September has always carried a certain weight. It’s not the beginning of the year, but in many households, workplaces and communities, it can feel like one. The summer gives way to schoolbags in hallways, calendars filled with extracurricular activities, more structured commutes and, shopping lists written with a little more intent. In other words, normality resumes.

For marketers, September has long been treated as a seasonal retail moment, but our latest research suggests that this year Irish consumers are not simply going back to old habits but instead are entering September with a little more intention. Talon’s latest Pulse Brand Tracker research shows that 22% of consumers now see September as a time to set goals and make changes, more than double the 9% recorded in 2023.

That finding mirrors wider consumer sentiment across Ireland. Core’s 2026 outlook describes Irish consumers recalibrating rather than retreating, with value becoming one of the dominant lenses through which people make decisions. Our own findings support this, with value for money the leading influence for back-to-school purchases, cited by 94% of respondents.

In this article, we’ll explore the back to school consumer trends defining September 2026, from intentional spending and early planning to changing purchase journeys, and why Out of Home Advertising (OOH) is uniquely present in the moments that matter.

BACK TO SCHOOL CONSUMER TRENDS: THE RISE OF INTENTIONAL LIVING

Nearly three in ten consumers say they actively plan for September before it arrives, while 61% see it as a time to make changes or set goals. That intention is showing up in practical ways such as 42% meal prepping, 41% are becoming better planners (everything from shopping lists to task lists) while 37% are tightening household budgets.

But intentional living isn’t just influencing how we spend; it’s shaping how we choose to spend our time. Compared to 2023, more people are prioritising being present (+5%) and spending time with family and friends (+3%).

Taken together, these behaviours suggest that September’s reset is becoming less about doing more and instead choosing what deserves our attention.

BACK TO SCHOOL SHOPPING BEHAVIOUR STARTS EARLIER

One of the most significant back to school consumer trends emerging from the research is how intentional living is shaping spending behaviour.

As we’ve already seen above, value for money remains one of the biggest influences on back-to-school shopping, cited by 94% of respondents, followed by quality (93%), payment plan options (45%) and the ability to get everything under one roof (79%).

But what’s even more interesting is that consumers are looking for value in advance. Almost half (45%) actively shop around for deals, with a further 23% buying gradually throughout the summer. The purchase decision is increasingly happening before consumers ever reach a store, meaning brands are competing throughout journeys, routines and decision-making moments.

SEPTEMBER CONSUMER TRENDS ARE RESHAPING THE PATH TO PURCHASE

For many consumers, September planning begins long before the school term starts. In fact, August is still the most popular month for back-to-school shopping (51%).

As routines return, so too do the journeys. Nearly half of consumers (48%) anticipate busier mornings, while almost a quarter (24%) expect longer commutes as work and school activities return.

At the same time, many of purchasing decisions linked to this period are still rooted in physical environments. Shopping centres remain the most popular destination for back-to-school shopping (40%), while online stores (29%) and high street shopping (18%) environments continue to play an important role.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR BRANDS

These back to school consumer trends have important implications for brands planning their September activity.

This is where OOH is particularly well placed. As consumers return to more structured routines, they also return to the journeys that shape decision-making; the commute, the shopping trip, the school run and the everyday moments in between. These are the moments where consideration is building and where brands have an opportunity to become part of the plan before the purchase is made.

The research supports this. More than half of consumers (53%) say OOH influences their back-to-school purchasing decisions, highlighting the role the medium plays throughout the consideration journey, not just at the point of purchase. Combined with other touchpoints, OOH helps brands stay visible as consumers move from planning to action.

Tools such as Atlas and Atlas Insights take this a step further. By understanding where audiences spend their time, how they move through their day and the environments most likely to shape decision-making, brands can build more informed campaigns around real-world behaviour.

In many ways, it mirrors the mindset of today’s consumer. As people become more deliberate about where they spend their time, money and attention, brands have an opportunity to be just as deliberate in how they show up.

IN SUMMARY

September has always been associated with routines. What this year’s research suggests is that it has also become a season of consideration.

Consumers are planning more carefully, spending more deliberately and placing greater thought behind the choices they make. From shopping lists and household budgets to family time and personal goals, intention is increasingly shaping behaviour.

Some of that is undoubtedly a reflection of the wider environment. But rather than holding people back, many are responding by planning ahead, seeking value and making more informed decisions. For brands, the opportunity is to earn a place in consumers’ plans before the purchase is ever made.

Over the first six months of 2026, Talon’s Pulse Brand Tracker, our proprietary OOH measurement panel, developed in partnership with research specialists Opinions, tracked the performance of OOH campaigns across 13 cycles, 12 categories and more than 4,000 Irish adults aged 18-54.

Designed to measure OOH effectiveness in Ireland, the study set out to identify the factors separating good campaigns from great ones.

The results challenge some common assumptions. While awareness remains strong, the biggest gains came from campaigns that matched environments to audience mindsets, ultimately driving consideration, brand perception and commercial intent.

For brands and agencies, the findings reinforce the fact that OOH effectiveness is not simply about being seen. It is about showing up in the right place, at the right moment and in the right context to influence decisions across the full brand funnel.

OOH EFFECTIVENESS IS ABOUT MORE THAN ATTENTION

We already know OOH gets noticed. The more interesting finding from H1 is that effectiveness wasn’t driven by visibility alone.

Across Pulse Brand Tracker, average spontaneous awareness reached 35%, demonstrating consistent cut-through across categories. More importantly, the channel delivered for a wider range of objectives, from new product launches to long-term brand building and lower-funnel activation.

For brands and agencies, this reinforces OOH’s versatility. The strongest campaigns weren’t simply using OOH for build awareness; they were using it to support different business objectives throughout the funnel.

THE BIGGEST GAINS CAME FROM MATCHING ENVIRONMENTS TO AUDIENCE MINDSETS.

This was perhaps the clearest lesson from H1.

Campaigns planned across multiple environments consistently outperformed single-format executions, benefiting from greater reach, repetition, and contextual relevance. In fact, campaigns incorporating transport formats were particularly strong, achieving significantly higher recall levels (+42%), demonstrating the value of reaching audiences during high-attention commuter moments.

But Pulse Brand Tracker also highlighted the distinct role different formats play within the OOH ecosystem.

Retail Digital Out of Home (DOOH) and classic retail environments consistently delivered strong results for FMCG and health and beauty brands, benefiting from their proximity to purchase. These categories recorded some of their strongest brand equity scores in retail settings, reinforcing the value of being visible when consumers are already in a buying mindset.

Digital OOH formats on high street and city centre locations proved effective at building standout, quality associations and cultural presence. This made them especially valuable for campaigns seeking visibility in high-attention urban and lifestyle environments.

Large-format classic and DOOH played a different role, delivering scale, fame, and broad visibility. When combined with other formats as part of a wider multi-environment strategy, they helped brands feel bigger, more culturally relevant and more present in consumers’ everyday lives.

WHY AUDIENCE MINDSETS MATTER FOR OOH EFFECTIVENESS

The tracker highlights that environments are not interchangeable. Different locations reach audiences in different moments, with different levels of attention, need and intent. Transport environments, for example, proved particularly effective for reaching commuter audiences and driving recall and commercial intent.

Shopping centres and retail environments connect brands with audiences in a purchasing mindset, placing messages close to the buying decision. This was especially clear for FMCG and health and beauty brands, which consistently recorded strong brand equity scores in retail contexts.

