We’re back for the fifth edition of our annual end-of-year wrap up! 

We’re celebrating the campaigns and accomplishments of 2024 and will be sharing our expectations for Out of Home (OOH) and the wider landscape in the new year. 

UK OOH revenue for the first half of 2024 totalled £646m, an increase of +17% year-on-year (Outsmart). This is the strongest H1 since records began. Q3 2024 advertising revenue was up +12% year-on-year. 

We’re predicting OOH will grow +9% to £1.41bn in 2024 and +7% to £1.51bn in 2025. For 2025, we estimate that digital OOH will account for 68% of overall OOH revenues, totaling £1.02bn.   

In this blog, we’re reflecting on some of the standout OOH campaigns in 2024 from our clients this year that reimagined and re-invented the possibilities of what OOH can be. 

Some of the Team’s Standout OOH Campaigns in 2024 

All the campaigns below showcase the best in “thinking outside” in 2024 – exemplifying independent thought and big ideas, supported by Talon’s technology, data and effectiveness expertise.

Specsavers: Should’ve Gone to Specsavers

For Grand Visual’s Managing Director, Jay Young, Talon UK’s Head of Planning Operations, Jamie Finn, and Head of Client, Mike Huckerby, the activation for Specsavers stood out to them the most. 

“For me, the Specsavers van stunt was a true standout campaign in 2024,” said Jay. “Our team concepted and produced an installation where a Specsavers-branded van appeared ‘stuck’ on a pillar, creating a humorous, memorable moment that instantly connected with the nation.  

The simplicity of the concept was its strength—anyone who saw it instantly understood the brand message and appreciated the clever play on Specsavers’ iconic tagline – “Should’ve gone to Specsavers.” 

This campaign was especially rewarding for us as it combined a highly visual stunt with precise execution. There’s always a logistical challenge in taking such a bold idea into the real world, but the team managed it seamlessly. The campaign sparked plenty of social media buzz, UK news coverage and was even discussed by the This Morning hosts on ITV.  

For me, it perfectly exemplified how an OOH activation can capture attention and entertain while staying true to the brand’s identity. It was a proud moment for Grand Visual, and it showed just how impactful well-executed simplicity can be.”

“I think it has to be the brilliant Specsavers van campaign,” said Jamie. “This was a pure masterpiece from the fantastic team at Grand Visual to create such a notable stunt in the city centre of Edinburgh.  

It’s one of those rare campaigns that gathers global attention for being so simple but brilliant, and these don’t come around very often. For me this is an example of an OOH execution that will be heralded as the gold standard, with many other clients in years to come asking for a ‘Specsavers’ campaign.” 

“It has to be Specsavers,” Mike added. “The perfect example of using OOH as one big canvas to play with. A campaign that not only created a huge impact on the location itself, but through all of the PR and online buzz that came after.” 

PepsiCo: Quaker, Pepsi MAX & Rockstar

“PepsiCo’s immersive experiences stood out this year,” said Ben Gardiner, Head of Client Services at Grand Visual. “We’ve seen several of its brands – including Pepsi MAX, Quaker and Rockstar – push the boundaries of OOH to create long-lasting, memorable moments with real people.  

From thermal imaging and dynamic copy for Quaker Oats, a festival-touring glambot for Rockstar, and laser projected football pitches for Pepsi MAX – PepsiCo’s refreshing approach to getting hands on its brands is impressive and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do in the New Year.” 

Habitat: 60^th Anniversary

To celebrate 60 years of design, Habitat unveiled an exclusive collection inspired by its heritage with new, reimagined classics. Habitat would showcase the new range and make a bold statement with a series of elevated murals. 

Choosing this campaign as one of his standout’s in 2024, Luke Willbourn, Managing Director UK, said, “The Habitat campaign stood out to me the most this year. The creative was nostalgic yet modern, subtle yet incredibly impactful. OOH is unmatched when it comes to providing brands with a canvas, where any idea can become a reality. Shoutout to the PHD team for this one!”

Versace Icons: Times Square Takeover

Across the pond, Patrick Murray, VP Marketing at Talon US, chose this impressive takeover for Versace. “The Versace Icons Times Square takeover featuring Cillian Murphy and Anne Hathaway stands out,” said Patrick.  

“Any campaign that takes shape in the bright lights of Times Square is a showstopper, but dominating the iconic landmark with a full takeover is incredible. Kudos to the team for delivering a complex, but spectacular campaign.”

Unilever: Comfort Scent Boosters

“It has to be Comfort for me,” said Aoife Hudson, Deputy Managing Director at Talon Ireland. “To promote its new range of laundry scent boosters, Comfort launched a multi environment OOH campaign across various platforms to maximise audience engagement. The campaign featured two standout creative executions.

In one, a bus shelter was transformed with vibrant pink, yellow, and blue flowers, reflecting the available scents. This installation also included interactive buttons on the 6-sheet panel, allowing consumers to sample the fragrances directly. 

The second execution took a non-traditional approach by collaborating with the iconic flower vendors of Dublin’ Grafton Street. Their displays were reimagined with blooms in shades of blue, pink, and yellow, mirroring the product range. This campaign stands out to me as it demonstrates how OOH is pushing through the boundaries of the classic formats and proves that creativity is not just a ‘nice to have’, it delivers on driving engagement.” 

The Singleton: Gardens of Abundance Collection

Choosing this multi-format campaign for The Singleton as her standout of the year, Talon APAC’s Managing Director, Melanie Lindquist, said, “This was one of the first anamorphic campaigns at Singapore’s Changi Airport.” 

