Charlotte, Author at Talon

By Ellie Reeves, Effectiveness Executive

It’s largely unsurprising that the key trends we’re due to see for consumers in 2024 can be encapsulated by two feelings: fatigue and distrust. In the now familiar narratives of economic recession, global instability, and the rise of artificial intelligence, GWI’s annual “Connecting the Dots” conference sought to look at how advertisers and brands can utilise consumer research to maximise their performance in tough times. With panellists from Meta, Snapchat and Endeavor Analytics, adaptability and transparency weren’t just recommendations, but requirements for brands across the year.

Transparency and Communication

Growing distrust in media and news sources in a year of multiple elections, and consumer concerns around AI, will likely preface every publication and event for the rest of 2024. Consumers are increasingly scrolling past news articles and are sceptical of what they do see, driving quality and transparency as the core values that brands will have to emphasise in order to stand out. While concerns around AI are at their peak, an open dialogue with different consumer segments on their attitudes towards AI will be key to pursue opportunities in the field. As only 1 in 10 consumers feel it’s inappropriate for brands to make a statement on public policy, honestly speaking on the current climate is a demand from consumers (GWI). Light-hearted content is an important way of being there for the public, but this can’t go without substance.

Explored by Peter Field, trust has become an increasingly important factor in purchasing decisions, rising from 7^th to 2^nd most important driver of profit in the last ten years. It’s an area where OOH has had longstanding success – as a public medium, consumers are more confident in brand messaging, particularly in comparison to perceptions of the unregulated digital space. At Talon, we see an average +6% increase in brand trust after consumers have been exposed to an OOH campaign (Talon Benchmarks). While trust has long been considered a ‘soft’ metric, de-prioritised in favour of sales and ROI, its importance has re-emerged for consumers and the industry alike.

Diversifying Audiences

With brands looking to maximise the value of their media investment, diversifying audiences will be incredibly important. The growing fanbase of combat sports was an interesting example here, with the sport seeing a +19% y-o-y growth in young parent viewers after its employment of short-form video (GWI). Adopting new partnerships and finding different angles to reach new audiences was a key recommendation. Another example was the -29% decline in vegans in Europe since 2021, as sustainable choices are increasingly considered unattainable in the cost-of-living crisis (GWI). Plant-based brands were therefore encouraged to target nutritious-conscious audiences and alter their messaging accordingly.

The undervalued Baby Boomer audience was also toted, positioned as a segment with money, an expanding online presence, and active purchasing habits. Significantly under-represented in both the workforce and material of the advertising industry, this age group have long been sidelined. When they are featured in ads, they tend to be cast in domestic settings – largely irrelevant to the 1 in 4 Boomers who say they’re focused on their career (GWI). Smarter brands will therefore lean into the purchasing power of this audience by ensuring inclusion and representation in their strategy.

Though high reach has historically been a key advantage of OOH, audience-first planning means it’s not just a broadcast channel anymore. Cutting audiences by age and gender is a largely irrelevant strategy, where behavioural and attitudinal trends are much more reliable to establish and target audiences. Activating programmatically with Atlas means our clients saw an average +45% uplift in on-target audience impressions in 2023, with +15% stronger levels of brand relevance felt (Atlas Benchmarks; Talon Benchmarks). Combining high reach and high relevance is a key strength of OOH, particularly as the post-cookie landscape struggles.

Go Back to What Works

2024 has already been a huge year for traditional broadcasting; the finale of Traitors received close to 7 million views when aired, and Luke Littler’s appearance in the darts’ World Championship Final was Sky Sports’ most watched non-football event in history. While ad revenue for TV has consistently declined over recent years, January did reiterate the channel’s power – particularly as the digital landscape is being re-shaped. With investment pouring into digital, serving to increase clutter and decrease cut-through, traditional advertising channels are receiving more engagement. From the IPA Databank, we can see that adding OOH to linear TV increases the latter’s effectiveness by +17%, and as both engagement with and trust for traditional channels grow, combined activations are a key strategy for brands.

The end of third-party cookies (though not explicitly mentioned) underlay these discussions – and no doubt spoke to the renewed importance of consumer surveying for brands. Snapchat’s Hannah Richardson noted that advertisers have historically been leaning into what was easily measured, rather than what should be measured, and changes in privacy regulations are a fortunate shift for advertisers to reconsider their approach. Falling back on traditional measurement frameworks like MMM and measures of incrementality will be how brands move forwards. ‘Test and learn’ seemed to be the motto for brands in 2024, calling for focus on what wouldn’t have happened without media investment.

Moving Forwards

Emerging from the panel was the importance of consumer centricity when fighting for both share of attention and share of wallet. Communicating with consumers and aggregating consensual data will be more important than ever by the end of the year, and using these insights to test and measure media strategies will be the new normal post-cookie. With more sources than ever before, data is proving to be the guiding light for brands – though instinct and creativity can’t be forgotten.

As a passively consumed channel that the general public largely opt into engaging with, OOH offers a unique space in contrast to the oversaturated digital market. Creative employment of the medium, with contextually relevant messaging and audience-led planning, are key strategies to effectively and positively cut through. While OOH has proved it’s about more than just driving brand fame, it’s still a key strength. And as marketers are encouraged to go back to what works – and what can prove it works – 2024 looks to be a good year for OOH.

We recommend reading our 2024 OOH Trends & Predictions blog next!

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By Lucy Baumgartner, Effectiveness Manager.

There’s no avoiding the news on the UK cost-of-living crisis. Whilst consumer confidence has risen from an all-time low point in 2022, still only 30% of the UK feel confident that their finances will be ok, with 66% feeling concerned with keeping up with the cost of living. So how should brands be adjusting their marketing strategies to support customers through the current economic situation?