Dublin city centre and other key urban locations act as high-impact brand canvases, helping advertisers build lifestyle, entertainment and premium associations. These environments are particularly powerful for launches, cultural moments and brands seeking broad reach in a quality context.

OOH EFFECTIVENESS EXTENDS BEYOND AWARENESS

While awareness remains a core strength of OOH, the strongest evidence from the Pulse Brand Tracker is that its impacts extends far beyond visibility.

Across tracked campaigns, brand positivity improved consistently, OOH did not just generate recall; it helped shape perception, associating brands with qualities such as relevance, quality and modernity.

Entertainment campaigns were particularly effective at generating anticipation and excitement, demonstrating OOH’s ability to create emotional engagement as well as reach. In other categories, campaigns strengthened brand credentials, increased emotional pull and helped position brands as the preferred choice within their market.

Most importantly, multiple campaigns drove measurable commercial intent. Across the study, OOH consistently moved audiences from awareness towards action, whether through purchase intent, visit intent or enquiry intent. Grocery and entertainment brands proved particularly strong performers, while campaigns in food, beer, lager and cider also demonstrated meaningful commercial impact.

FIVE LESSONS FROM TALON’S OOH EFFECTIVENESS BENCHMARK STUDY

The findings from our Pulse Brand Tracker point to five principles that consistently separate the strongest-performing campaigns from the rest.

• Context Matters. The most effective campaigns matched formats to audience moments. Format fit is the foundation of OOH effectiveness. Transport formats excelled at reaching commuter audiences, retail digital proved particularly powerful close to purchase, while large-format OOH delivered the scale and fame needed to build broader brand presence.
• Simplicity Wins. Campaigns built around a single clear message consistently outperformed those trying to communicate too much at once. The strongest creative distilled messages down to one compelling takeaway that audiences could easily recall and remember.
• Location remains one of OOH’s greatest strengths. Different environments attract different audiences in different mindsets. The more closely the location matches the audience moment, the more effective the campaign becomes.
• Emotion still matters. The best performing campaigns did more than generate awareness. They left audiences feeling informed, intrigued, or excited, helping brands build stronger associations and more positive perceptions over time.
• And finally, show up where people are. Ireland remains a highly mobile nation, particularly throughout the summer months. When audiences are on the move shopping, commuting, socialising, their attention is available — and OOH is uniquely placed to capture it.

For a long time, media planning has been built on the assumption of precision.

We can reach audiences, and we can understand them clearly enough to justify where and how we do it. That assumption has been carried by the language of targeting, optimisation and performance. For a time it worked, it felt like the systems behind it could support that.

That’s less true today.

Planning these days is happening in a more complex environment. One shaped by privacy changes and a more fragmented media landscape. But it’s not that the volume of data has disappeared, if anything, you could argue the opposite. It’s that how we use it now requires more consideration.

LOCATION WAS THE START POINT. NOW IT’S NOT ENOUGH

Location has often been used as a proxy for audience in OOH, the idea that if you choose the right environments for your plan, the audience will follow, and that is still partially true.

However, the reality of that today is a bit more nuanced.

Movement is less predictable, hybrid working is the norm, people are splitting their time across home, office and flexible workspaces, and routines aren’t as fixed as they once were. As a result, two sites that look equally strong on a plan can deliver very different value depending on who your desired target audience is.

FROM MOVEMENT TO SOMETHING YOU CAN PLAN WITH

That’s the problem we focused on when building Atlas Insights.

At its core, Atlas Insights rings together robust anonymised SDK-based location data, alongside points of interest and real-world journey patterns. Because behaviour isn’t static, the data is refreshed monthly facilitating accuracy across audience groups and seasonal trends.

Rather than simply describing audiences, Atlas Insights identifies where they over-index across all OOH inventory, making it clear not just where panels are, but where particular audiences are more strongly represented. It gives planners a clearer basis for decisions:

• Where to prioritise
• Where to place weight
• Where relevance genuinely sits

Take Rugby Enthusiasts. Over the last month, that audience spiked, driven by local and regional clubs coming to the end of their seasons. That shift showed up clearly in the data. Which meant we could see where that audience was most concentrated at a moment in time and adjust investment accordingly.

THIS ISN’T JUST PROGRAMMATIC OOH THINKING

It’s also worth being clear about where this sits.

There’s a tendency for audience-led thinking to be tied solely to programmatic. In reality, that’s too narrow. Atlas Insights is designed to inform planning itself, across classic OOH, digital OOH, and programmatic OOH, not just inform how OOH is bought, but how decisions are made around formats, weighting and where OOH plays a role in audience optimisation. Audience understanding shouldn’t sit within one buying route but should shape the plan as a whole.

When we launched ATLAS in Ireland back in April, Atlas Insights was a core part of the roadmap, something we would roll out in the weeks that followed. That’s where we are now.

The way we plan has to evolve.

Location still matters; it always will. But what if your audience isn’t there? Understanding who is actually moving through those locations and planning around that, is what makes the difference.

For more information on Atlas, visit https://talonooh.com/products/atlas/

Talon Ireland has announced the appointment of Eoin Carroll as Head of Programmatic, marking a key step in the agency’s strategy to advance programmatic Out of Home (PrOOH) in the Irish market.

The role comes at a pivotal time for Talon Ireland, following the recent launch of Atlas, Talon’s proprietary programmatic platform, and increasing demand in programmatic capabilities as more media owners venture into the space.

Carroll brings over nine years’ experience within Talon Ireland, where he has been central to the development of Talon’s programmatic OOH offering.

In his new role, he will lead the next phase of growth where maximising the value of Talon’s data and technology stack, Atlas and Atlas Insights will be a core component alongside working closely with agency partners to embed PrOOH more effectively within omnichannel campaigns, ensuring that audience intelligence is applied consistently across client planning.

Andrew Sinclair, Managing Director, Talon Ireland, said: “Eoin’s new appointment is a major step forward in our mission to unlock the full potential of programmatic OOH. As the market continues to evolve, having dedicated leadership in this space is critical. Eoin brings nine years of expertise and is ideally positioned to help us continue to grow this area for our clients”

Eoin Carroll, Head of Programmatic, Talon Ireland, added: “Programmatic OOH is becoming an increasingly important part of how brands plan and activate campaigns. With ATLAS now live in Ireland, we’re in a strong position to bring together audience, planning and activation in a more connected way. I’m looking forward to working with our teams and partners to continue developing this space and delivering better outcomes for our clients”.

Talon, the world’s leading independent Out of Home (OOH) agency, today announces the Irish launch of ATLAS, its intelligent OOH platform, bringing more precision and accountability to how brands plan and activate OOH in Ireland.

Already live and established in the US and UK, ATLAS is built specifically for OOH and connects programmatic activation with audience-first intelligence and real-time responsiveness. The Irish launch includes ATLAS Insights, Talon’s audience capability.

ATLAS Insights (formerly Zone) provides a deeper understanding of real-world audience behaviour, using privacy-safe, aggregated data to inform smarter planning, better screen selection and more effective targeting. This insight underpins ATLAS’ programmatic approach, enabling campaigns to respond to audiences, environments and real-world conditions.

The launch marks a step in Talon Ireland’s continued investment in the programmatic OOH space.

Programmatic OOH itself isn’t new — what’s new in Ireland is ATLAS, Talon’s proprietary platform, bringing our audience intelligence, planning and activation into one connected ecosystem,” said Eoin Carroll, Programmatic Lead at Talon. “By launching our own platform, ATLAS gives brands greater clarity, integration and control, while still being led by expert judgement.

