How New and Returning Brands Can Grow using OOH

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.