One simple way is by using monetary offers and deals within campaigns. Promotional messaging that taps into the economic context we are living through can demonstrate a brand’s empathy in a truly authentic way. Industry research has shown that delivering contextual messages and content that explicitly calls out a relevant moment in time can deliver an average increase in brand response of +32%. Failing to engage in the conversation risks brands appearing tone deaf and isolating themselves from consumers.

A much more customer-focused approach is particularly pertinent in the world of Out of Home (OOH). As a low dwell time media channel, it’s important to utilise high impact messaging to effectively grab consumer attention and drive engagement levels.

Benchmark analysis of Talon OOH campaigns has revealed that the inclusion of monetary offers and deals has significant impacts on brand metrics, particularly lower funnel. Comparing creatives with and without monetary offers, those with deals see 4X stronger levels of brand preference, 2.3X stronger levels of consideration and 1.3X stronger levels of purchase intent.

These positive trends across brand metrics are further reflected in visual engagement shown in creative testing, headlines that include monetary deals can deliver up to +28% stronger levels of fixation.

This strong engagement and fixation on promotions and deals means the messaging resonates with consumers, with some even able to actively recall the figures included within deals and promotions:

And for those marketers concerned that deals and offers could devalue their brand, analysis shows that the inclusion of promotional messaging actually drives perceptions of brands as high quality by 1.8X, brand trust by 1.3X and as a brand for me by 2X.

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With price and value remaining at the forefront of consumers priorities, it’s critical for marketing strategies to tap into current consumer sentiments. Ultimately, delivering highly relevant promotional messaging across OOH will result in stronger relationships with consumers and long-term impacts for brands.

The Year Ahead Breakfast Briefing, in collaboration with Talon, provided an insightful glimpse into the expectations and strategies of the marketing and creative industry for 2024. The event, hosted by Campaign, brought together industry leaders who share our passion for all things creativity, technology, and effectiveness.

The event saw editors from Campaign talk to leading brands, agencies and media companies about how they plan to grow despite soaring costs – and how they are supporting their customers and employees. Marketing and Creative industry leaders were asked what they want and expect from 2024 and examined some of the key growth drivers. Priding ourselves on big ideas and re-imagining and re-inventing OOH, partnering with Campaign for this event was the perfect fit for Talon.

Kicking off the event, Jay Young, Managing Director at Grand Visual, looked ahead to what 2024 has in store; anticipating longer evenings, record-breaking growth in women’s elite sport, the influence of Gen Z, powering AI sustainably and a rise in more people prioritising themselves and their wellbeing.

Flying the flag for OOH, Jay encouraged the audience to “think outside” in 2024, reminding them that:

97% of the UK is reached by OOH every week
Creative OOH can create up to 7x higher brand recall when compared to standard media
OOH & DOOH rank 3rd & 5th in Global consumer preference
46% of OOH revenue goes back into the UK economy – supporting public services, infrastructure, communities and employees.

The Year Ahead

The outlook for 2024 was optimistic across all four panels, with interesting thoughts from each. Nishma Patel Robb (Google) challenged conventional measurement approaches: “What are we actually measuring? How many agencies have heard they want to do a ‘barbie,’ with a sense of always being on. How is that measurable?”

Toby Horry (ITV) emphasized the importance of a solid brand foundation with a rising standard of expectations from consumers: “We must reinforce that marketing is a driver of sales, growth and profit. Making sure that marketing is seen as a critical component of business success.”

Jessica Tamsedge (Dentsu Creative) urged the audience to build brands in the spaces where people spend their time: “People are willing to give brands more time if you make them care enough. How do we celebrate work that doesn’t fit in these spaces? There are cultural ways to create conversation!”

Chaka Sobhani (Leo Burnett) exclaimed: “It’s time to get f**king optimistic, it’s going to be a good year. We need to get more comfortable being uncomfortable and embrace more technology, viewing punchier budgets as a creative opportunity.”

Dan Dawson (Grand Visual) emphasized the influence that creativity has: “We have the opportunity to influence people as they go around their everyday lives in the real world, it’s something to be excited about.” Kris Boger (TikTok) looked at the year ahead for media, “This year, brands can make the most of micro moments,” said Boger. “We’re all looking for what’s next after ‘delulu’ and ‘Roman Empire.”

The world of OOH media is changing fast, and the boundaries are being redrawn. The Year Ahead Breakfast Briefing provided an insightful glimpse into the expectations and strategies of the marketing and creative industry for 2024. It was incredible to kick off the year with likeminded people with our trail-blazing spirit. Here’s to 2024!

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According to Statista, global Out of Home (OOH) revenue is projected to reach US$38.41bn in 2023, led by traditional OOH with a market volume of US$20.87bn in 2023. Meanwhile, in MENA, digital OOH (DOOH) is the format expected to drive growth over the next 5 years, more than doubling, from $288.28 million in 2023 to $616.27 million in 2028. This is a significant increase, bolstered by a hunger for DOOH and its capabilities in the region.  

In Talon’s Dubai office, we are dedicated to growing and nurturing the channel, providing a seamless experience for our clients. This year, we’ve been busy, showcasing our commitment to innovation, industry leadership, and global collaboration. In this blog, we are reflecting on the milestones achieved during the year and celebrating what is possible when you think outside. 

Talon’s International Summit in London 

Setting the tone for the year, Managing Director, Chadi Farhat, and Client Director, Mansour Wehbe, joined the leadership teams from Talon International, Talon Ireland, Talon Germany and Talon APAC, to discuss our progress, goals and plans for the year ahead. 