“The stunningly beautiful eye-catching creative with immersive 3D in proximity to Duty Free and interactive zones was incredibly impactful. The use of totems and larger format digital screens across multiple terminals created touchpoints for millions of Duty-Free buyers.”

Allwyn: Lotto Launch

“It has to be Allwyn for me,” said Dilki Weerakoon, Head of Client Strategy UK. “The launch campaign and work after that has been unmissable. The excitement of buying a lottery ticket is captured perfectly across each OOH creative, special build or experiential event. A great win for our friends at Hearts&Science.” 

PepsiCo: Havoc Launch

Over in Canada, the launch of PepsiCo’s new snack brand “Havoc” stood out to Managing Director, Daniel Mak, the most: “The campaign was massive in Canada and featured eye-catching creative that looked fantastic on every product. This big budget, mega launch blanketed the Canadian landscape and was such a success that a follow up campaign had to be delayed due to the product selling out.” 

British Heart Foundation: ‘Til I Died

Head of Effectiveness, Emily Alcorn, chose this moving campaign from the British Heart Foundation as her standout campaign. 

“The England ’til I Died campaign exemplified the power of OOH at its finest – delivering a thought-provoking and impactful message,” said Emily. “The BHF leveraged a trusted and impactful medium to raise awareness of a critical issue, strategically aligning with a major sporting event to resonate deeply within communities affected by loss. 

Thoughtfully planned and respectfully executed, this campaign is a shining example of how OOH can champion brand purpose and drive meaningful impact.”

To get the first look at part 2 of our series, in which our team reflect on new initiatives, launches and share advice, make sure that you are following us on LinkedIn. You can also keep up to date with the latest Talon news and views by signing up for our monthly newsletter. 

Along with our incredible agencies and partners, Talon has won 14 awards for Out of Home (OOH) at The Drum Awards Festival and Media Week Awards 2024.

A month the Talon team will never forget, let’s dive into the campaigns and what made them award-winning.

Media Week Awards

Gold 🥇

Econometrics: Location Matters for MMM

Our research, in partnership with JCDecaux UK and Nielsen, explored the role of econometrics and how we can make clients’ OOH measurement more effective. We found that utilising granular location data in MMM modelling can increase OOH ROI by up to 42%.

Media Innovation: Doritos Silent

Snacking and gaming are increasingly incompatible. But in 2023, Doritos wanted to change that with the launch of Doritos Silent, the world’s first AI-augmented snack. An idea like this needed a new approach – an OOH campaign to launch the impossible and drive the nation into a frenzy. ​

A Piccadilly Lights takeover, banners, murals and prOOH made Doritos Silent unmissable. Driving hype, the stop-and-stare OOH creative made people double-take, on the streets and online – placed at the heart of the campaign strategy.

Silver 🥈

Long-Term Media Strategy: Walkers #CrispIN or #CrispOUT

Lunch is a must-win battleground for Walkers. Once a staple of lunchboxes up and down the country, by 2020 they’d become a bit stale; over half the nation just weren’t thinking of Walkers at lunchtime.

Walkers would utilise its media to jolt a new behaviour. How could they get light buyers to crunch? With a peculiar British ritual; the crisp sandwich. 88% of Brits agreed crisps improve sandwiches. But they ferociously disagreed on whether they belong in or out of sandwiches. Could we marry Brits’ favourite lunchtime snack with their favourite lunchtime staple to successfully resolve a time-honoured British debate?

A once in a lunchtime idea; are you #CrispIN or #CrispOUT? Over 3 years, we used media to create a dividing line. In or out. Yes or no. Them or us. Pitting sides of the country against each other. A little levity, a lot of debate. With transformational results for Walker’s, we pulled it out of the bag.

Media Creativity: Under £250k: Channel 4 Partygate

Partygate. We sacrificed, they partied. The country was outraged. Meticulous research and new sources told the real untold stories of Partygate juxtaposing wild nights at Downing Street with the experiences of the general public.  ​Our task was simple but not easy, get people to watch.

With OOH being the backdrop to people’s lives, our strategy was based on being present on formats which fitted the style of urban and gritty media placements. We would hide in plain sight. Using legal national flyposting, we positioned Partygate alongside real event adverts, with beautifully designed posters inspired by the 90s rave scene.  ​

Media Idea: Launch: Don’t Gift – NOTHS

8 in 10 Brits reported receiving a “bad gift” for Christmas 2022. As a result, over 3.08 million bad gifts were thrown away. NOTHS’ aim was to encourage ‘wiser’, more sustainable gifting.​ Kicking off the campaign we launched three special builds in London’s Westfield Shepherd’s Bush and Vinegar Yard and in Manchester’s Salford Chapel Street. 

The final burst of OOH consisted of our fully optimised DOOH schedule consisting of Large Format Digital, D48s and D6s in motorway service areas, shopping centres, underground, roadside and rail environments.​

Media Creativity: Launch: Doritos Silent

Media Creativity: Over £1m:  Doritos Silent

Large Collaboration: Over £250k: Doritos Silent

The Drum Awards

Gold 🥇

Advertising: Dynamic and Interactive Digital Screens: Share the Warmth with Quaker Oats

Quaker shared the warmth by helping to ensure access to a warm and nutritious breakfast for families across the UK – in a way that is intrinsic to the brand itself. Quaker effectively used different OOH capabilities to drive awareness of the issue of child food insecurity and its charity partnerships; with attention grabbing 48s and interactive/dynamic capabilities to offer consumers real value through contextually relevant coupons based on UK weather average temperatures. 

