Product News | October 11, 2021

Using pDOOH for a faster and more targeted way of adding OOH to your omnichannel campaigns

Advancements in programmatic technologies, like real-time data, contextual triggers, and more sophisticated measurement capabilities, have driven the adoption of programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) and its inclusion in advertisers’ omnichannel strategies. However, integrating it into your omnichannel campaign remains a challenging process for many advertisers. 

You often have to work with multiple demand-side platforms (DSPs) for the different ad mediums or even call a media owner to secure DOOH inventory. To address this pain point, many omnichannel DSPs offer auction packages to streamline OOH operations and campaign activations. 

Auction packages are customizable packages that include targeted audiences, inventory, and contextual locations with data delivered through a single deal ID. With granular details provided in each package, you can limit the back-and-forth with clients, streamlining the proposal review and approval process. Furthermore, by providing access to multiple media owners in one package, you can easily access your ideal audiences with more cost-efficient CPMs. 

Made available through existing omnichannel DSPs, you can set up and activate your pDOOH campaign in a matter of minutes rather than days. For these reasons, auction packages make the process of planning, buying and launching pDOOH campaigns alongside other ad mediums faster and more cost-efficient. 

How targeting capabilities in pDOOH have evolved

While you can choose to target the entire audience provided through an auction package, you can also target a sub-segment of that audience. For instance, the overarching audience included in a Travel & Tourism auction package would be travel intenders, while more specific segments could be business travellers, leisure travellers, and road trippers. This gives you added flexibility on how granular you’d like your key audience to be, providing you with the same targeting capabilities as other ad mediums. 

You can also choose to target your intended audiences by selecting specific venue types, like place-based or outdoor. Looking at a Retail auction package, for example, place-based screen selection could include screens in shopping malls, stores, pharmacies, and convenience stores. Outdoor would include billboards, urban panels and transit shelters within shopping distance of retail stores. 

Contextual targeting can also be applied to each package, allowing you to trigger your ad to play only at the ideal time. There are multiple ways to contextually deliver your ads with an auction package. One way is by targeting your point of interest; using a Sports Betting auction package as an example, locations could include casinos, bars, and sports arenas. You can also use dayparts as a contextual trigger, like “game day schedules,” to display ads for a sports betting and gaming platform in the weeks leading up to a highly-anticipated sports game.

Lastly, you can leverage moments, like weather or financial market changes, to contextually deliver your ads. Using our Travel & Tourism auction package again, you could run ads for a warm and sunny destination when the local weather is cold or promote a destination with a desirable currency rate against the local currency. While auction packages are made available as pre-built bundles, you can also customize the package to meet your objectives better. 

Using auction packages for a simpler and faster delivery of DOOH

While you may have a better understanding of what auction packages are, you’re probably wondering when you should use auction packages. Auction packages are great for complex DOOH campaigns that require multiple targeting requirements, like markets, point-of-interests and audiences. 

In fact, one of the first campaigns that used Broadsign’s auction packages involved complex targeting requirements that would’ve made it impossible for the brand’s omnichannel DSP to activate on its own. Working with their preferred agency and DSP, a beverage brand was looking to raise awareness of its new range of alcoholic beverages and wanted to include DOOH in its broader omnichannel campaign. 

To reach their intended audience with DOOH, two targeting strategies were identified for the brand: point-of-interest and audience targeting. Working with Broadsign, they identified screens located near bars and liquor stores that carried the new range of alcoholic drinks, as well as outdoor billboards and urban panels with higher concentrations of the target audience – Gen Z and Millennials. 

Given that the campaign was set to run across different states, the proposal provided to the agency contained a substantial inventory list (spanning over 25 lines, to be precise), highlighting the inventory that matched the different targeting requirements per state. As each inventory line contained screens from multiple media owners, the omnichannel DSP would have had to manually create a deal ID for each media owner’s inventory per market and format had this DOOH campaign been set up without auction packages. We did the math, and that would’ve meant creating 150 different deal IDs, making it a highly error-prone and time-consuming process. 

With auction packages, the omnichannel DSP simply needed to add the auction package per market and format, which already contained all the inventory from different media owners – significantly cutting down the time it took to set up and activate this complex DOOH campaign. They were also able to better measure the impact of DOOH by conducting a brand lift study after the campaign was completed, providing them with real-world insights on ad recall, how effective was the DOOH media mix, whether it helped enhance brand image, as well as drive consideration and product purchase. 