We’re constantly challenging ourselves and the industry to re-invent the possibilities of what OOH can be and we’re proud to be the largest independent OOH global network, expanding our reach from Dubai through our centralised experienced team. 

World Out of Home Organization MENA Forum in Dubai

Next, we attended and presented at the World Out of Home Organization’s MENA forum in Dubai – the first in-person regional event to take place there. Over 200 delegates attended the event, drawn from the region’s major media owners, media agencies, marketers and suppliers, all major growth drivers in their respective markets. 

On the first day, Managing Partner, Adrian Skelton, hosted the panel “Qatar 2022 – How the World Cup Impacts a Country,” – reflecting on the results that the World Cup delivered and how OOH in Qatar was as good as any other World Cup event. “Quality, innovation and possibilities in Qatar are huge, and the standards of OOH quality is there.” 

Client Director, Mansour Wehbe, also participated in the panel “View from the OOH Buyer Side: Challenges & Opportunities,” highlighting that opportunities in OOH in the region lie in DOOH, considering that digital screens bring higher revenue due to higher inventory. 

For the second day, Group Chief Strategy Director Sophie Pinto Del Rio, and Managing Director Chadi Farhat, shared their expertise on “The Evolution and Impact of Data-driven Strategies in OOH.” During this keynote, Sophie and Chadi shared Talon Benchmark data showing that clients who used intelligent audience data see positive outcomes. 

The data shows that deploying intelligent data through technology are: 

4 times more likely to drive brand consideration 
15% more relevant to lifestyle vs. OOH benchmarks 
2 times more effective than social media at driving purchase intent.

It was a fantastic opportunity to focus on the possibilities and appetite for the region comprehensively with our industry colleagues. 

Campaign Middle East’s Agency Guide

Following the successful MENA forum, we proudly unveiled our feature in Campaign Middle East’s agency guide. The guide offers the industry a 360-degree view of the OOH industry in MENA. We’re proud to be the only independent OOH industry featured, sharing our expertise and thoughts on effective OOH. 

Read the guide here.

Talon Turns 10 

Back in 2013, Talon was founded in the UK with a plan to revolutionise the world of OOH advertising. In 10 years, the business has grown substantially – securing our spot as a leader in OOH planning, creativity, effectiveness and technology. The business now spans over seven territories, including Talon MENA which was launched in 2022. 

We’re proud to be part of a business built on being the changemakers, the trailblazers, the provocateurs and the pioneers. Find out more about our decade in OOH.

Talon MENA – Members of IAB MENA

Proud members of IAB MENA since 2022, this year saw us actively participating in the development of the first DOOH whitepaper for the region. Contributing our expertise, knowledge and dedication to adding value to the market, “This State of DOOH in MENA,” highlights the key areas of DOOH that advertisers, measurement companies and media owners need to be aware of. 

The whitepaper is available for download here.  

Alongside this , Business Development Director, Rezarta Bytyci, also took part in a podcast with a panel of fellow experts from Amazon Ads, Publicis Media and Google to highlight the value proposition of DOOH from the buy-side & sell-side. The podcast covered topics such as the available formats, the benefits of cross channel planning and integrating with other channels, the measurement opportunity and some of the challenges and opportunities in growing DOOH in MENA. 

Listen to the podcast here. 

Talon x American University in Dubai (AUD) 

As the changemakers, the trailblazers, the provocateurs and the pioneers; nurturing young talent with aspirations of joining the industry is extremely important. 

This year, we visited AUD to deliver a lecture to marketing students, preparing them for OOH – OOH’s evolution and future. It was a very enlightening session, in which our team showcased the capabilities and sophistication of the OOH and how data and technology are fueling the efficiencies and effectiveness of this medium. 

Campaign Middle East’s OOH Guide 

For the latest OOH guide, our Client Director in MENA, Mansour Wehbe, provided an overview of global trends of OOH and DOOH with valuable insights through our experience of advising and servicing global campaigns for our MENA region clients. 

As the only independent OOH agency featured, Mansour shared his extensive knowledge of the trends that will drive OOH’s global evolution.  Read the issue here.

World Travel Market (London)

Rounding off the year, we attended the World Travel Market (WTM) event in London in association with Saudi Tourism Authority. For 42 years, WTM has been the most influential 3 days in the travel industry, providing a fantastic location for travel and tourism teams from around the globe to meet and build relationships. It was great to network, listen to some fantastic speakers and catch up with our own clients! 

Thinking Outside in 2024 

2023 has been another fantastic year of establishing ourselves as the independent OOH specialist agency of choice in MENA, taking MENA campaigns global.  In 2024, we look forward to continuing to grow and nurture the OOH channel, reimagining the industry to deliver greater value for our clients whilst inspiring people and caring for our planet – it all begins with thinking outside.  

We’d like to thank our clients, agencies and partners for their support, and we wish you all a happy and healthy New Year. 

The pioneers of Out of Home

At Talon we’re the changemakers, the trailblazers, the provocateurs, the pioneers of Out of Home (OOH). Combining a heady mix of creativity, technology and data, our team share their expert opinion on their OOH predictions and what they’d like to see more of in 2024.

“A continued push towards automation and data driven decision making. More intelligent optimisation of campaign briefs to ideal plans.”
Anant East, Chief Technology Officer, Talon

“I’d like the whole industry to be more collaborative. If we put our efforts together, I think we have a real shot at generating more effective outcomes, growing OOH and making more meaningful change happen.”
Sophie Pemberton, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Talon

“Data has been a hot topic in OOH for a number of years and rightly so but sometimes the focus on optimising media plans at site level has come at a creative cost.