Silver 🥈

Advertising: Creative Humour: This van driver Should’ve gone to Specsavers

Specsavers pushed the boundaries of OOH advertising by creating its very own parking fail – a Specsavers van parked on a rising bollard! The results were phenomenal with over 6 million social media views and almost 1 million likes, comments and shares. The stunt even had coverage on ITV, radio and in numerous news titles as well as industry wide recognition amongst our peers and other advertisers.

Advertising: Immersive Experience: Pepsi MAX X UEFA Champions League Final London 24

Pepsi MAX went all in for the UEFA Champions League this year. Bringing unexpected enjoyment to audiences across the UK, Pepsi MAX ran three activations for fans in football-focused cities of Liverpool, Manchester and London. Whether you were looking for a quick 2v2 game and a free football at their hidden pitches or wanted to watch the live game on the big screen, with a Pepsi MAX in hand, then they had you covered. Pepsi Hidden Pitches was born!

Bronze🥉

Advertising: Charity/Not for Profit/Social Purpose: British Heart Foundation ‘Til I died’

British Heart Foundation (BHF) set out with the goal to highlight a tragic reality – 12 people under the age of 35 are lost to sudden cardiac arrest in the UK each week. Using the stories of 12 young football fans who died too soon to highlight this tragic disease, we unveiled 12 powerful murals of football fans who lost their lives to sudden cardiac death, in time with the UEFA Euro 2024 kick-off for an extended audience reach. This campaign went viral across social media and outlets, it even had a slot on BBC Breakfast.

Advertising: Immersive Experience: Will you be next? Allwyn, Lotto

Will you be the next UK millionaire? We made the whole of Great Britain feel like they might be next, with an unmissable and inclusive launch that drove talk-ability, engagement and consideration to play. Anyone can be a millionaire with Lotto, you must be in it to win it!

Advertising: Use of Location: Big Little Welcomes, British Airways

Connecting loved ones for over 100 years, British Airways (BA) wanted to celebrate the warm, fuzzy feeling with the hundreds and thousands of people landing back in the UK to spend Christmas with their loved ones.  ​‘Big Little Welcomes’ made sure that BA was a part of these reunions, giving audiences the chance to write messages for their loved ones as they landed back in the UK.

As a result, the campaign saw strong customer engagement with BA receiving 200+ messages submitted in just the first day of the recruitment going live! These messages were displayed on OOH formats as the passengers landed back in the UK.​ Post campaign, BA saw positive movements in brand health during a period where category average was in decline.​

We’d like to thank everyone who made this possible, and congratulations. Roll on 2025…

View the full results for The Drum Awards and the Media Week Awards.

Tis the season to put programmatic OOH (PrOOH) to work for your brand.

Following on from our first programmatic piece, we discussed what programmatic OOH (PrOOH) is, the opportunities it unlocks for advertisers, and when is the right time to use it. This piece we’re turning our focus to the Winter months and why programmatic OOH is effective this Christmas.

With a renewed appreciation for the outdoors, people’s perception of outdoor spaces has shifted, leading many to actively seek out activities OUTSIDE of the home. The outdoors has become a favoured destination for socialising, even as winter settles in.

We know from previous consumer behaviour research that 81% of respondents claim Christmas if their favourite holiday – with this in mind what can programmatic OOH (PrOOH) do for your seasonal campaigns.

Well, not to mention the fact that Irish weather is the perfect trigger for PrOOH – where else can you experience all four seasons in one day? Triggered content can help brands break through the noise, just as everyone is competing for attention. Let’s dive into these in more detail:

1. Increased foot traffic

There’s no surprise that when Q4 comes along, people tend to spend more time in retail environments whether it’s the high street or different shopping malls, it all leads to an increase in foot traffic. With October and November accounting for the bulk of Christmas gift buying and Thursdays to Saturdays the preferred time to do shopping. PrOOH allows us to deliver targeted impressions to your core shopper group.

2. Higher levels of engagement

We know that during the festive season, time spent Christmas shopping varies based on demographic. With over ½ of 16-24’s spending an entire day doing their Christmas shopping. Not to mention, that consumers perception of retail hotspots has fundamentally changed, evolving beyond just a shopping destination into a hub for eating out (52%), entertainment (37%) and meeting friends (24%). This leads to higher engagement rates, with consumers having more time to stop and look at ads that are relevant to them.

3. Seasonal advertising opportunities

Q4 is when it all happens. Starting with Black Friday, advertisers have a unique opportunity to highlight everything from special offers and gift ideas to real-time stock updates. PrOOH can help brands quickly and easily target their ads to the right audience, at the right moment, with the right message – whether its weather-triggered, location based or tied to other data points this flexibility allows brands to convey whatever the message and maximise RoI throughout the winter months, right up to January sales.

4. Improved targeting & measurement

We’ve already spoken about real-time triggers, however, one of the main benefits of PrOOH is the ability to target specific audiences based on their behaviours. This can be especially useful during the winter season when brands are all competing for the attention of Christmas shoppers. For instance, a supermarket brand can use programmatic OOH to target individuals who have recently visited a competitor’s store, enticing them to switch for their Christmas shop.

In summary, programmatic OOH (PrOOH) offers brands unique ways to make their Christmas campaigns more dynamic, targeted and timely – especially during the high traffic winter season. While classic OOH remains optimal for brand awareness and recall, integrating PrOOH as part of a wider campaign adds the flexibility to reach a desired audience with data-driven, real-time messaging.

Talon’s DSP Optimise, can help you deliver on bottom-funnel metrics and truly connect with your audience this season. Why wait? Reach out to us today.

Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising is typically seen as the B2C advertising medium.

This is perhaps because traditionally OOH was associated with increasing consumer awareness, with posters and billboards strategically placed to attract the attention of as many consumer eyes as possible. Because of this, many B2B businesses choose digital advertising as their preferred marketing stream. However, OOH is more than just a B2C advertising medium, with the right strategy OOH can be the perfect medium to ACE your B2B campaigns.