As part of Talon’s global product roadmap, future developments to the ATLAS platform, including AI-accelerated planning via ATLAS Planner and creative execution capabilities via ATLAS studio will continue to evolve over time.

For more information, visit https://talonooh.com/products/atlas/

Author: Caroline Decourcy, Effectiveness Director

The FIFA World Cup is one of the most widely viewed and followed sporting events in the world. It will be jointly hosted by the countries of Canada, Mexico, and the USA, featuring 48 teams, expanding from the previous 32-team format, competing in 104 matches across multiple host cities. The 2026 FIFA World Cup is projected to attract 5 million in-person spectators and 6 billion global viewers. You can already feel the excitement building and creeping in – from small comments in the kitchen at work, a revived WhatsApp group, to someone asking “who’s got the biggest TV.” With Ireland still in the play-offs, that early background noise has an extra edge to it, setting the mood for this summer’s World Cup.

The tournament dates are set from June 11 to July 19, 2026, with the finals taking place in July. This summer’s World Cup will introduce mandatory three-minute water breaks during each half due to the hot climates in North America. These breaks present new advertising opportunities, including broadcasters airing adverts during the pauses, which adds a fresh dynamic to the overall advertising landscape surrounding the event.

Our latest research into Irish World Cup behaviour reveals that the real action doesn’t sit neatly within the 90 minutes on the pitch. Far from it. In fact, the moments surrounding match days are where the real story unfolds, and where brands and broadcasters need to pay closer attention to engage fans effectively.

Who we’re Really Talking To: Fans

Using our PULSE_ Brand Tracker – Talon’s bespoke measurement platform, we partnered with Opinions to interview 501 recent OOH recallers and found that over half (53%) plan on watching the FIFA World Cup 2026. But it’s what sits behind that headline that tells the real story.

Fans aren’t gravitating to one predictable viewing spot. Instead, they’re marking the occasion(s) as an opportunity to socialise in pubs (42%), at friends’ houses (28%), or opening their doors to host (25%). It’s a mix of settings, routines, and social setups that give us a much richer picture of how the FIFA World Cup tournament will be experienced. Through all these variations, one thing stays consistent: audiences are on the move.

When you look at their travel patterns, this becomes even clearer. Over half (51%) say they’ll stay in their local area to watch games, while 36% will travel within the same town or city if necessary, and 8% go so far as to say they will travel to another town or city to watch the games. Not only that, but these audiences predominantly choose public transport to get around, with 53% choosing the bus, 28% plan to use taxis, 25% plan to jump on the LUAS, and a further 21% plan on taking the DART. High-traffic areas such as transit hubs, airports, and city centres are targeted for World Cup OOH advertising during the tournament.

People are coming together, splitting up, re-grouping, and creating spikes of activity across local towns and cities, making the lead-up to match days an important time for brands to connect with fans beyond the pitch.

The Pre-Match Rituals for the FIFA World Cup 2026

One of the clearest patterns in the data is everything that happens before the whistle blows. Fans are showing up well before kick-off, and the build-up is where some of the most consistent behaviours take place. With 52% buying snacks or alcohol, 40% ordering takeaway, 30% socialising before matches, 30% placing bets, and 25% stopping at shops, there’s a surprising amount of activity happening long before anyone sits down to watch.

Multisensory experiences in advertising can generate 3–4x higher engagement compared to standard displays. Programmatic DOOH (pDOOH) is now used for real-time score updates during the World Cup, while Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) allows instant ad updates based on match results and live events, keeping fans engaged as teams advance through each round. Using live data in OOH campaigns increases brain response by 32%, making these strategies highly effective for brands looking to connect with fans on the pitch and beyond. Interactive elements such as gamified installations and geofencing tied to stadiums, pubs, and other venues further enhance fan engagement, encouraging active participation and social sharing.

These pre-match rituals aren’t just habits; they directly translate into spending. Among those planning to watch, 53% say they’ll spend more on snacks, 52% on beers, 45% on takeaways, 42% on crisps, and a quarter plan to spend more on wine (25%) and spirits (23%). Only 10% say they won’t spend more at all. This matters because 90% of fans take follow-up actions after seeing World Cup OOH advertising during major sporting events, and 96% of interested fans would actively engage with such ads.

Then there’s the mid-week shift.

Almost half (49%) of fans say their social habits will change during the tournament, with 40% planning to socialise more mid-week than usual. This opens up entirely new windows where fans are out, about, and more open to influence.

As Ireland leans into the possibility of a World Cup summer, our research makes one thing clear: regardless of the results, fans will be moving, gathering, stocking up, spending, re-routing their days, and reshaping their weeks around the tournament.

Not just in the 90 minutes themselves, but in everything that surrounds them. Taken together, these behaviours turn the World Cup into a full summer season lived outside of the home.

Ross Cunningham, Client Director at Talon writes: There’s always been something interesting about the rhythm of the out of home industry the week Valentine’s Day rolls around, timelines fill with loud declarations, and suddenly every brand wants to make its presence felt. It struck me that this behaviour isn’t far from what we, as planners and marketers, lean on all year long.

The more time I spend looking at how an OOH campaign plan is built and refined, the clearer it becomes that OOH still holds a very particular place in the media mix. OOH advertising offers high-impact, unskippable visibility in high-traffic areas, making it a unique form of advertising media. Yes, you might argue it’s not the newest marketing medium on the schedule, but it continues to do the one thing many media channels struggle with – it continues to deliver something tangible in a world that’s getting increasingly hard to pin down.

Outdoor Advertising: A Broadcast Medium Where Consumers Choose to Engage

OOH advertising reaches up to 89% of the population weekly, providing brands with unparalleled public presence that cannot be replicated elsewhere. Highly visible in public spaces, OOH relies on strategic placements to maximise audience engagement. What makes this reach even more impactful is the shift in audience behaviour—people are actively seeking real-world experiences, stepping away from screens, and choosing moments outside their homes.

Take Ireland last summer as an example: stadiums packed to capacity and sold-out major gigs demonstrated this hunger for shared experiences. For many, Oasis at Croke Park became a defining moment of this cultural shift. Now, with Ireland in the World Cup play-offs, that same energy is building again. Whether it’s sporting gear or festive attire, people want to be part of the moment. Businesses can leverage OOH to target specific audiences in these high-traffic locations, ensuring their message reaches the right people at the right time.

When Something Shows Up in Public Space, We Instinctively Trust It More

There’s a unique credibility that comes from any advertisement boldly standing in full view. Research reveals that OOH advertising drives a 7% uplift in brand trust — more than any other advertising channel. Unlike many platforms struggling with authenticity, brand safety, and declining trust, out of home advertising remains refreshingly straightforward. It occupies physical spaces people navigate daily, and as Justin Gibbons points out, the public realm holds you to a higher standard—you can’t spin your way out of a bus shelter on Leeson Street. This inherent transparency makes OOH ads powerful trust builders in the advertising landscape.

But Here’s the Surprising Power of OOH Advertising

What’s been interesting to watch over the last 5 years is how OOH has shown teeth in places people never associated with it. For all the talk about its broadcast strength, the medium is sharper at the other end of the funnel too. Programmatic DOOH has been a major player in that shift.

And if you spend enough time looking under the hood of campaigns (as we do), you start to notice something else. Programmatic OOH quietly handles the moments when plans need to shift gears, the times when a campaign has to go from brand building to driving action, sometimes faster than anyone had planned for.

