How pros with an MBA in marketing can harness the power of OOH advertising

The bustle of modern life poses unique challenges for marketing professionals. Among the industry’s preferred solutions, out-of-home (OOH) ads sell products to consumers on the go. From waiting rooms to highways, OOH ads make a strategic – and quick – appeal to busy passersby. While not a new marketing method, OOH advertising has exciting new applications in the digital age. In the US alone, OOH ad spending is expected to grow over $12 billion between 2010 and 2020

An exciting prospect for business and marketing students, OOH advertising is likely to figure prominently in their future careers. Read on to find out how marketing professionals now maximize OOH advertising techniques, with exciting implications for the industry.

Advertising professionals rely on OOH fundamentals

Before they can maximize the latest technologies, marketing pros learn the basics of out-of-home advertising. Considered an industry unto itself, OOH advertising is comprised of several marketing media – all appealing to customers in public places, most often traveling, waiting or shopping. Popular OOH platforms include posters, billboards, street signs and installations. These tested media are effective at catching the eyes of even the busiest consumers.

While conventional wisdom might not have picked OOH advertising to thrive in the television age and beyond, it still presents important advantages. For one thing, OOH ads are 80% less expensive than marketing the same product on television. Moreover, out-of-home ads often have full reign over a public space, rather than passing in a quick digital flash.

MBA school graduates can study OOH ad success

Professionals with an MBA in Marketing are constantly assessing successful OOH campaigns. In many cases, the top marketing strategies make creative uses of common OOH media. Animal, a Stockholm agency, was recently applauded for its creative twist on the traditional billboard. Known as the ‘Are you Fast Enough’ challenge, the campaign set up a modified billboard encasing pairs of the brand new Reebok shoes. The billboard, which was also fitted with a speed detector, would ‘unlock’ a new pair of shoes to passersby who could run past it faster than 17 kilometers per hour.

Humor is also a defining feature of successful OOH campaigns. In fact, an estimated 56% of consumers will talk about OOH advertisements they found funny. The subversive element helps companies stand out – defying typical expectations of OOH ads. Forging a personal connection with consumers, these conversation-worthy advertisements are a measure of success for OOH pros.

New possibilities abound for Out-of-Home marketing

While online promotion is often seen as an alternative to traditional advertising, the internet has actually introduced a host of new possibilities for OOH marketing. In fact, marketers are now using out-of-home solutions to boost their web traffic. In the US, an estimated 26% of customers visit websites in response to traditional OOH ads. Consumers on personal devices are up to 36% more likely to engage with a brand after seeing a traditional billboard or sign with an effective call to action.

In turn, digital media helps OOH marketers improve their ads. Marketers now adopt data-driven strategies to market their products, measuring success with clicks and web traffic. Recently, the music streaming service Spotify used its data for a humorous billboard campaign, putting playful twists on the playlists and song choices of anonymous users. For example, one billboard read, “Dear person who played ‘Sorry’ 42 times on Valentine’s Day, what did you do?” This kind of complementary use of OOH advertising and digital tools shows why the format may continue to thrive for a long time to come.

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