Did you know that Business decision makers are 20% more likely to discover new brands through OOH ads. Not to mention – they are constantly OOH – whether commuting by car, travelling to work via public transport, travelling internationally for a business trip or passing through major cities – OOH puts your brand right where they are, in the heart of the action.

REACH THE DECISION MAKER AUDIENCE WITH OOH

1. REACH THEM IN WORKPLACES

With 44% of employees now working full-time in the office, it’s clear that traditional office environments are far from obsolete. Tuesdays, in particular, stand out with 43% of employees choosing it as one of their days on-site. Plus, with 41% of business decision makers using ad blockers – giving OOH a unique advantage as the only unskippable medium.

2. REACHING THEM USING MODES OF TRANSPORT

According to a Talon UK benchmark study, transport advertising is great at building trust. On average, each campaign boosts brand trust by 8%, increases unaided awareness by 9%, and drives brand consideration up by 6%. Business decision makers, often on the move, are generally heavy commuters, spending on average 9+ hours on private transport and dart, and 5-8 hours on Train, Luas and private transport. With Dublin ranked as the second slowest city for drivers globally, and the Luas on track to hit 50 million passengers this year, there’s no shortage of opportunities to engage this highly mobile audience.

3. REACHING THEM IN AIRPORTS

Reaching business decision makers in airports helps build brand familiarity, enhance brand perception, and engage a highly qualified, captive audience. With 81% of business travellers mixing business with leisure (bleisure travel), airport environments offer prime opportunities to engage. According to GWI, 70%of business travellers are more likely to notice B2B advertising when travelling, and 60% perceive brands advertised in airports as market leaders.

USE CREATIVITY TO STAND OUT

As we know, incorporating some form of creativity is key to standing out. But cutting through doesn’t always mean big-budget specials. Talon benchmarks show that contextually relevant campaigns drive a +23% uplift across brand metrics, with consideration up by +63%, spontaneous ad awareness by +57%, and purchase intent by +50%. Dynamic creative then takes this one step further – boosting brain response by 32% when showing relevant content at the relevant moment. Adjusting for factors like weather, location or time of day, can increase brain response by 18%, making dynamic ads 48% more effective when comparing against classic OOH campaigns.

OOH IS EFFECTIVE AT REACHING KEY BUSINESS DECISION MAKERS

By now, we’ve all seen it, but Kantar’s recent Media Reactions report confirms that OOH and Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) are preferred media channels by global consumers. While OOH continues to excel in its traditional role of building brand awareness and fame it also fulfils a much greater role – driving bottom funnel metrics and direct action amongst consumers. Metrics which have previously been associated with online performance channels.

SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS

There is currently a huge sustainability investment going on within the B2B space. In the public sphere OOH has an inherent responsibility to positively impact our local communities and environment. Did you know, per impression OOH emits less carbon than all other media measured?

According to an Outsmart/KPMG study it represents just 3.3% of the UK’s total advertising power consumption. The findings reveal that OOH makes up less than 3.5% of the total carbon footprint of the UK’s advertising activities. Why not invest in the channel that gives back?

When it comes to OOH advertising, there is a solution for every brand. At Talon, we believe OOH delivers across four main factors – we call these the ACES. We play these four ace cards to make sure your media plan succeeds: Audience, Creative, Effective & Sustainable. The potential of OOH as a tool to connect businesses to businesses should not be overlooked.

Reach out to us to learn more about how you can ACE your B2B campaigns with OOH.

The IPA recently released the latest findings from its “TouchPoints: Making Sense Report.” This report provides insight into how the commercial media landscape is evolving and points to OOH’s very strong position throughout.

Euan Mackay, Chief Strategy Officer at Route shares that OOH continues to be one of the mediums that has stood the test of time as it continues to enable brands to reach mass audiences, at the right time and in the right place.

To understand what the report means for OOH, Lucy Baumgartner, Effectiveness Manager at Talon, broke down the key points and outlined the key findings.

PATTERNS OF MEDIA USAGE HAVE SHIFTED BACK TO LONG-ESTABLISHED NORMS

What does this mean for OOH?

The pattern indicates that OOH consumption builds throughout the day, becoming the top consumed media between 12-4pm. This illustrates the continued importance of OOH’s role alongside consumer’s habitual movements and commuting patterns.

OOH REMAINS A SIGNIFICANT SHARE OF MEDIA TIME WITH CAPABILITIES SUPERCHARGED

Despite a plethora of new platforms launching, the pattern of media consumption has seen virtually no change between 2005 and 2024. ​Of course, during the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, media consumption shifted drastically. ​But as of 2024, we have now seen broad patterns of media usage shift back to long-established norms.

What does this mean for OOH?

OOH has almost returned to its pre-pandemic position with hybrid working patterns only marginally impacting OOH’s share of media time by -3% from 2015 levels.

ONLINE DIGITAL MEDIA CONTINUES TO GROW ITS WEEKLY REACH

OOH has seen the smallest shift in weekly reach of -2% since 2015, with much more dramatic shifts seen across the industry.

Commercial live / recorded TV has seen a sharp drop of -17%. While channels that have seen growth are predominantly online digital channels, with commercial online news seeing the sharpest increase of +271%.

What does this mean for OOH?

Those channels which have seen sharp increases largely link to commuting and travel entertainment habits, e.g. checking online news (+271%), listening to podcasts (+119%) and streaming online videos (+73%).

OOH is well positioned to prime these channels while consumers are out of their homes. Talon research shows that activating the same content across DOOH and social media can increase campaign effectiveness by +23%.