Yet here we are, seeing programmatic DOOH drive a 3x increase in purchase intent. While classic OOH continues to do what’s always done best, lifting awareness and recall by over 50%. So yes, for some, the perception is outdated. OOH has become a genuine all-rounder, still doing the big public moments its famous for, while also delivering the kind of responsiveness and creative ideas that keep planners sane and make OOH campaigns more engaging and successful when the KPI’s start shapeshifting.

Let’s Not Forget What OOH Has Always Done Better Than Most

And the more I look at the medium, the more obvious it becomes that even with all this newfound flexibility, the core of OOH hasn’t shifted an inch. It still makes brands feel bigger. Fame isn’t complicated, but what is interesting is that it doesn’t come from volume alone – it comes from presence.

It’s the basic stuff, really. A message in a space people trust, displayed on billboards, digital screens, and other OOH advertising formats that can’t be skipped. OOH marketing continues to grow in importance, with the OOH space offering brands dynamic media and creative ideas to reach audiences in public environments. A medium that turns brands into part of the everyday landscape through digital signage, transit ads, and place-based media. That’s how you build fame, and even as the industry bends and shifts, that truth still holds. If anything, it’s becoming more valuable.

With Valentine’s Day tomorrow and the annual panic-buying of flowers about to commence, it felt like a good time to take stock on why brands and advertisers keep coming back to OOH. Strip it back and the logic is fairly simple. OOH shows up in the places that matter most—major roads, commercial and industrial areas, convenience stores—and earns trust because it lives out in the open. It reacts when campaign objectives inevitably change, and when it’s used well, it has a knack for making brands feel bigger.

It just might take more than a bouquet of flowers to get some of us to a World Cup—that’s next months problem.

The Future of OOH Advertising

Looking ahead, the future of OOH advertising is brighter—and smarter—than ever. With more control, more formats, and more ways to engage, OOH advertising is set to play a leading role in the next chapter of advertising—helping brands promote their services, achieve their goals, and stay ahead in a rapidly changing world. To explore why this year is truly OOH’s time to shine, be sure to read the full piece from our Managing Director, sharing expert perspectives on the exciting opportunities ahead.

Talon, the world’s leading independent Out of Home agency, is proud to announce it has been officially recognised as a Great Place to Work Certified™ organisation across the UK, Ireland, USA, and Canada. 

This prestigious certification is based on validated, anonymous feedback from employees across Talon’s group of companies (including Evolve and Grand Visual), gathered through the globally respected Great Place To Work® platform. The accreditation, which requires a minimum of 65% of employees in each qualifying market to report a consistently positive experience, is a testament to Talon’s ongoing commitment to fostering a supportive and empowering workplace culture. 

This latest recognition builds on Talon’s strong track record as an employer of choice, having previously been named one of The Sunday Times Best Places to Work and featured in Campaign’s Best Places to Work list. These accolades reflect Talon’s people-first philosophy and dedication to creating an environment where every individual can thrive.   

Sue Frogley, Global CEO at Talon, commented: “We are delighted to receive this recognition, which reflects the genuine experiences of our people. Their positive feedback about working here, across teams, leadership, and roles, means a great deal to us. This is not a moment to rest, but a benchmark from which we will continue to enhance our employee experience and maintain our position as the number one destination for the best talent in our industry.” 

Benedict Gautrey, Managing Director of Great Place To Work® UK, added: “We know that prioritising the employee experience leads to building trust among employees, fostering a remarkable workplace culture, and ultimately achieving exceptional business outcomes. Congratulations!”

By Andrew Sinclair, Managing Director at Talon Ireland

As we approach the end of another frenetic year in adland, you can sense the universal clamber to close out the year and the shifting focus towards what will likely be an even more frenetic 2026. 

We all appreciate that warp speed advances in technology demand agility, creativity, and dynamism to ensure relevance in a world that has never moved faster.  And yet, moments of reflection at this time of year become increasingly important to take stock, to reflect and aide the chartering of a new course.  In truth, the looming deadline to file this article, became the catalyst for me to do exactly that this week.  To step back, reflect on the year past and look to what the future holds for our OOH (out-of-home) industry.

It got me thinking that there’s still so much unrealised capital in what OOH can deliver.  How it’s uniquely placed to straddle the virtual and physical world and truly connect brands to ‘real’ people in real time. How it remains the leading channel for delivering brand FAME and unparallelled audience interaction. How it’s constantly evolving and continues to build on its USP as the original and greatest broadcast channel.  And ultimately, how 2026 is going to be OOH’s best year yet thanks to the launch of a next generation measurement system, continued investment in digital infrastructure and the onboarding, at pace, of programmatic capabilities across key media owners. 

At Talon, we’re a team of OOH evangelists, driven to showcase all the capabilities that the channel has to offer and with so many moving parts to consider, we do this under the framework of ACES – Audience, Creative, Effectiveness, Sustainable – our future proofed strategy that delivers in a market evolving fast.

AUDIENCE: BEYOND DEMOGRAPHICS

In a world where audience behaviours continue to fragment, OOH is positioning itself as the channel that can unite reach, relevance, and real-world presence in a trusted environment.  Gone are the days of planning around age, gender, and broad life-stage groups.  Instead, we are now in the age of optimised broadcast, a rich playing field where mass reach is blended seamlessly with the precision of contextual, behavioural and movement-based insights.

Programmatic OOH is adding further depth to our audience insights, quickly moving from what was recently deemed an emerging channel to an everyday reality.  Through our DSP Optimise, we’ve been at the forefront of the conversation, championing the rise of Programmatic OOH (PrOOH) in this market since 2020.

The capabilities around automated buying is helping us deliver real time activations, dynamic creative tailored to specific audience moments, and precision timing and location control at increasing scale.  With more screens onboarding in 2026, the programmatic marketplace will continue to thrive offering brands richer inventory, deeper data insights, and new opportunities for brands to activate OOH with digital like flexibility and precision.

OOH has always been about scale, trust, impact and cultural presence. And whilst they remain the bedrock, it’s quickly adding the strings of intelligence, integration and flexibility to its bow. With audience behaviours shifting, the medium is evolving with in tandem – not just to keep pace, but to lead.

CREATIVITY: OOH’S SUPERPOWER

Creativity is now stretching far beyond the classic 3D build with the entire urban environment presenting itself as a blank page – buildings, streetscapes, transport hubs and digital screens – all transforming into opportunities for ideas to stop people in their tracks.  With the rise of Retail Media, the canvas of OOH has extended right to the point of purchase.  These retail environments offer brands the chance to connect at the most decisive moment, turning everyday shopping journeys into creative brand experiences.

Intuitively, as our daily lives become increasingly shaped by AI, algorithms and automated content – the need for bold, human creativity has never been greater. And that’s why I believe OOH is so well placed to deliver.  Although it has always been the industry’s purest canvas, turning big ideas into real-world impact and winning genuine attention, it now has to stand up and be counted. 

Whilst the creative lives physically, if it does its job, it resonates emotionally and travels digitally. In 2026, amplifying those strengths is what will push the medium even further ahead of the pack and take a major step towards realising its fullest potential.

EFFECTIVENESS: A NEW ERA FOR MEASUREMENT

The much-anticipated arrival of the new JNOR system will redefine how campaigns are evaluated, now bringing digital formats fully into scope.  This best-in-class upgrade will now deliver granular audience insights across both classic and digital formats resulting in sharper planning, smarter investment and clearer ROI for our agency and client partners.

Brand-building has never mattered more. As part of Talon’s whitepaper on effectiveness, Ian Whittaker’s analysis shows that shifting spend towards trusted, public media like OOH can unlock greater efficiency, build long-term brand equity, and even contribute to shareholder value — especially in a world where digital discovery is fragmented and noise levels are high.