Thankfully, we’re already starting to see the dial turn back and our clients and agencies are increasing the attention they give to the creative that sits within the poster. If we fail to make creative impact, no amount of audience optimisation can deliver the ROI our clients need and deserve.”
Jay Young, Chief Client Officer, Grand Visual

“Exciting. Looking forward to playing in new spaces and technologies. In particular the new Printworks ceiling and Battersea Power station promise to be fantastic new canvases for brands.”
Ben Gardiner, Head of Client Services, Grand Visual

“Definitely more digital, more data, more automation and more AI across the OOH landscape. Hopefully more sustainability, and equity being promoted within out of home organisations.”
Amy Horton, Group Chief Transformation Officer, Talon

“I think the OOH Industry in Ireland is going to be one to watch in 2024. 2023 marked the resurgence of so many brands to our medium, through clever executions and creative displays. Continued investment by media owners in roadside DOOH, a focus on sustainability initiatives and measurement of OOH are going to be hot topics for 2024 and set OOH apart.”
Caroline Decourcy, Insight Director, Talon Ireland

“The global OOH landscape is rapidly evolving and it’s been fantastic to see some of our partners developing the inventory to follow some of the industry’s trends and technology advancements. The rise of DOOH enables more and more flexible and efficient campaigns which our teams are taking full advantage, as well as offering creative opportunities that I’m looking forward to seeing of more and more.”
Camille Uzan, Business Director, Talon International

“OOH is an exciting industry to work in and is undergoing not only a renaissance as a medium but transformation as an essential communications channel. OOH and other media will be in a race to adopt, centralise and integrate the right AdTech and MarTech to transform business processes and enable smarter, faster and better service to marketers and their agencies.

The businesses that commit to the investment will grow faster and those that watch and wait will be left wondering about all that lost opportunity.”
Melanie Lindquist, Managing Director, Talon APAC

“OOH will continue to be uniquely positioned to deliver on both shifting brand awareness metrics and driving action. As data and technology increases, appetite in programmatic DOOH will continue to grow and attract new advertisers into the channel.”
Aoife Hudson, Deputy Managing Director, Talon Ireland

“I love how ambitious our industry is and at Talon we strive to be bold and at the forefront of change. In general, I think that industry wide we will continue to grow and evolve our ESG strategies, deepen DEI further into the fabric of our organisations and dare I say it… AI will become more prevalent in our working culture which will bring about new learning opportunities and productivity efficiencies.”
Hayley Tiptaft, Group People Director, Talon

Here’s to a successful 2024 and a happy, healthy and successful New Year to all our clients, agencies and partners.

Out of Home is changing fast, and Talon is at the forefront of that change. We’re passionate about OOH and are on a mission to drive the growth of this sector within the media industry – changing perceptions of it as a legacy medium to one that is highly connected, effective, creative, sustainable, and measurable for our clients.

In this blog, our team reflects on new initiatives, launches and share advice for others who are striving to work at the very edge of what’s known.

Welcoming Talon Canada & Evolve

In 2023, we welcomed Talon Canada (formerly Novus) and Evolve to our growing family, strengthening our ambitions to become the largest global independent OOH agency. “The acquisition of Novus Canada and Evolve continues to demonstrate our growth and allows us to implement consistency in OOH globally,” said Anant East, Chief Technology Officer.

“Transitioning from Novus to Talon was our most important rebrand and business initiative to date,” adds Sarah Kim. “We’re so happy to be part of this global OOH group!”

A focus on sustainability

2023 was also the year that we hired our first ever Sustainability Manager, Alice Date, and officially started our journey to achieve B-CORP status.

“I’m incredibly excited to be leading and continuing Talon’s sustainability program,” said Alice. “There is a clear enthusiasm across the organisation for being a driving force in creating a more sustainable industry – and I’ve enjoyed channelling this enthusiasm into clear, practical, and impactful initiatives.”

“It’s been a game changer to bring Alice on board as our full time Sustainability Manager,” adds Sophie Pemberton. “Sustainability has rapidly developed into one of the most important topics for the industry this year and it is so important that we can now meet the expectations of our clients and support our supply chain in delivering their goals.”

Grand Visual’s Jay Young added, “I’m incredibly proud to be part of an organisation who are far down the road on a journey to achieving B CORP certification. As many will know, the certification requires a huge amount of time, investment and operational re-appraisal so it shows the value we place on ESG as a business.”

Celebrating and championing effectiveness

For a second time, Talon was awarded the prestigious IPA Effectiveness Accreditation – signaling an outstanding commitment to putting effectiveness at the heart of our agency and being true partners of growth.

“Retaining the IPA effectiveness accreditation is an endorsement that we are delivering on our core values to drive innovation in the market, champion creativity and to build a responsible evidence-based economy in OOH,” said Emily Alcorn, Head of Effectiveness.

“To celebrate, we decided to host our own Eff’ Week at Talon for our agencies and clients to critic key themes within the industry and what they mean for OOH. Championing our learning centric culture at Talon.”

Introducing ‘The Hub’ to Ireland

Over in Ireland, we launched a new business division called ‘The Hub.’

“In February, we launched The Hub. Its function is to ensure we are delivering in terms of executional excellence from both an operations and investment point of view,” said Deputy Managing Director, Aoife Hudson. “The re-structuring allowed us to refocus our efforts in the two key areas of planning and execution. It was a key step in our long-term plan of scaling the business in Ireland and growing the medium.”

“The launch of the ‘The Hub’ has been game changing in maximising opportunities for clients across two key pillars of execution – investment and operations,” adds Andrew Sinclair, Managing Director. “This restructure has allowed us to better focus our efforts and capabilities in planning and investment as we scale our business, whilst ensuring operational excellence at all stages of the campaign life cycle.”