OOH REACH_

More importantly, OOH is the only channel that delivers 90%+ weekly reach across the commercial media landscape. This illustrates the strength of OOH for ensuring the brands messaging is heard and seen by the right people.

SOCIAL MEDIA REMAINS THE MEDIA 16-34S SPEND THE MOST TIME CONSUMING, WITH OOH PLACING SECOND_

How does this translate for OOH?

As a non-disruptive and passively consumed channel, OOH offers a welcome relief from online screens and so is highly effective at reaching and influencing Gen Z who are a digitally saturated audience –

• 55% find OOH a relaxing medium
• 1/3 talk to friends and family about a brand they saw in OOH
• 26% have taken a picture of an OOH advert in the past week

OOH PROVIDES THE HIGHEST REACH AND CONSUMPTION PER DAY AMONG 35-54S, DESPITE HYBRID COMMUTING PATTERNS_

How does this impact on OOH?

With functional internet/search placing second in media time spent for 35-54s, OOH provides the perfect opportunity for priming this channel on the commute.

SHARE OF TV’S MEDIA TIME HAS DROPPED BUT REMAINS AN IMPORTANT MEDIA FOR 55+_

What does this signify for OOH?

OOH compliments TV viewing patterns offering higher reach throughout the day, before TV takes over in the evening.

GET NOTICED WITH THESE TAKEAWAY FINDINGS_

Broad patterns of media usage have shifted back to long-established norms

With the end of lockdowns and a return to normality, media consumption has shifted back to habitual norms, with OOH is once again the top consumed media between 12pm-4pm.

OOH has become the only channel to deliver 90%+ weekly reach

With a reduction in commercial live / recorded TV, OOH leads the industry as the only commercial media which has the ability to reach over 90%+ of the population weekly in isolation.

Online digital media continues to grow share of media time

With consumers spending more time on smartphones while commuting, OOH is uniquely positioned to reach and prime commuters where attention is shared between online and offline channels.

Read the full report here.

Despite Halloween still being around the corner, it won’t come as a shock to know that many are already planning their Christmas celebrations.

We all know that the ‘ber’ months lead to the ultimate celebration in the UK. From travelling through the colder days and darker nights, to shopping not only for things you need, but for gifts that loved ones will appreciate, all roads lead to Christmas. 

All these activities, and many more that are enjoyed in these festive months, are enjoyed outside of the home. And we may be biased, but Out of Home (OOH) advertising in the lead up to and during Christmas provides the perfect opportunity for brands to influence consumers.  

In this blog, we will explore these opportunities and explain with OOH’s ACES – Audience, Creative, Effective and Sustainable – how brands can connect with audiences and reap the rewards using OOH advertising this Christmas. It all starts with thinking outside. 

But first, let’s look at the key shopping dates and habits this Christmas.

Key Christmas Dates 

As we mentioned above, some people are already planning their Christmas celebrations, including when they plan to buy the bulk of their gifts. 17% are planning to purchase their gifts from September to October, whilst 34% plan to make the most of the sales throughout November.

This year, the average consumer expects to spend almost £600 (£593.90) on core Christmas-related products and activities – including food, gifts, decorations, socialising and travelling. But where will they shop?

Shoppers Are Still Hybrid

68% of shoppers plan to shop in-store in 2024, only a fraction behind online shopping (70%). Many shoppers will rely on both channels, especially for last-minute purchases.

To reach hybrid shoppers across both environments, Talon recommends an omnichannel approach. When used in combination with digital channels, OOH increases the effectiveness of online ads by +31%, paid social ads by +56% and +80% for search ads. Consumers already spend an average of 70% of their time outside of their homes – so use OOH to reach these audiences and increase overall reach by 68%. 

Now, onto our ACES! 

Reach Audiences Out of Home this Christmas

It’s important to understand your audience. Who are they? Where are they going? What are they buying? Understanding audiences should be at the heart of every strategy. 

What makes OOH advertising at Christmas so advantageous for brands is its ability to work across all stages of the purchasing funnel. In recent years, the advancements in digital capabilities have shifted the role of OOH from being primarily a top-of-the-funnel medium to working across the whole funnel. 

Out of Home’s role has evolved and continues to evolve based on:  

• Audience Targeting: +15% higher levels of audience relevance  

• Reactive Activation: The ability to book panels in the hour for the next hour  

• Driving Bottom End Metrics: 2x increase in purchase intent.

We might be biased but audience-first planning using our proprietary technology helps brands to get ahead this Christmas. Using an audience first planning approach in Out of Home benefits our clients:  

• Brand 1: Saw a +28% increase in on-target impressions vs. Busy high-street gifter audience  

• Brand 2: Achieved a +50% Uplift in on-target impressions vs. In-market gifters & the brand’s consumers  

• Brand 3: Saw a +12% Increase in footfall to the store vs. Competitors during the campaign.

Create Holiday Magic with Out of Home

During the festive season, the time people dedicate to Christmas shopping varies. Some people shop all day whilst some prefer to shop first thing or later in the day. 28% make buying gifts an occasion, opting to go with friends or get something to eat. 

Over half of 16-25s will spend an entire day doing their Christmas shopping, providing ample opportunity for brands to do something show-stopping and capture their attention. But how do we grab attention and shine this Christmas? Through special builds and site adaptions, experiential activity and dynamic digital creative – a Grand Visual specialty! 

A great example of a brand that utilised all three was Pepsi MAX. They were everywhere during Christmas last year with a multi-faceted, multi-format OOH campaign. The campaign included underground dominations, a wrapping grotto, two snowing billboards and sampling on the day that almost everyone travels home for Christmas on. 

