn’t enough to just capture attention nowadays. There is so much content around that the customers are literally inundated by it. Social media helps brands to remain relevant and facilitates the nurturing of trust.
One of the coolest digital out-of-home advertising trends would be to embrace your weird social side. Be playful, ace the current TikTok trends, and get it right on Instagram. And channel it all through the outdoor screens, whatever business you’re running. As digital signage technology is universal, you can experiment with the content you’re showing and utilize those pieces that work the best way.
People love when brands listen to their demands. Be that brand, ask for feedback using the display technology. Talk to people in the language they understand.
Be relatable.
Getting creative with outdoor advertising
Advertising is a complex beast, companies tend to get it wrong sometimes. The digital screens and the capabilities of signage technology hand you a tool that opens up a myriad of possibilities to craft an ad that stands out. Use it wisely.
The first rule of outdoor advertising: don’t be boring. But really, nobody needs another boring campaign. Put an effort into creating content that speaks to your audience, that beguiles them, that makes them drop whatever they’re doing and stare at what you’re showing. That’s the recipe for a great creative advertising campaign. And the screens will be happy to broadcast it.
2022 is the year when everything goes. Again, TikTok. If you’re not familiar with the weird things getting a million views there, install the app and take a look. You’ll be surprised. Once an application with a primarily younger audience, it has taken the world by storm, becoming a social media hegemon. But it’s the content there that is interesting from the marketing point of view. And it’s something that every company nowadays should study.
While you can be quite skeptical about the weirdness of it all, this is quickly becoming a new creative normal for brands and it’s definitely worth a notice.
Final Verdict
So let’s have a quick conclusion on the top trends in digital out of home for 2022.
The hottest would be:
- Bridging the digital and offline worlds
- Being relatable using social media and the screens
- Not being afraid to get weird
- Not being boring with your advertising
Voila. Now, let’s make it a reality.