Check out Broadsign’s auction packages through our inventory marketplace.

Make sure to reach out to your Broadsign representative today for more information!

Product News | October 11, 2021

Best practices for high-impact out-of-home creative

The out-of-home (OOH) ads that stop people in their tracks, spark awareness, and drive action all share a common thread: they’re built on proven creative principles shaped by real-world testing and what works in today’s evolving OOH landscape.

Effective OOH creative relies on bold design, minimal text, and clear branding. But what works on a static highway billboard may not have the same impact on a digital out-of-home (DOOH) screen or a crowded subway platform at rush hour.

That’s what makes OOH unique. It reaches audiences as they move through real-world environments like airports, malls, roadways, and city centres across both static formats and dynamic, data-driven digital displays, offering far more creative flexibility than the medium often gets credit for.

This guide explores the OOH and DOOH creative strategies that consistently deliver results before you plan your next campaign.

OOH creative fundamentals

When developing the creative for an OOH ad, there are core principles to keep in mind.

  • Define your goals: What does the ad wish to accomplish? Is the aim to drive in-store traffic? Stand out from competitors? Remind existing customers of an ongoing promotion? A firm strategy narrows the focus and clarifies the message. 
  • Be bold: Most out-of-home ads have only seconds to reach audiences. When producing OOH or DOOH creative, employ boldness to stand out.
  • Keep it simple: A less-is-more approach is typically most effective. Messaging should be clear, direct, and to the point. 
  • Let brand personality shine: Use humour, surprise, intrigue, even edginess to amplify your message. 
  • Context is key: think about how your creative fits into its surroundings. Incorporating messaging that speaks to current events or relates to live data can boost performance and turn your ad from informative to innovative.

Think Design

Great OOH design is built for how people experience it. In fast-moving environments, you have seconds to make an impression, so clarity and visibility matter more than complexity.

At its core, effective design comes down to a few essentials:

  • High-contrast colours that cut through busy surroundings
  • Simple, focused layouts that are easy to process at a glance
  • Bold, recognizable imagery paired with clean, legible type
KFC’s bold, recognizable imagery makes this billboard instantly identifiable

Context matters just as much as design. What works on a roadside billboard viewed at speed won’t translate the same way to a street-level or place-based screen where dwell time is longer. Simpler creative performs better at a distance, while closer environments allow for more detail, as long as clarity isn’t compromised.

And while best practices exist for a reason, they are not rules. Intentionally breaking them can be just as effective when done with purpose.

Get the Specs Right

Even the strongest creative can fall flat if it is not built for the screen. OOH and DOOH formats vary widely across billboards, transit shelters, retail environments, and place-based networks, each with different dimensions, orientations, and file requirements.

A few fundamentals to keep in mind:

  • Design for both vertical and horizontal formats so layouts translate cleanly across environments
  • Stick to supported file types like JPG or PNG for static, and MP4 or HTML for digital placements
  • Keep file sizes within recommended limits to ensure smooth delivery and playback
  • Always build with the final screen size and placement in mind to avoid cropping or distortion

Below are some of the most common specs for digital and video displays in the US. 

Most Common Display Sizes:

  • 1920 x 1080
  • 1080 x 1920
  • 1400 x 400
  • 840 x 400

Most Common Video Sizes (15-Second):

  • 1920 x 1080
  • 1080 x 1920
  • 1400 x 400 
  • 1280 x 960

For more guidelines on proper format sizes, read our Best Practices Guide: How to create DOOH campaigns that get results

READ ALSO: Our favourite OOH and Billboard Ads of 2025

Let’s talk about text

It’s not just about what you’re saying, but how you’re saying it: typeface and formatting contribute to how the ad, and its messaging, are received. 

  • Large, bold typeface is easier for people to read, especially from a distance
  • Avoid thin or serif typefaces, which can be harder to read 
  • Proper spacing between letters, words, and lines will help improve readability and visibility
  • Keep the copy short and sweet, and limit messaging to five to seven words
  • Stick to one simple, direct message and call-to-action 
  Viewing Distance  Minimum Readable Text Height 
  5’ – 50’  1” – 2”   (72px – 144px @ 72dpi)
  50’ – 100’  2” – 4”   (144px – 288px @ 72dpi)
  100’ – 200’  4” – 8”   (288px – 576px @ 72dpi)
Virgin Active’s OOH display delivers big impact with minimal text

Video creatives

A recent study found that full-motion video OOH ads drive a 65% increase in “intent to learn more” compared to static creative, along with a 41% lift in perceived relevance, clear indicators of stronger audience consideration.