Talon’s menopause support group

“Because of menopausal symptoms, 10% of women in the UK leave their jobs and many more are passing up promotions,” says Amy Horton, Group Chief Transformation Officer. “Menopause is not just a gender or age issue; it is an organisational issue which can impact colleagues both directly or indirectly.”

“Awareness around this topic is key to reducing the stigma attached to menopause and encouraging people to talk more openly about it. At Talon, we have created a menstruation and menopause policy which aims to support our people during these stages of their lives. We have even created a menopause and peri-menopause support group, which I am proud to be spearheading.”

So, with the year behind us, knowing what you know now, what is one piece of advice you would give to your 2023 self?

“2023 has been a year of strong growth for Grand Visual with us hitting a range of key objectives we set for ourselves at the start of year. I’ve learnt it’s important to enjoy the journey always. When you enjoy the process, you’ve achieved success before ever needing to hit a goal. This doesn’t just apply to business but all areas of life.”
Jay Young, Chief Client Officer, Grand Visual

“My piece of advice is simple, it’s about believing in yourself, believing in your ability to perform the role you have in Talon, knowing that you are capable of that position and encouraging team members to step outside their comfort zones and do even greater things!”
Caroline Decourcy, Insights Director, Talon Ireland

“Expand your knowledge sphere. No one campaign is planned in silo and it is important for us to expand our knowledge outside of OOH to ensure we understand what role it is playing, how it is working with other channels and what is round the corner.”
Emily Alcorn, Head of Effectiveness, Talon

“Love what you do and do what you love. Everything else is secondary.”
Melanie Lindquist, Managing Director, Talon APAC

“Fostering innovation and creativity – even if the concept feels premature. Although risk assessment is important, by testing and exploring, you will be the expert by the time the market catches up.”
Aoife Hudson, Deputy Managing Director, Talon Ireland

“To steal a line from that iconic 80’s movie Ferris Bueller… ‘Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.’ As we approach the end of a busy year at Talon Ireland – opportunities to pause, reflect and reset are really important. Demanding that space for you and the team to recalibrate, celebrate how far we’ve come and plot the next phase of the business’s journey are of utmost importance and need to be prioritised.”
Andrew Sinclair, Managing Director, Talon Ireland

To get the first look at part 3 of our blog, when our team share their thoughts and predictions for 2024, make sure that you are following us on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also keep up to date with the latest Talon news and views by signing up for our monthly newsletter here.

With less than 20 days to go until we welcome in another new year, the Talon team are back for the fourth edition of our annual wrap up. In this series, we celebrate the campaigns and accomplishments of the last 12 months and share our expectations for Out of Home (OOH) and the wider landscape in the new year.

Despite cost-of-living concerns and belt-tightening, OOH revenue for the first half of 2023 totalled £554m, an increase of +4.7% year-on-year (Outsmart). Q3 2023 advertising revenue was up +4.9% compared to Q3 2019, the first time this has been higher for a corresponding quarter pre-pandemic.

We’re predicting OOH will grow +7% to £1.26bn in 2023 and +5% to £1.324bn in 2024. For 2024, we estimate that digital OOH will account for 66% of overall OOH revenues, totalling £874m.

In this blog, we’re reflecting on some of the standout out of home campaigns in 2023 from our clients this year that reimagined and re-invented the possibilities of what outdoor can be.

Our favourite Standout Out of Home campaigns in 2023

All the campaigns below showcase the best in “thinking outside” in 2023 – exemplifying independent thought and big ideas, bolstered further by Talon’s technology, data and measurement expertise.

Starbucks: How data-driven OOH helped win the hearts and minds of Gen Z

In 2023, Starbucks embraced a data-driven, cross-format strategy to boost brand appeal and attract the attention of Gen Z in the highly trusted OOH environment. A first of its kind approach for Starbucks, the campaign has achieved notable results, including a year-on-year increase in rewards customers, improved ROI, and multiple weeks of record sales in 2022/23.

Choosing Starbucks as her standout campaign, Group Chief Strategy Officer, Sophie Pemberton, said, “Our collaboration with Starbucks has been exceptional, receiving recognition at the Drum Awards, Media Week and the OMAs. Our data integrations and digital activation strategies are really setting a new standard across the industry which we hope to build on next year.”

Budweiser & Pepsi MAX

For both Grand Visual’s Chief Client Officer, Jay Young, and Head of Client Services, Ben Gardiner, the activations for Budweiser and Pepsi MAX stood out to them the most.

“Our Budweiser billboard at the start of the year absolutely stole the show,” said Jay. “We transformed a billboard into a live music stage and provided a unique platform for underrepresented artists to showcase their talent to the world. One of the artists was given a record deal off the back of the campaign and we won a bronze Cannes Lion in June. It doesn’t get better!”

“For me it’s a tough choice between Budweiser’s ‘this billboard is yours to take’ and the Women’s World Cup reactive campaign for Pepsi MAX,” said Ben. “Both were epic for very different reasons but they both had massive ambition and creative drive. They were bold, brave and showed what’s possible when all teams really pull together and in the same direction to move mountains.”

Johnnie Walker Xordinaire

“It has to be Johnnie Walker’s launch of its exclusive Blue Label Xordinaire for me,” said Alanna Solanilla, Business Director, Talon International.

“As well as securing premium airport signage in Heathrow, Paris, Incheon and Hong Kong, our team secured our first airport campaign in Seoul’s Jeju Airport. We also secured the launch of a bespoke pop-up tasting lounge in Dubai Airport. This beautiful and premium installation drew inspiration from the refined ambience of a Parisian hotel. We’re very proud to work with Diageo and Johnnie Walker, exploring familiar environments but using innovative and interactive formats.”