But effectiveness extends beyond metrics; it’s rooted in trust. As AI-generated content blurs the lines of what’s real, attention and trust have become the ultimate currency. With 81% of consumers saying trust shapes their buying decisions, OOH stands out: it offers un-skippable, real-world presence and unmatched authenticity — driving a +7% uplift in brand trust, more than any other channel.

At Talon, we’ve been preparing for this future. In May 2025 we enhanced our Effectiveness Unit, launching Pulse, our real-time brand tracking platform, and Trax, our creative testing solution. These tools connect exposure to outcomes, showing brands what truly drives attention, recall, and conversion. And with Inspect, our monitoring service, we ensure campaigns deliver exactly as planned, adding another layer of confidence for advertisers.

Combined with JNOR and the continued rise of programmatic, 2026 will be OOH’s most transparent, accountable, and data-driven year yet.

SUSTAINABILITY: A GREAT STORY FOR OOH

OOH is one of the few channels with a genuinely positive sustainability story. As a medium, it reinvests in communications, funding public services, improving infrastructure, and even supporting life-saving initiatives like public defibrillators. In fact, 55% of respondents in Ireland believe OOH is a sustainable medium and the industry is working hard to keep that perception a reality. 

Not only that, but a 2023 KPMG report confirms that OOH has the lowest carbon impact per impression of any major media channel. This advantage comes from its one-to-many communication model, which is far more efficient than the one-to-one nature of many other platforms. 

Media owners are also taking bold steps to reduce environmental impact. Many now source energy from green suppliers, use electric fleets, and ensure certain DOOH formats, including digital roadside screens, power down outside trading hours, operating only during opening times.

Our purpose has always been ‘to deliver greater value for our clients whilst inspiring people and caring for our planet’. It’s at the heart of our business strategy, supported by a dedicated Group Sustainability Manager and a team working at ground level. 

2026 marks a return to fundamentals for brands. Audience-first planning is evolving beyond demographics to mindset and moments. Creativity is reclaiming its role as the only true differentiator in a world saturated with algorithm-driven sameness.

Measurements in OOH is entering a new era with JNOR, delivering transparency and precision, while trust and authenticity continue to be the ultimate currency in an AI-influenced landscape.

Add that to OOH’s sustainability story and accelerating programmatic capabilities, the opportunity for brands to make a real-world impact has never been greater. 

You just need to play your cards right. 

I’ve been in Out of Home advertising long enough to know that the festive season starts earlier every year. By the 1st of November, the shelves are stocked with limited edition seasonal products, the ads are live, and the festive buzz around ooh advertising Christmas campaigns is already building. Mariah Carey has defrosted, and if you’re not paying close attention, you’d be forgiven for thinking the moment has already passed.

But it hasn’t.

We’ve just entered November. Cycle 23 for those of us who live our lives in two-week cycles – and what I’m seeing in our latest Christmas grocery behaviour insights is that some of the biggest decisions and biggest purchases are still ahead. For brands, this is the time to continue with a strong Christmas marketing strategy that includes outdoor advertising Christmas campaigns to capture attention before shoppers go in store.

This piece builds on our last article, “Why OOH Can’t Be Ignored”, which looked at overall Christmas shopping behaviour. Now, we’re zooming in on how Irish consumers shop for Christmas groceries. The what, when, and why – and why the final two weeks of the year, are anything but quiet.

HOW IRISH CONSUMERS SHOP DURING THE FESTIVE SEASON

Christmas grocery shopping isn’t one big moment, it’s a series of decisions across the festive season. Each with its own mood, its own plan, and its own purchases, and if you’ve ever found yourself panic-buying cranberry sauce on the 24th, you’ll know exactly what I mean. In fact, Irish consumers made 23 trips in December last year. That’s six more in store grocery trips than the UK average of 17.

It starts with planning. Quiet, considered. People thinking about who they’re hosting over the Christmas holidays, what food they’ll cook, and how much they’ll spend.

Then comes stocking. The pantry fillers, the drinks, the staples. It’s when your mum buys the tin of Christmas roses and hides them above the kitchen counter for all to see, while simultaneously warning nobody to touch until the big day. It’s the first wave of festive season spending, and it’s where we start to see a shift in consumers behaviour. 31% of shoppers say they treat their families at Christmas by buying more confectionery and other premium products they wouldn’t usually go for.

But the main shop is where things really shift. It’s mid-to-late December. Loading up on fresh food, meats, mince pies. The fridge is full, and the trolley is heavier than it’s been all year, and not just figuratively, 29% of shoppers estimate their Christmas grocery budget to be over €300. This is when 81% of customers are making their grocery list – not weeks in advance, but in the final days before the shop. In fact, 39% make it 2-3 days before, while 42% of customers make it the same day.

 And let’s not forget hosting. We’ve all been there, the phase none of us planned for, but everyone shops in. Forgotten cranberry sauce, more Brennan’s for the sambos. The “we need more of that” moment. It’s reactive and of high value for retailers.

OUTDOOR ADVERTISING DRIVES IN-STORE GROCERY PURCHASES

Last year, December 23rd was Ireland’s biggest grocery shopping day, with €107 million spent in sales across 24 hours. This year, 71% of Irish shoppers plan on doing their Christmas grocery shop in store rather than online shopping. That’s why outdoor advertising matters. It reaches shoppers on the move, influencing decisions before they enter in store. Outdoor advertising formats in roadside environments, near supermarkets, and in high-footfall areas keep brands visible during the festive season, driving impulse buys and reinforcing planned purchases.

The Christmas shop has become an institution. It’s the late-night dash, the trolley traffic jam, the moment when excitement kicks in and the “just in case” items start piling up. When brands go quiet, they lose visibility at the most critical moment. If your out of home isn’t live, you’re invisible.

WHY OOH ADVERTISING MATTERS DURING THE FESTIVE PERIOD

Irish consumers don’t stop shopping after December 15th, they’re still making decisions, still being influenced, and still spending big – 17% agree that out of home advertising impacts their grocery choices. For media planners, that’s the opportunity. From the late shop to the hosting dash, these moments are emotional, high value, and driven by impulse as much as planning. Out of Home advertising connects with shoppers when it counts. Creating an emotional connection in the real world and influencing choices before they hit the aisles. For brands, going quiet means going invisible, and in the final weeks of the year, that’s the costliest mistake you can make.

Written by Ciara Gibney, Marketing Manager at Talon Ireland. This research is based on an online methodology of 500 respondents 16+, gone to field between the 6-8th of October. For the full suite of out of home advertising results reach out to [email protected].

As the festive season approaches, brands and agencies face the same challenge they do every year: “How do we cut through the noise and connect in a meaningful way with our audiences?”

We hear you, but this year, something’s different. Nostalgia is making a big comeback. People are actively choosing to step away from screens, lean into tradition, and seek real-world connection, and I’m sure you can guess where this is going, but that’s exactly where OOH festive advertising shines.

At Talon, we’ve been tracking the signals. From shifting behaviours to emotional triggers, the data tells a clear story: OOH festive advertising turns feels into festive sales.

Why Emotion Drives Action During the Festive Season

This year, 37% of consumers say they want Christmas ads to bring back that nostalgic feeling, and nearly half are planning to cut down on screen time to protect the spirit of the season. If that’s not a clear signal that audiences are craving something more real, what is? People are leaning into shared experiences, with 55% saying they will spend more time with family and OOH festive advertising meets these moments with unmatched authenticity. It’s physical, it’s public, and it’s woven seamlessly into our everyday surroundings.