As a result, Pepsi MAX delivered its best performing Christmas ever!

The Gift of Effective Out of Home

Festive messaging is an obvious, yet effective way to cut through the clutter this Christmas. Our analysis of previous campaign effectiveness studies found that 62% of 18-34s have a positive emotional response to Christmas OOH campaigns. When compared to “OOH norms,” Christmas campaigns see significant uplifts across three key metrics – unprompted awareness, consideration and purchase intent. 

Brands who use festive messaging to their advantage can see their campaigns drive uplifts of 23% in ad recall. A further 53% of those who were exposed to a festive campaign felt it reached them in the right mindset and 54% found the campaign relevant. 

Not only is OOH great at driving its own uplifts, but it is also THE digital primer and works extremely well to boost the effect of all other media channels. OOH also drives short term sales too with campaigns seeing a +47% uplift in sales activation effects vs non-OOH users.

‘Tis the Season for Sustainable Out of Home

This Christmas, we must balance creativity with sustainability. Bar a few sceptics – sustainability messaging cuts through and is highly important to audiences. Campaign messaging must be delivered with sincerity as consumers will see through greenwashing. 

OOH is a trusted channel to deliver on sustainability messaging and drive perceptions: 

• 46p in every £1 and £441 million contributed to public infrastructure in 2022 

• Per emission, OOH emits less carbon than all other media measured – contributing just 3.3% to UK total ad power consumption and accounting for less than 3.5% of the UK’s total ad carbon footprint 

• OOH has strong ESG credentials when compared to TV, Press and Online. 

Talon Benchmarks also show that sustainability messaging can increase effectiveness across the brand funnel, on average, by +57%. This messaging drives average increases of: 

• +5.4% ‘Are leaders in sustainability’ 

• +8.2% ‘Produces sustainable products/services’ 

• +8% ‘Has a positive impact on people, the environment and economy’ 

• +8.6% ‘I trust they take responsibility for sustainability.’ 

A great example of a brand leaning into OOH’s sustainability credentials is Not on the High Street (NOTHS). 8 in 10 Brits reported receiving a “bad gift” for Christmas 2022. As a result, over 3.08 million bad gifts were thrown away, ending up in landfill. 

Recognising the enormity of the issue highlighted in its research, Not on the High Street (NOTHS) decided enough was enough this Yuletide. The UK’s home of small creative businesses, NOTHS made it their mission to ensure that festive gifts would not end up in the bin – again! 

To drive fame and stand out from the very beginning, NOTHS created a series of OOH special builds, each highlighting a different issue and encouraging consumers to think before they gift this year. All items in the billboards were donated to Crisis, who support the homeless and aim to better support those suffering.

Use Out of Home’s ACES to win Christmas 2024 

Remember to play your ACES to make sure your media plan delivers:  

• Audience: Use Audience-first planning to reach consumers as they work, shop & play 

• Creative: Drive high emotional engagement with Creative OOH executions 

• Effective: OOH builds brands and drives sales activations, +47% uplift vs non-OOH 

• Sustainable: Low carbon emissions per impression & 46p in every £1 reinvested to community. 

What is programmatic outdoor advertising?

PrOOH, or programmatic OOH, began gaining global traction in 2016. At that time, advertisers were seeking more optimised targeting solutions, big data was in high demand, and online media channels were consuming quite the share of advertising budgets.

In Ireland, the term PrOOH was initially ignored. The lack of data, the belief that OOH shouldn’t be sold that way, all stood as obstacles to Programmatic OOH’s growth in this market. Fast forward to 2024, we’ve witnessed a surge in interest across various sectors, spanning from alcohol brands to automotive giants, and even newspapers such as the Sunday World.

But what is PrOOH? Put simply, programmatic advertising is the automated buying and selling of ad inventory using technology and software – a supply-side platform (SSP) selling space from media owners, connected to a demand-side platform (DSP) buying advertising from brands and agencies.

The platforms aggregate all the data from both sell and buy sides to efficiently buy the most relevant advertising plays for the brand, based on the audience and campaign parameters they’re looking for, in near-real time.

This piece provides an education into PrOOH alongside, how and when it should be used.

When it comes to programmatic OOH, there are many nuances for consideration when buying:

This is why teaming up with an OOH agency is crucial. Using knowledge and expertise of the medium, our programmatic team works closely with our planning team to make sure we understand your’ needs, how you want to transact with us, and how we can leverage all our capabilities to best serve you and deliver the desired results.

While Digital Out of Home (DOOH) relies on broader metrics such as reach, PrOOH uses data to provide detailed insight into campaign performance. It has the capability to set specific conditions based on external factors that will trigger a slot of purchase. The exciting part is there is practically no limit to the types of data that can be used to trigger content.

What opportunities does PrOOH unlock?

Audience Optimisation

When buying programmatically, advertisers are buying an audience.

With so much data at our fingertips, we now better understand consumer behaviours and mindsets, allowing us to connect with them more effectively. Whether it’s proximity to key locations, targeting neighbourhoods, or specific demographics, advertisers are reaching consumers at the right time. This approach increases effective reach by boosting visibility with a specific target group, making sure ads are only shown when the right audience is present.

Take Specsavers as an example, their target audience was putting off health related tasks on the back of nervousness and fear of COVID in retail environments. We needed to get them to make a spontaneous decision during the limited time frame that they were already out of home. The resulting idea was to use dynamic creative based on the live appointment feed to push specific, store-relevant messaging in real-time. Running the campaign programmatically meant flexibility in up-weighting and down-weighting locations based on required store support. Coupled with our targeting below, this ensured the most efficient use of budget:

• Talon optimised towards key movement times for our target audience (e.g. when they are more likely to do their grocery shop).
• Time targeting mapped to Specsavers stores opening hours for each store.
• Demographic Optimisation based on age profile.
• Geotargeting with proximity to Specsavers stores.