Lenovo

“The team have done some fabulous work this year, and Lenovo comes to mind,” added Camille Uzan, Business Director, Talon International.

“The Lenovo F1 campaign in the UK stood out as the first-ever 3D project for Talon International with impressive campaign results and significant extra value for the brand. It led to strengthened ties with agencies and clients, showcasing Talon International as a strong partner to work with as well as a strong social amplification using Talon’s channels and a fantastic uplift from Assembly, Lenovo and Formula 1’s channels themselves.”

Yorkshire Tea: Tea so nice, Brits won’t shut up about it

Launching in Australia last year, Yorkshire Tea has since been ranked the best-tasting black tea in the country. To celebrate, whilst raising awareness for Aussies who hadn’t yet tried Yorkshire Tea, we launched a cheeky OOH and experiential campaign in Sydney and Melbourne.

Discussing the campaign, Melanie Lindquist, Managing Director of Talon APAC said, “To achieve our objective of raising awareness, we implemented a three-pronged approach consisting of data-driven audience targeting with Large Format OOH and DOOH sites, DOOH sites in proximity to Yorkshire Tea stockists and experiential sampling. A tea-riffic 1.4 million tea bags were sampled by ambassadors over the 4-week campaign!”

Scene + Loyalty Launch

Choosing the Scene + Loyalty launch as her favourite campaign, Talon Canada’s, Sarah Kim, Senior VP Client Partnerships said, “This campaign was part experiential, part programmatic and 100% fun as it included a game show taking place in a transit shelter. Not to brag, but it also won ‘Best in Show’ at the Ad Club OOH Awards.”

Specsavers: Hearing Services

Talon Ireland’s Insights Director, Caroline Decourcy, chose this clever campaign for Specsavers which utilised onomatopoeia, “One of the most ingenious OOH campaigns this year for me has to be Specsavers Hearing Services.

Clever creative using words, depicting sounds, was showcased across multiple environments nationwide. The campaign communicated a sound so articulately with audiences that were captivated by the meaning behind the ads. A great example of a brand conveying a distinct message to grab audiences’ attention using the power of OOH.”

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

The last year has been a strong period for Out of Home (OOH), and as we look to 2024, the sector shows promise for continued growth and transformation. This dynamic industry has consistently evolved, given back and provided advertisers with exceptional creativity, data-driven strategies, and technology-driven outcomes.

It’s not surprising that consumers prefer in-person media channels for advertising over online platforms, with OOH and digital OOH (DOOH) ranking among the top five channels. No longer just a medium that drives primarily top-of-the-funnel outcomes, OOH is successfully driving bottom-end metrics too.

Overall, global OOH revenue is projected to reach US$38.41bn in 2023, with DOOH projected to reach US$17.54bn. By the end of 2024, global OOH is predicted to reach US$45bn. DOOH is set to see further significant growth and is predicted to grow 17% – driven by further media owner investment and increased investment in programmatic OOH (prOOH).

Curious about the future of OOH? In this blog, we’re diving deep into the upcoming trends and insights shaping the landscape for 2024:

The Positive Impact of OOH

Data-Driven Outcomes

A Drive Towards Attention

Creativity and Technology Unite

The Brand Fame Comeback

Standardisation of Programmatic OOH

Retail Media & DOOH drives Path to Purchase

Enhancing OOH with AI

The Positive Impact of OOH

OOH will continue to come together as a collective to showcase the sustainable and giving nature of the channel.

A recent study by PwC, commissioned by Outsmart, found that in the UK 46p in every £1 that is spent in OOH goes back into the community. The industry will focus on the positive impact of spending in OOH towards public infrastructure and communities whilst working to reduce OOH’s impact on the environment.

Another study (Outsmart, Legacy Media – out soon) has shown that when compared to TV, Press and Online, OOH has the strongest ESG credentials – ranking highest for Environment and Community.

Data-Driven Outcomes

The death of the cookie is stated to finally happen in 2024, meaning the era of highly targeted ads will end and advertisers will need to seek new ways to drive brand objectives.

OOH continues to impact across the whole funnel. In 2024, we will see a further drive towards performance and bottom-funnel metrics with brands using first and third-party data to create audience-first OOH campaigns.

We will see even more brands gravitate to utilising OOH for data-driven outcomes. Programmatic OOH impacts metrics across the entire brand funnel amongst optimised audiences. The strongest impacts are seen in bottom funnel metrics – preference and purchase.

A Drive Towards Attention

Understanding attention in advertising will become even more important. Attention in OOH is not a new metric and is imbedded within the methodology of Route. However, understanding how attention is given to inform effectiveness is what should be looked at; not only understanding where someone has looked and for how long, but correlating that with the impact – good or bad – to showcase the influence attention metrics can have on brand performance.

Kantar’s recent Media Reactions is a key example of how attention is coming to the forefront of conversations surrounding media effectiveness, citing a 90% correlation between channels that consumers claim capture their attention and those that they prefer.

51% of marketers claim their marketing budget decisions are influenced by attention, but Kantar’s report shows a clear divergence between what marketers think delivers consumer attention, versus what consumers think captures their attention. There is a 90% correlation between channels that consumers claim capture their attention, and those in which they prefer seeing advertising.

Creativity and Technology Unite

Over the past year, we have seen significant developments in creative DOOH, from AR and VR to 3D and AI. In 2024, brands will begin to realise the possibilities and potential of these developments even further to engage audiences, build brand share and deliver significant ROI.