Shopper Behaviour & Key Moments for Impact

When looking at gift buying, our latest insights show similar patterns to last year. With things kicking off in September and October (31%) and building steadily throughout November (23%), Black Friday week (9%) and December (15%).

Fridays (12%), Saturdays (16%) and evenings (18%) are the sweet spot for footfall. With 62% of consumers planning to shop in-store. 74% planning to use public transport to get around, OOH festive advertising offers unmatched opportunities to prime and persuade shoppers with a multitude of OOH formats. But it doesn’t stop at gifts, Christmas shopping has become a social occasion. 64% of people plan to meet friends while they’re out. 50% will grab a bite at a restaurant, and over a third will head to the pub post-purchases. It’s no longer just about ticking off the list; many are making a day of it. Creating more opportunities to connect with not just shoppers, but with diners, commuters, and revellers.

From roadside billboards on festive journeys. To transport hubs as people travel to Christmas events. Retail environments acting as festive hubs, and points of interest that spark seasonal magic. OOH festive advertising meets audiences in the moments that matter most, and crucially, 53% of consumers say Christmas campaigns reach them in the right mindset. Making it the perfect moment to connect with relevance and resonance.

Programmatic Precision with Talon’s Optimise DSP

It doesn’t stop there. With our programmatic DSP, Optimise, we’re able to deliver precision targeting at scale. Whether you are targeting luxury gift givers, festive foodies, party season spenders, or last-minute shoppers, Optimise allows you to buy by audience, not just location. Not to mention harness real-time agility to respond in context. Adjusting creatives based on things such as weather, temperature or even time of day. And let’s face it Christmas gives us plenty to work with. A frosty morning, a weekend shopping rush, we can tailor the message to match that exact moment. With 44% of consumers planning to spend more this Christmas, including 26% spending more on food and 5% planning to spend more on drink, the opportunity to influence purchase decisions in the right place and time has never been stronger.

From Festive Feels to Festive Sales

And here’s the part we love, it works. OOH drives stronger emotional engagement at Christmas than any other time of year. 70% of people say they pay more attention to festive ads, and we see a +2.7% uplift in action compared to the rest of the year.

But the real magic happens when emotion is paired with product messaging. That’s when we see a +140% boost in action. So, you see, once you make people feel something, they’re far more likely to do something, because just like every great Christmas story, it’s the feeling that moves the plot forward.

Make your Brand Part of the Christmas Story

Christmas is a season built on connection, emotion, and storytelling and OOH festive advertising delivers all three with scale, precision, and creativity.

Whether you’re an agency crafting campaigns or a brand looking to show up in the moments that matter, OOH isn’t just part of the plan, it’s the medium that turns festive feels into festive sales.

Want to see how your brand can show up in the moments that matter? Get in touch with our team.

As Q4 begins, retail enters its most competitive season. With consumer attention at a premium, brands must move beyond generic audience profiles and unlock the power of first-party data. This data – already owned by brands, offers a direct line to real consumer behaviour. When activated through PrOOH (Programmatic Out of Home) platforms like Talon’s Optimise DSP, first-party data enables sharper targeting, real-time relevance, and measurable impact.

In our previous articles, we explored leveraging micro moments and how PROOH integrates into wider media strategies. Now, we are diving deeper into how brands’ first-party data, powered by Talon’s Optimise DSP, can unlock precision, performance, and measurable actions as we enter what many consider the most important quarter of the year.

Rethinking Targeting with First-Party Data for PrOOH

In today’s world, identity is fluid and multifaceted – making traditional demographics less predictive than they once were. Too often, generational analysis relies on outdated stereotypes, and broad categories like age or income rarely explain why people act.

That’s why context matters. A consumer shopping for a gift will behave very differently from one making everyday purchases. Factors like weather or seasonality can subtly shape decisions in ways traditional targeting often overlooks.

The key to smarter targeting lies in data that is owned. CRM records, sales data, app analytics, loyalty programs, and email engagement data reveal patterns of motivation and behaviour, not just assumptions. Using Talon’s Optimise to apply these insights, we can deliver behaviour-led programmatic OOH strategies that are both smarter and more impactful.

Examples of First-Party Data in Action for PrOOH:

• Re-engaging yesterday’s “competitor shopper” with tailored offers as they pass by your store.
• Prompting lapsed app users with a timely message near a key retail location.

This is the shift from broad demographics to behaviour-led storytelling delivered in the right place, at the right moment.

The Q4 Advantage: Activating First-Party Data for PrOOH Impact

With retail spend peaking and consumer intent at its highest, this is the moment brands can truly win hearts, wallets, and market share. Recent data indicates a rebound in consumer confidence, with the latest spending report from Bank of Ireland suggesting that debit and credit card spend rose by 6.5% year-on-year. This uptick suggests a renewed optimism among Irish consumers as we approach the final quarter of the year. However, with so many voices competing for attention, relevance becomes your sharpest tool.

It’s at this intersection that first-party data for PrOOH delivers its full potential. Your customers are already telling you what they want through purchases, app activity, loyalty behaviour, and email engagement. By using these insights to fuel your programmatic strategy, you can deliver targeted, real-time messaging that speaks directly to their needs, moods, and moments.

Whether it’s:

Programmatic OOH gives you the agility to act fast, optimise, and make every impression count. Q4 is short but the opportunity is huge. Brands that activate their first-party data now and lean into precision will be the ones that stand out, convert, and outperform.

Turn First-Party Data into Action

In a season defined by urgency and opportunity, brands need more than broad targeting – they need precision, agility, and relevance. First-party data offers the clearest path to smarter programmatic OOH strategies, enabling brands to connect with real people in real moments. By turning customer insights into action, marketers can unlock new levels of performance and creativity across Q4 campaigns. The tools are ready; the data is there – now it’s time to activate.

Ready to Activate your First-Party Data for PrOOH?

Book your workshop with our Programmatic Lead Eoin Carroll, at [email protected]. Let’s unlock the full potential of your programmatic OOH campaigns this Q4.

FAQ’s: First-Party Data for PrOOH

What is first-party data in marketing?

First-party data is information collected directly from your customers via owned channels like websites, apps, CRM systems, and loyalty programmes.

Why is first-party data important for PrOOH?

It allows for behaviour-led targeting, enabling brands to deliver relevant messages based on actual consumer actions and context.

What makes Q4 ideal for PrOOH campaigns?

Q4 sees peak consumer spending and heightened competition. PrOOH allows brands to act quickly, optimise campaigns, and maximise ROI during this high-impact period.

Can smaller brands benefit from first-party data in PrOOH?

Absolutely. Even basic CRM or email engagement data can be used to create more targeted, cost-effective campaigns that drive results.

Halloween advertising opportunities go far beyond spooky visuals. While bold visuals, playful puns, and ready-made themes have long been staples of seasonal campaigns, the real power lies in understanding audience behaviour.

In Ireland, Halloween has evolved. It’s no longer just October 31st – it’s the mid-term break. Schools are closed, families are travelling, young people are out, and plans are being made right up to the last minute. Halloween is now a week-long window of movement and decision-making, creating prime opportunities for brands and agencies to connect.

Behavioural Trends Driving Halloween Advertising Opportunities

Our latest research reveals:

• 35% are planning domestic travel – either day trips (18%) or staycations (16%)
• Over 50% plan to visit shopping centres
• 81% planning to use public transport
• 43% planning to spend more this Halloween
• 47% won’t book their Halloween plans until September or later
• Nielsen reports €12.9m additional spend on Halloween treats in 2024 vs 2023.