Effective Reach at Key Consumption Moments

Using one or more data triggers to drive PrOOH can enhance the effectiveness of the campaign. An industry study called “The Moment of Truth”, demonstrates the benefits of making copy as relevant as possible to the audience. Referencing relevant content or moments on top of displaying the campaign at the most relevant time can increase brain response in audiences.

Brands can leverage environmental data such as time of day or weather triggers to maximise contextual relevance by dynamically serving the ads based on the data associated with each play.

This year, William Hill’s strategy was to dine out on key consumption moments. With 2024, shaping up to be another busy year for sports they spotted an opportunity on the penultimate weekend of the Premier League by targeting screens in sports bars. Their creative called out each match (relevant moment) alongside the real-time betting odds (relevant content). The campaign ran only during match times, perfectly positioning themselves in the heart of the action and prompting consumers to download the app. The campaign was so successful that they have continued it throughout 2024 for other sporting events.

When is the right time to use PrOOH?

But, like everything there’s always a time and place when best to use.

The benefits of Programmatic OOH advertising (PrOOH) are impressive, but let’s not forget the unmatched capability of OOH in making a splash, capturing attention, and creating mental availability. Research from our colleagues in the UK, show that PrOOH can achieve a 3x times increase in purchase intent comparison to a classic OOH buy. However, when evaluating spontaneous awareness, it’s clear that a classic broadcast campaign excels in that shift. The same results applied for a number of local campaigns.

But how does PrOOH stack up against its digital counterpart? Well think of it as the perfect blend of past and present. PrOOH uses smart data and targeting to deliver the right message at the right moment, just like digital ads do – only PrOOH has the added benefit of being a one-to- many medium – in PrOOH buying, the ‘many’ being an optimised group of consumers. When used correctly PrOOH can enhance your campaigns reach and impact. Proving that both worlds can coexist and thrive together.

Over the last year there has been increased desire from advertisers and brands to use programmatic OOH (PrOOH). As new media owners get on board and new OOH environments become available, this growth will only excel. The high degree of flexibility, responsiveness, and minimal lead times makes this way of buying attractive. Not to mention the significant evidence pointing to the benefits of using an omnichannel advertising strategy. OOH boosts the impact of other media channels.

PrOOH gives digital buyers the chance to reach people whether they’re online or out in the real world. In H1 2024, our brand count of advertisers has grown by 85%, with existing OOH users complementing their OOH campaigns with PrOOH at key consumption moments.

“It’s an exciting time for programmatic OOH in Ireland, with data at our fingertips and limitless triggers to explore. More and more brands are using it as a powerful extension to their existing campaigns, creating even deeper connections with their audiences. The possibilities are endless, and we’re just scratching the service.”

Eoin Carroll, Programmatic lead at Talon Ireland

Curious about how programmatic OOH can level up your campaigns? This is just the beginning; over the next few weeks we will be continuing our 3-part series all about programmatic OOH. Reach out to us today and let’s start thinking outside.

Along with our incredible agencies and partners, Talon has been shortlisted for eight awards at The Drum Awards Festival 2024.

British Airways: Big Little Welcomes (With MG OMD, Uncommon Creative Studio & Adylic) 

Connecting loved ones for over 100 years, British Airways celebrated the warm, fuzzy feeling with the hundreds and thousands of people landing back in the UK to spend Christmas with their loved ones. “Big Little Welcomes” made sure that BA was a part of these reunions, giving audiences the chance to write messages for their loved ones as they landed back in the UK. 

Shortlisted: Use of Location 

Pepsi MAX: Christmas (With OMD UK, Grand Visual & Red Dot)

In 2023, we changed the Christmas story – ensuring Pepsi Max was unmissable vs competitors over the festive period. This was the most multi-faceted OOH campaign that Talon has executed for PepsiCo over the last 10 years, using as many of OOH’s brilliant formats as you can think of to deliver our better with Pepsi Max message.

Shortlisted: Interconnected Formats 

Lotto: Will you be next? (With Allwyn, Hearts & Science UK, VCCP & Grand Visual)

Will you be the next UK millionaire? We made the whole of Great Britain feel like they might be next, with an unmissable and inclusive launch that drove talk-ability, engagement and consideration to play. Anyone can be a millionaire with Lotto, you must be in it to win it! 

Shortlisted: Immersive Experience 

Specsavers: This van driver should’ve gone to Specsavers (With MG OMD, Specsavers Creative, Grand Visual & Ann Squared Events

Specsavers pushed the boundaries of OOH advertising by creating its very own parking fail – a Specsavers van stuck on a rising bollard! The results were phenomenal with over 6 million social media views and almost 1 million likes, comments and shares. The stunt even had coverage on ITV, radio and in numerous news titles as well as industry wide recognition amongst our peers and other advertisers.

Shortlisted: Creative Humour 

Habitat: 60th Anniversary (With PHD UK, Grand Visual, New Commercial Arts & Mural Republic)

Habitat sought to amplify their 60 Years of Design message and make a bold statement with their reimagined classics. What better way to showcase them by tripling their size and installing them onto the facades of buildings across the UK? These striking and innovative murals became the hero execution of the media campaign – which included Out of Home (OOH), social media, press and print – and captured the public’s attention and imagination in person and online.