Looking back at our 4^th Space Research, as well as Ocean’s “Neuroscience: Redefining Human Engagement” and “Digital OOH: The Vital Ingredient,” creative digital OOH executions are proven to supercharge impact and deliver significant increases in attention, purchase consideration and memory encoding:

Full motion DOOH copy is viewed 60% longer than static
Special build OOH can increase purchase consideration +35% vs traditional
Increase in consumer attention when using 3D DOOH +15% vs 2D
Stronger memory encoding for live stream content 3x vs full motion.

The Brand Fame Comeback

OOH is well known for its ability to provide broad reach and deliver brand fame, in 2024 we’ll see advertisers revisit the channel’s number one strength. With a 98% UK population reach, OOH is, of course, powerful at driving reach. However, it is also incredibly powerful at driving brand fame (+23%) and brand trust (+8%).

The likes of PepsiCo, McDonald’s and HSBC lean into OOH’s strengths to build their brands and we’ll see more and more brands follow suit, using it to build awareness and impact.

Continued Growth of Programmatic OOH

2024 will see Programmatic OOH (PrOOH) technology continue to develop, and we’ll see a drive towards the standardisation of PrOOH alongside more OOH media owners trading through programmatic.

Programmatic OOH spend is predicted to grow over the next 18 months by a third on average (VIOOH State of the Nation). The move towards ever more digital and data-driven outcomes through programmatic will continue to increase, with consumers demanding more dynamic video content to connect OOH to their other digital media channels alongside a growing demand for greater online-to-offline opportunities.

Advertisers will continue to adopt PrOOH as part of their omnichannel digital strategies, alongside many new brands entering the market as barriers to entry are removed.

Retail Media & DOOH drives Path to Purchase

The role of OOH within the Retail Media ecosystem will continue to gain momentum and DOOH, will become a pivotal player in every shopper marketing strategy.

Leveraging first and third-party data, DOOH ensures your message reaches the right audience at precisely the right moment, from the outset of their journey to the final in-store purchase. It’s the missing link that seamlessly connects the worlds of home and store, providing brands with a unique opportunity to engage with consumers on an entirely new level.

The integration of DOOH with retail media networks will enable marketers to supercharge their shopper marketing – with advanced measurement and attribution solutions linking OOH ad exposure to critical business outcomes.

Enhancing OOH with AI

As the drive towards AI integration within businesses continues, OOH agencies and media owners will continue to integrate AI to improve efficiency, creativity and copy to create even more effective OOH campaigns.

Watch this space_

By Lucy Baumgartner, Senior Effectiveness Executive.

In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, cross channel measurement is a hot topic. As each media channel’s roles and capabilities continue to evolve, it is becoming more difficult to effectively assess and compare their performance. However, cross channel measurement is fundamental in understanding the role of each channel within the wider media ecosystem and how best to implement each channel to achieve your campaign objectives.

At Talon, a consistent approach to measurement in line with OnDevice Research has allowed for the effective comparison of OOH (Out of Home) benchmarks to those of other media channels. This analysis has reinforced that OOH’s position within in the wider media landscape has changed significantly. OOH’s role and the way it is used within media plans needs to be re-evaluated to reflect the fundamental part it is now playing across the entire brand funnel.

OOH is continuing to fulfil its traditional role of driving brand fame and trust. Paper and paste campaigns deliver an average uplift in unprompted brand awareness of +8% while also delivering an astonishing +10.3% uplift in brand trust. Meanwhile, long term benchmark analysis has shown that cut through on digital channels is becoming more difficult, with average uplifts in unprompted awareness dropping from +3.5% in 2018-2019 to +2.6% in 2020-2021.

However, the rapid development of DOOH (Digital Out of Home) and PrOOH (Programmatic OOH) has seen OOH take on new functions that were traditionally only associated with online performance channels. PrOOH is now able to deliver stronger uplifts across bottom funnel metrics compared to online digital and social channels.

On average, Talon Atlas campaigns drive uplifts of +4% in brand preference, and +5% in purchase intent. Meanwhile, digital sees purchase intent levels remain stable (+0.2%), and social delivers a +1.7% uplift.

The effectiveness of OOH to influence and resonate with consumers is unsurprising in the context of Kantar’s recent Media Reactions which placed OOH and DOOH as 3^rd and 5^th respectively as consumer’s top preferred channels. Much of this is down to consumer’s desire for in-person experiences and a push against what’s viewed as invasive and untrustworthy online channels. These trends are expected to continue into next year, with VIOOH’s State of the Nation report predicting PrOOH alone will continue to grow on average by a third over the next 18 months.

Use OOH to reach your campaign objectives

These benchmarks demonstrate how OOH is now able to achieve a much broader set of objectives, hitting each level of the brand funnel through a blend of multiple formats and strategies that OOH and DOOH offer, communicating with consumers in a way that they are receptive to. Classic paper and paste continues to deliver the brand fame and cut through that OOH is synonymous. By tapping into data and utilising audience targeting, reactive activation and dynamic creative, OOH can go beyond being a canvas for eye-catching brand campaigns to driving preference and purchase intent.

Want to know more about using OOH to reach your campaign objectives? Get in touch with your Talon representative or alternatively, drop us an email.

By Effectiveness Executive, Ellie Reeves.

Navigating Attention Dynamics in OOH

Off the back of IPA Effworks and Future of Media, Talon’s Effectiveness team sought to bring the key debates, themes and trends seen across the industry in-house. While the demands of day-to-day planning are higher than ever before, it’s fundamental to understand the wider media landscape to ensure that our campaigns – and channel – are as effective as they can be. Media events and publications are largely dominated by digital channels, while OOH agencies have to read around their trends to interpret the state of our own. With speakers from Route, OnDevice, and Analytic Partners, this week offered a unique opportunity to look at key themes within the OOH industry and the role these play within the wider media ecosystem.