That’s why incorporating motion into your digital content is such a powerful way to capture attention. In most environments, videos should run no longer than 10-15 seconds; however, longer videos can be impactful for audiences in specific venue types with longer dwell times, like gyms, doctors’ offices, or bars.

Note: Place Exchange by Broadsign can seamlessly adapt social media and in-app vertical video creatives for portrait-mode screens, so you can get maximum value from a single video. 

Creating personalized and dynamic content

When vying for a consumer’s attention, optimizing a digital out-of-home campaign with Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) can be the x-factor in reaching target audiences. 

DCO means adjusting and optimizing DOOH ads for real-world contexts and environments, pulling data to deliver ads in response to current events or trends, such as the weather, sports scores, financial markets, audience profiles, or other nearby events or relevant information. 

With DCO, ads can deliver more personalized experiences and stronger audience relevance. In fact, according to the OAAA and The Harris Poll, 81% of respondents exposed to weather-triggered ads featuring relevant product offers found them valuable. Thinking about where your ad will live along the consumer’s journey, and in what context, is an opportunity to create a high-impact ad that resonates with your target audience. 

To create a high-impact ad, thread in creative that responds to live signals like time of day, weather, audience demographics or current events for a more targeted activation that reaches audiences at key moments.

Some ideas include:

  • Modify messaging based on relevant data inputs (e.g., weather, sports scores, etc.): Entice customers on rainy days to pop by for a warm cup of coffee, or advertise air conditioning units on extremely hot days, display sports scores during high-ticket events.
  • Schedule time-sensitive or product-specific promotions 
  • Incorporate daily countdowns for popular movies or big events with universal appeal 
McDonald’s weather-triggered OOH campaign in Qatar

Tracking and measurement

Knowing how your current campaign performs is crucial for planning the next. Use ID markers like QR codes, SMS messages, short-link URLs, hashtags, emails, or phone numbers to track and measure your ad’s performance. Adding a Call to Action (CTA) to your creatives can enable you to directly track “click-through” response to your OOH creative.

The winning formula for an out-of-home ad that gets noticed and delivers on ROI is to combine brand-safe creativity, outside-the-box thinking, and contextual relevance. With these OOH creative best practices in your toolkit, you can successfully create an ad that stands out.

Ready to launch a high-impact, creative out-of-home campaign that delivers results? Browse our inventory catalog to see the complete network of high-impact digital screens available. 

Product News | October 11, 2021

De’Longhi drives 121% lift in brand preference with programmatic DOOH

To strengthen its position as a leader in premium home coffee experiences, De’Longhi partnered with Broadsign to launch a programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) campaign across Poland during the competitive holiday shopping season.

Objective

The campaign aimed to move audiences from brand awareness to purchase intent, positioning the Eletta Explore as the preferred choice for holiday gifting in a competitive retail landscape.

Strategy

In collaboration with agency partner Salestube PL, the campaign used the OutMoove DSP to activate premium pDOOH inventory across major Polish markets, focusing placements exclusively within high-traffic shopping mall environments.

Indoor screens in major shopping malls reached consumers in high-intent environments close to the point of purchase. By concentrating on mall inventory, including spectaculars, concourse screens, and food court displays, the campaign captured the attention of gift-seekers while they were actively browsing and shopping.

Dayparting aligned ad playouts with peak shopping hours, ensuring strong visibility during periods of elevated foot traffic throughout the holiday retail season.

Creative

The campaign featured cinematic video creative starring global brand ambassador Brad Pitt, accompanied by the localized copy: “To nie tylko idealny prezent. To Perfetto” (“It’s not just the perfect gift. It’s Perfetto.”).

By combining a recognizable ambassador with motion-driven creative across high-traffic placements, De’Longhi established a memorable presence during the year’s busiest retail window.

Results

  • 121% Lift in Brand Preference: The campaign achieved a significant increase in brand preference, successfully strengthening De’Longhi’s positioning against key competitors in the premium coffee category.
  • 190% Lift in Intent: The campaign effectively influenced consumer behaviour, delivering nearly a 3X lift in consumer intent to interact with the brand or visit the De’Longhi website.

Want the campaign highlights? Check out the infographic below.