Shortlisted: Hand-Painted Mural or Display 

Pepsi MAX: UCL Hidden Pitches (With OMD UK, Grand Visual, Pangolin, NewGen, Ann Squared Events & Pixel Artworks

Pepsi MAX went all in for the UEFA Champions League this year. Bringing unexpected enjoyment to audiences across the UK, Pepsi MAX ran three activations for fans in football-focused cities of Liverpool, Manchester and London. Whether you were looking for a quick 2v2 game and a free football at their hidden pitches or wanted to watch the live game on the big screen, with a Pepsi MAX in hand, then they had you covered. Pepsi Hidden Pitches was born!  

Shortlisted: Immersive Experience 

Quaker Oats: Share the Warmth (With OMD UK, Grand Visual & Uncommon Creative Studio)

Quaker shared the warmth across the nation by helping to ensure access to a warm and nutritious breakfasts for families across the UK this winter – in a way that is intrinsic to the brand itself. Quaker effectively used different OOH capabilities to drive awareness of the issue of child food insecurity & its charity partnerships with attention grabbing 48s and leveraged interactive & dynamic capabilities to offer consumers real value through contextually relevant coupons based on UK weather/average temperatures. 

Shortlisted: Dynamic & Interactive Screens

British Heart Foundation: ‘Til I died (With PHD UK, Saatchi & Saatchi UK, Grand Visual & Mural Republic)

British Heart Foundation (BHF) set out with the goal to highlight a tragic reality – 12 people under the age of 35 are lost to sudden cardiac arrest in the UK each week. Using the stories of 12 young football fans who died too soon to highlight this tragic disease, BHF and Saatchi & Saatchi unveiled 12 powerful murals of football fans who lost their lives to sudden cardiac death, in time with the UEFA Euro 2024 kick-off for an extended audience reach. This campaign went viral across social media and outlets, it even had a slot on BBC Breakfast.  

Shortlisted: Charity/Not for Profit/Social Purpose 

Congratulations to all our clients, agencies and partners who were shortlisted, and roll on November! View the full shortlist here.

While carbon emissions must be reduced, how we measure them within the advertising hasn’t been standardised, creating challenges for advertisers and agencies alike.

Alice Date writes for WARC on the importance of a uniformed method when measuring sustainability. Service industries such as advertising have typically flown under the radar with regard to sustainability, as they are unaffected by complex manufacturing supply chains and reliance on abundances of natural resources.

According to the Purpose Disruptors report from 2022, advertising is responsible for 32% of the
carbon footprint of every single person in the UK: 208 million tonnes. Providing transparent emissions data allows clients to make reasonable and informed decisions
about their options.

Read the full article here.

Talon Benchmarks show that lower budgets are no barrier to effectiveness in OOH writes Lucy Baumgartner, Effectiveness Manager at Talon

OOH advertising is enjoying something of a golden period. Driven by its adaptability, digital innovation and the ever-growing consumer appetite for experience, the latest figures from industry body Outsmart show OOH’s post-Covid renaissance continues apace as the sector delivered its highest first-half revenue growth since records began over the first six months of 2024.

This phenomenal growth demonstrates that brands increasingly understand and see the value of OOH in terms of impact and effectiveness. More brands are leveraging the medium’s broadcast reach and dynamic creativity, and that’s not just limited to big-name brands with huge budgets.

OOH drives strong results for brands across the whole funnel

According to analysis from Talon’s Benchmarks, OOH drives strong results for brands across the whole funnel, including newly launched brands and those who have previously felt like OOH was inaccessible due to budget.

Talon Benchmarks are a simple but sophisticated database which has been collated through using a consistent measurement framework across over 200 brand uplift studies. This database provides unique insight into OOH’s effectiveness.

Our Benchmarks show that for brands with spend under £150,000, using OOH can increase prompted awareness by 3%, brand preference by 3.5% and, crucially, purchase intent by 6.2%.

Couple that with OOH’s long-established ability to build brand awareness and trust with consumers, it is the ideal partner for newly launched and lesser-known brands that are ambitious to grow category and market share. To get the most from OOH, campaigns need to be optimised across creative execution, format and environment selection.

Different OOH formats and environments can drive specific brand metrics

Using Talon’s Benchmark data, it is possible to pinpoint how different OOH formats and environments can drive specific brand metrics meaning campaigns can be optimised based on a client’s objectives. Put another way, if a new brand has a brief to drive purchase intent, the data shows that a mix of transport, large format and digital formats will deliver the strongest results.

Even with a sharp focus on formats and targeting, the most significant factor influencing a campaign’s effectiveness remains creativity. Without it, a campaign may not achieve its objectives. With lower spends, it is even more vital that your work stands out from the crowd.

Competitive pricing can help differentiate

Using competitive pricing to differentiate a new or lesser-known brand from its competitors while also appealing to the broader consumer concerns around the cost of living has been shown to deliver strong results across all metrics. Talon’s Benchmark data show that, when compared with standard creative, using price as a tool drove much stronger uplifts across consideration and purchase intent while it increased quality perceptions by an incredible 17%.

Focusing on price or monetary offers should not come at the expense of an engaging and human approach to creativity. The analysis also shows that the use of people, faces, and characters in lower-budget campaigns can hugely boost engagement, driving message take-out up by 21%, relevancy by 14% and emotional engagement by 11%. Proving once again that connection with audiences is invaluable for building trust and driving awareness and consideration.

A unique opportunity to speak to audiences outside of their homes

OOH has long been a part of consumers’ everyday lives and is a unique opportunity to speak to audiences outside their homes. Digitisation and innovation have transformed OOH into a more flexible, relevant, and interactive medium than ever. OOH offers all brands, regardless of their size or budget, the opportunity to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time—effectiveness made simple.