ATTENTION

Highlighted by Dr Grace Kite at IPA Effworks, inflation will be the core impact on consumer sentiment and behaviour for the foreseeable future. With consumers increasingly shopping around for the best price, brand loyalty is down while shoppers are actively looking for brands to support them through hard times. As a result, it’s an incredibly important time for brands to be advertising – the battleground will be in gaining meaningful attention among consumers in an oversaturated advertising landscape.

Kantar’s recent Media Reactions is a key example of how attention is coming to the forefront of conversations surrounding media effectiveness, citing a 90% correlation between channels that consumers claim capture their attention and those that they prefer. Consumers placed both OOH and DOOH in their top three attention grabbing channels, and top five preferred channels. Though 51% of marketers claim their marketing budget is influenced by attention, the paper’s findings showed significant discrepancies between perceived and actual consumer preferences. Reflecting on a broader shift towards in-person advertising experiences, Kantar emphasised the importance of attention on strategic decision-making. But how are media channels themselves understanding attention?

Digital channels have been almost systematically referring to attention as ‘the new metric’, calling for its incorporation into measurement frameworks and an understanding of the concept across different platforms and formats. By comparison, OOH has been researching and quantifying this concept for decades. Euan Mackay outlined the sophisticated methodologies that have been used by Route to determine the visibility of OOH, making OOH the only media channel where inventory is 100% viewable. Eye-tracking projects with Lumen mean that we have an extensive understanding of how pedestrians view the world around them, and as a result, how many people really see an OOH ad. While digital impressions can overestimate an audience by up to 91%, OOH uses visibility-adjusted impacts as a truer measure of campaign reach and are embedded into the currency of OOH.

MEASUREMENT

While impacts are a significant differentiator of OOH from other media channels, in the words of Ceclia Dones, “impressions just prove you spent money”. Holistic and thorough measurement has been an increasingly prevalent topic of conversation in the media industry, highlighted by the Future of Media’s decision to create a measurement track this year. Dones was one of many speakers calling to distinguish metrics of delivery and metrics of effectiveness, highlighting the inconsistency of these across media channels. For brands, the key challenge will be defining and measuring success across channels and markets in a coherent and comparable way.

For media channels, the challenge is in justifying individual channel effectiveness to clients while appreciating our role within an omnichannel strategy. As campaigns run across multiple channels, we need to measure in the same way. Speaking at Talon’s Eff’ Week, OnDevice’s Sarah Robson outlined both the necessity and complexity of constructing an omnichannel measurement framework, claiming: “data is driving what we do and yet there still isn’t one coherent way of measuring what we do”. Effectiveness needs to be independently assessed, looking at the whole strategy and understanding the cumulative impact of channel spend. Effective measurement is being able to unpick where a campaign has worked and what hasn’t worked – where improvements and adjustments need to be made in future strategies.

ECONOMETRICS

Instrumental to the effectiveness of a measurement framework is the use of varied metrics for success, looking across the brand funnel to chart awareness, loyalty, trust, and sales, to name a few. Another key buzzword in the industry, econometrics has been increasingly leant on as the sole framework for quantifying channel effectiveness through ROI. Through econometrics modelling, OOH is typically positioned as a channel that delivers poor ROI. This is largely due to very few data points being ingested, lacking granularity, and failing to account for incredibly important factors like creative performance, regional differences, and seasonal impacts. Hearing from Justine O’Neill at Analytic Partners, our Eff’ Week looked to assess the challenges and opportunities for OOH and econometrics.

Fundamental to accurate econometric reporting is collaboration. Agencies must be transparently and productively working together to ensure that detailed, accurate data is used. For OOH, this means utilising Route data at a regional, or even frame, level. With channels running together, it’s difficult to isolate the effects of each, so a broader understanding of the media plan and channel spend will have a significant impact on reading results. While econometric modelling is an invaluable tool for clients, it’s not to be considered in isolation. Ten years on from their initial publication of ‘The Long and Short of It’, Binet and Field reminded us at IPA Effworks that short-term metrics must be considered in tandem with the long to assess and maintain long-term brand penetration.

UNDERSTANDING TRUE CAMPAIGN EFFECTIVENESS

Understanding true campaign effectiveness means identifying the objective of the campaign and how that can be measured with the right framework. There’s a need for multiple measurement frameworks in place to fill the gaps for each other. If 41% of ROI is driven by creative quality, versus 59% for executional elements, then we have to be measuring and optimising creative performance. Peter Field has highlighted that brand trust is becoming increasingly fundamental to driving profit, so measurement must take into account emotional and behavioural metrics also. Ultimately, cutting through the clutter requires a thorough understanding of the objective, strategy, and brand, with frameworks in place to measure and optimise the process for the betterment of clients and agencies alike.

Talon’s Eff’ Week allowed us to go beyond proving the need for measurement, to debate and understand at a broader level what effectiveness means for our agency. As quickly as the media industry evolves so do measurement and effectiveness conversations, meaning as an agency we must stay abreast of key issues and topics within the industry. As the first OOH agency to receive IPA Effectiveness Accreditation in 2021, the event was another great opportunity to show our commitment to a culture of constant learning.

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Talon’s International Summit in London

The pioneers of Out of Home

Welcoming Talon Canada & Evolve

Our favourite Standout Out of Home campaigns in 2023

The Positive Impact of OOH

A Drive Towards Attention

Creativity and Technology Unite

The Brand Fame Comeback

Continued Growth of Programmatic OOH

Retail Media & DOOH drives Path to Purchase

Enhancing OOH with AI

Use OOH to reach your campaign objectives

Navigating Attention Dynamics in OOH

Talon’s International Summit in London 