Moving beyond seasonal stats, these are now behavioural signals. We know we say it all the time, but the opportunity lies in the moments. Halloween is growing in cultural and commercial significance, and with that, audience behaviour shifts. For advertisers, the opportunity now lies in the context.

Why OOH is Ideal for Seasonal Campaigns

Ask yourself:

1. Where are people going?
2. Where are they making decisions?
3. How can media intercept them at moments that matter?

Out of Home (OOH) advertising is built for exactly this. It’s physical, public and behaviour-led. It connects with audiences in transport hubs, retail destinations, roadside, and city centres. It meets people as they move.

We’ve already seen brands turn this into impact. Take Fanta’s UV glow-in-the-dark wall mural, which lit up city centre streets aligning perfectly with audience mood and movement.

Start with Context. Start with OOH.

This Halloween, don’t just design for the season – behave for it. Start your campaign with media that aligns to how people are actually living in the moment. Start with Out of Home.

Explore more seasonal campaign ideas in our “Work” section and see how brands are leveraging real world behaviour to drive results.

FAQs: Halloween Advertising with OOH

Q1: Why is Halloween a strong opportunity for Out of Home Advertising?

Because it’s no longer a one-day event. It’s a week of movement, decision-making, and spending—perfect for intercepting audiences in real-world environments.

Q2: What types of OOH formats work best during Halloween?

Formats that adapt to time, light, and location—like murals, digital screens, and transport ads—can align with audience behaviour and mood.

Q3: How can brands plan for last-minute Halloween decisions?

OOH allows for flexible, location-based messaging that can respond to late-stage planning and impulse decisions.

With consumers moving more fluidly between screens, streets, and spaces, brands need to meet them with the same energy everywhere.

Integrating programmatic OOH into media strategies, enables marketers to connect digital precision with real-world impact, delivering targeted, timely messages that resonate across every touchpoint.

It’s not just part of the media plan – it’s the part that makes every other channel work harder.

This piece marks the second instalment in our “How To” series exploring the power of PrOOH. In this piece, we’re looking at how it integrates into wider media strategies. If you missed the first instalment – “How to use programmatic OOH to capture micro moments”, you can read it here and see how seasonal triggers like weather changes or cultural events can drive real-time, in-the-moment activations.

The Physical Touchpoint in a Digital World

The best campaigns don’t think in silos, they think in stories. PrOOH integrates seamlessly into that narrative acting as a physical anchor that keeps your brand top-of-mind while your digital channels carry the conversation online.

Just like display, social, and CTV, PrOOH can:

• Target by audience using the same segments across all channels.
• Respond in real-time to cultural, environmental, or behavioural triggers.
• Measure what matters from footfall to web visits, app downloads and brand uplift.

How Programmatic OOH Enhances Media Strategies

Imagine your audience encountering a PrOOH ad during their commute, only to see it on the TV later in the day. Not only is it channel coordination; it’s a moment of seamless brand presence.

A great example of this in action is Fáilte Ireland. As the official sponsor of RTÉ Weather, they harnessed the precision of Programmatic OOH through our DSP, Optimise, to deliver contextually relevant messages to audiences during peak commuter windows. These ads were activated in perfect sync with RTÉs weather broadcasts. This ensured the campaign resonated both on the streets and on screen, reinforcing the brand message at key moments across multiple channels.

Why it worked:

• Shared Audience Data: By activating in perfect sync with RTÉs weather broadcasts Fáilte created message consistency and avoided media fragmentation.
• Real-Time Context: Time of day targeting ensured relevance and while TV and wider OOH campaign delivered on mass awareness, PrOOH extended the campaign’s life by maintaining visibility at relevant moments throughout the day and across the summer.
• Measurable Impact: Talon benchmarks indicate that integrating programmatic OOH can drive a 3x increase in purchase intent and deliver 15% higher brand relevance.

Integrating Programmatic OOH into your Media DNA

When integrating Programmatic OOH into your wider media strategies, consistency in audience data ensures your brand message follows consumers across every touchpoint. Here’s how to make it part of your media DNA:

Audience:

Start by using the same audience data for PrOOH that you already apply to social, display, or CTV. This keeps your targeting consistent and ensures your brand message follows the same people throughout their day.

Timing:

Focus on scheduling your PrOOH campaign around key moments but also take advantage of its flexibility. You can switch ads on or off in real-time based on triggers. For example, during a retail push, a fashion brand could activate rainwear ads across commuter routes. The moment wet weather hits, instantly switch to sunglasses and summer styles. While channels like TV and broadcast OOH are brilliant at delivering mass awareness in short bursts. PrOOH can extend a campaign’s presence, sustaining visibility across those crucial consumption moments over days, weeks, or even months.

Creative:

Centres on tailoring your messaging and visuals to fit the context while keeping brand consistency. This might mean adjusting ad copy or offers based on location. For example, a food delivery service might show restaurants closest to each specific OOH format, highlighting local offers and specials. This small tweak can make the ad feel highly relevant to the viewer’s immediate surroundings.

Consumers no longer think in terms of “online” or “offline”, they simply live their lives, moving fluidly between screens, streets and sounds. The brands that win are the ones that follow that journey, connecting each interaction into a single, coherent story. Integrating Programmatic OOH into media strategies allows brands to bridge digital precision with physical presence. Creating campaigns that are timely, contextual, and measurable.

From seasonal activations like summer travel, to reactive moments like weather changes, PrOOH brings the agility of digital into the real world. When every channel speaks the same language, your brand becomes impossible to ignore.

Want to explore how PrOOH could amplify your next campaign? Let’s talk.

In a world where attention is fleeting and every second counts, creative effectiveness is no longer a nice-to-have—it’s a necessity. That’s why we’re (re)introducing Trax, Talon’s proprietary Out-of-Home (OOH) creative testing platform, built to ensure your campaigns don’t just show up—they stand out.

WHY TRAX?

Creative is one of the most powerful levers in campaign performance. Yet, our years of testing show that brand logos are only noticed 44% of the time. Trax is here to change that.

Designed specifically for OOH, Trax helps media agencies and brands optimise creative before it hits the streets—ensuring your message lands with impact.

WHAT TRAX DELIVERS

1. Real Human Attention Analysis

Trax uses advanced visual testing to understand how real people engage with your creative. It identifies what captures attention—and what doesn’t.

2. Three Core Testing Metrics

• Heat Mapping: Visualises where attention is focused.
• Gaze Sequence: Reveals the order in which elements are seen.
• Hotspots: Highlights key areas of visibility and engagement.

3. Benchmarking that Matters

Your creative is measured against a database of 700+ OOH ads, giving you clear context on how your work stacks up within your category.

4. Actionable Optimisation

Within just two working days, you’ll receive a detailed report with insights and recommendations—so you can refine your creative and maximise impact before launch.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Trax bridges the gap between creative effectiveness and media planning. It’s fast, focused, and built for results—helping you deliver campaigns that cut through the noise and connect with audiences.

To learn more about TRAX or to test your creative, get in contact with [email protected]

Summer. It’s the season when audiences break routines, spend more time outside, and engage with the world in more spontaneous, emotional, and personal ways.

And that’s exactly what makes PrOOH a perfect match for summer – built to capture those fast, fleeting micro-moments that matter. As covered in our recent piece “All Eyes on OOH”, the summer months offer OOH advertisers the perfect storm of conditions: longer evenings, bigger crowds, and people actively seeking experiences outside of the home, whether it’s attending a music festival, enjoying a beach day, or heading off on a staycation.

But while classic OOH delivers unmatched scale and impact, PrOOH is the agile extension that allows brands to show up in contextual, in-the-moment ways, owning those small but powerful micro-moments that are embedded into consumers everyday lives.

WHAT ARE SUMMER MICRO-MOMENTS?

They’re the real-life, real-time cues that shape consumer intent, and influence decision-making in seconds. Micro-moments are situational, emotional, and highly time sensitive. They’re not media moments, they’re life moments, and they happen constantly during the summer.

For example:

It’s 26˚ and Ireland’s melting – Trigger SPF, cold drinks or ice cream ads near parks, city centres and transport hubs.

Kick-offs in one hour – Serve live-betting odds at pubs or train stations.

Sudden showers in Dublin? – Flip creative to promote delivery services or rain-ready fashion near retail environments.

6am flight check-ins – Push coffee, breakfast or caffeine-boosted product ads along airport travel routes.

Post-festival recovery day – Serve ads for food delivery, wellness products near drop off points or on large-format roadside.

Unexpected beach days – Run real-time updates for sunglasses or beach snacks near convenience stores.

These aren’t the moments you can plan for six-months in advance, they’re the kind you need to react to, not wait for. That’s why PrOOH works, because it allows brands to move at the speed of the season, reacting in real-time with messaging that feels in-sync with consumers’ lives.

WHY MICRO-MOMENTS MATTER

They’re more engaging: Contextually relevant ads are significantly more effective at capturing attention. Neuroscience research shows a +32% increase in brain response when content is aligned with the moment, and +48% effectiveness compared to campaigns that don’t use contextual messaging.

They cut through the noise: With attention spans down 68% since 2012, it’s harder than ever to make an impression. Micro-moment targeting helps to combat ad fatigue. In fact, Talon benchmarks show that contextual OOH campaigns deliver +63% uplift in consideration and +57% in spontaneous ad awareness compared to broader OOH activity.

They drive action: When an ad feels immediate and relevant, it resonates. Programmatic campaigns delivered through our DSP, Optimise, show a 2x increase in purchase intent, are 15% more aligned with lifestyle relevance, and are 4x more likely to drive consideration.

COMPLIMENTS, NOT COMPROMISES

We know we say this all the time, but let’s be clear: PrOOH isn’t here to replace classic OOH, it’s the perfect partner.

Classic OOH delivers unmissable brand presence at scale. It builds fame, trust, and cultural relevance. PrOOH adds the layer of flexibility modern campaigns need, allowing teams to adapt messaging, respond to events, and target specific moments without sacrificing the creative impact of the wider campaign.

For agency teams managing integrated plans, PrOOH offers the tactical agility to complement big brand ideas. Used together, classic OOH and PrOOH unlock the full power of the channel, high-impact storytelling combined with real-time contextual relevance. That’s not a compromise; it’s a summer strategy that works harder on every level.

Summer is unpredictable, and in that unpredictability lies opportunity.

Programmatic OOH (PrOOH) is built for these kinds of everyday moments, agile, adaptable, and built for long-term impact. Paired with the scale of classic OOH, it allows brands to not only be seen, but to be relevant right now.

So, whether you’re looking to drive footfall, boost last-minute bookings, or simply stay top-of-mind during key seasonal occasions, don’t just plan for summer, own it, moment, by micro-moment.

Reach out to our team or visit https://talonooh.com/programmatic-ooh-advertising/ to learn more about Programmatic OOH.

PUTTING DATA, INSIGHTS, AND OUTCOMES AT THE HEART OF OUT OF HOME (OOH)

In a rapidly evolving OOH landscape where attention, accountability, and effectiveness are paramount, we are (re) launching Talon’s Effectiveness Unit – placing data, insights and measurable outcomes at the heart of everything we do.

This move goes beyond a structural refresh; it’s a strategic commitment to redefining how OOH proves its value in an omnichannel world. Our aim is to foster more meaningful, data-led conversations around effectiveness.

With new and upgraded tools, a clear framework, and a sharper strategic focus, our reimagined Effectiveness Unit is built to work closely with our clients, translating data into powerful, practical outcomes.

Our ambition is to strengthen our role as a leader in effective media planning and performance.

OUR EFFECTIVENESS FRAMEWORK: FOUR PILLARS DRIVING SMARTER OUTCOMES

At the heart of our refreshed offering are four key pillars that shape our approach:

• Campaign performance: measuring real outcomes, not just reach.
• Actionable insights: delivering data that informs smarter, faster decisions.
• OOH’s role in the media ecosystem: verifying where and how OOH drives value alongside other channels.
• Thought leadership: shaping the conversation on how to use the medium most effectively.

Together, these pillars support our wider mission to make effectiveness not just a metric — but a mindset.

POWERING A SMARTER APPROACH WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE AND TOOLS

True effectiveness stems from a strategic combination of the right mindset, the right technology, and the right people. At Talon we’ve brought all three together to build an offering that’s not only smarter, but more collaborative, responsive, and made for real-world challenges our clients face.

Caroline, Effectiveness Director at Talon commented:

“It’s been designed to deliver best in class insights that inform smarter planning strategies encompassing everything from long-term brand tracking and creative effectiveness to bespoke studies, audience mapping, econometrics and PrOOH measurement. This framework allows us to offer a tailored, strategic approach for every brand using the OOH channel.”

INTRODUCING PULSE: REAL TIME INSIGHTS FOR SMARTER, FASTER DECISIONS

PULSE_ is our new and improved insights platform delivering data that powers smarter, faster, strategic decisions. Built on our very own OOH consumer panel, It’s agile, flexible, and made for the way brands plan today.

Have you ever found yourself wanting to know “how is my brand performing versus competitors?” or “what part of my creative is most noticeable?” or “How does my audience behave when they are out of home?”.

From consumers insights to brand tracking, our new platform delivers timely insights when they are needed. Here’s what makes PULSE_ different:

A dedicated Talon audience panel: Our respondents are recruited specifically for Talon campaigns.

Double the sample size: 500 respondents per month (increased from 250)

Faster turnaround: Get the insights you need, when you actually need them.

More control: Measure what matters most. Whether it’s messaging or how consumers navigate a category, we can deliver insights to help inform those strategic decisions.

All while still measuring:

Seasonal Insights: Christmas, Easter, Summer, Halloween, Back to School

Trending Insights: Attention metrics, Distinctive brand assets

Audience Profiles: Changing behaviours of Gen Z, Movement patterns of college students and much more..

(RE) INTRODUCING TRAX: OOH CREATIVE TESTING THAT CUTS THROUGH

Creative is one of the biggest levers in campaign effectiveness, and TRAX_ is here to make sure our client’s creative performs best. After years of creative testing at Talon, brand logos are only noticed 44% of the time by consumers.

Our proven methodology uses three key areas on OOH creative testing – heat mapping, gaze sequence, and hotspots and offers feedback on clear areas of attention and noticeability with possible improvements. With a benchmark database of over seven hundred creatives, we’re able to reliably explore how creative works, and how it can be optimised – bridging the gap between creative effectiveness and media planning.

This reset marks a step forward in how we define and deliver effectiveness in OOH. With a clear strategic framework, a renewed focus on insight-led planning, and the launch of our platform PULSE_ and creative testing tool TRAX_, we’re giving brands the tools, data, and partnership they need to make smarter decisions and see the true impact of OOH in the wider media ecosystem.

To learn more, get in contact with [email protected].