What Is OOH Advertising? The Role of Outdoor Ads in Marketing

Every day you step outside and come across huge billboards overhead, bright LED screens at intersections, or eye-catching images on buses. That is OOH advertising. Even though the digital age has made online advertising boom, outdoor billboards keep their own place thanks to their ability to reach millions of people every day. So what is OOH advertising and why do big brands still invest heavily in it? Let's MONA Media find the answer in the content below.

What is OOH advertising?

OOH (Out-Of-Home) advertising is a form of advertising that reaches customers when they are out of the house. Put simply, these are communication methods that appear in public spaces with a lot of foot traffic.

When people hear outdoor advertising, many only think of billboards on major roads. In practice, the format is much broader and falls into 2 main groups:

• Outdoor Advertising: Large billboards, outdoor LED screens, and advertising on vehicles (taxis, buses, trains, and so on).
• Indoor Advertising: Advertising in elevators, shopping malls, cinemas, airports, supermarkets, and so on.

Terms such as Outdoor Advertising, Out-of-home Advertising and OOH Advertising all refer to the same form of outdoor advertising. Whether on the street or inside a building, the main goal of OOH advertising stays the same: helping a brand reach customers where they are most likely to see it.

→ Read more: What is Above The Line? Comparing ATL, BTL and TTL in marketing

Popular outdoor advertising formats today

OOH advertising comes in many formats. To make it easier to follow, MONA divides outdoor advertising into 4 main formats, each with its own use in a communication campaign.

Billboard

Billboard is one of the most popular forms of outdoor advertising. These are large OOH signs, usually placed at intersections, on main roads or near shopping centers.

Today, OOH billboard formats go beyond static boards to LED screens, LCD screens or lightboxes that attract more attention and leave a stronger impression on passersby. With their large size and strategic locations, billboards help a brand reach a large audience and effectively raise brand awareness.

Transit

This is outdoor advertising that makes use of public transport such as buses, taxis, trains or even trucks. Because it is “mobile”, transit advertising lets a brand appear on many routes and reach a wide mix of customer groups.

Vehicle advertising can take the form of decals on the vehicle body, LCD screens inside the vehicle, or OOH signs mounted on the back of trucks. This format is especially effective for businesses that want to widen their reach without being tied to one fixed location.

POSM

POSM (Points of Sales Material) is an important OOH format at points of sale, supermarkets or shopping centers. These are items that support product promotion, such as display shelves, standees, posters, flyers or product booths.

This type of outdoor advertising attracts customers right at the point of purchase and directly influences their buying decision. Depending on the marketing strategy, a business can choose POSM at the point of sale or the point of purchase to advertise and introduce its products to customers.

Street Furniture

If billboards usually sit high up, then street furniture, or street advertising, is a low-level form of OOH outdoor advertising that is easy for pedestrians to reach. These ads can be found at bus stops, phone booths, park benches, light poles and even public trash cans.

OOH advertising in the street-advertising format has the advantage of being close to everyday life, which makes the brand message feel more natural. These placements also tend to have heavy foot traffic, so a business can reach customers continuously without it feeling forced.

Roadshow

Roadshow is a mobile form of OOH advertising that uses a convoy of vehicles or a group of people parading through the streets to promote a brand. The vehicles in a roadshow are usually decorated in an eye-catching way that matches the brand image, drawing the attention of the crowd.

Businesses can run a roadshow with many kinds of vehicles such as motorbikes, bicycles, cars, double-decker buses or even cyclos, depending on the brand direction and target audience. The route and timing of a roadshow can be flexible according to the marketing plan, and it usually runs during peak hours to maximize reach and leave a strong brand impression.

The role of OOH advertising in business marketing 

Unlike other media channels, outdoor advertising offers a special advantage. As life gets busier, people spend more time on outdoor activities, which means the audience for outdoor advertising grows too. That is why OOH advertising is so important in marketing strategy your business.

Strong, lasting brand promotion

OOH outdoor advertising is one of the effective ways to reach customers, because it keeps a brand in front of consumers' eyes. Placed in crowded residential areas or on major roads, an ad can reach thousands of people every day.

This repetition helps the brand “sink in” to customers' minds and drives buying behavior naturally. Compared with digital media or TV ads, OOH formats have the advantage of lasting longer and reaching a wider variety of customers.

Reach “busy” customers anytime, anywhere

In today's busy life, consumers have little time for TV ads. But they still have to get around every day: commuting, shopping, or going out for weekend entertainment. That is the opportunity for businesses to use outdoor advertising to reach this group of potential customers.

Whether on a large OOH billboard, an LED screen in a shopping center or an ad on public transport, these formats can show up at the right time and place to make an impression on consumers. As a result, a business can build a natural, lasting connection with its target customers.

Reach diverse customer segments every day

Most people in Vietnam see outdoor billboards at least once a week. It is a communication method that suits many different customer groups, from office workers and commuters to young people and tourists.

Modern OOH formats, especially advertising on vehicles, can move to many different places during the day. As a result, core message your business gets a wider reach and more chances to influence customers naturally, without making them feel bothered.

Outdoor advertising helps drive action

When customers keep seeing an ad message while moving around outside, they tend to remember the brand and find it easier to decide to buy. Studies also show that after seeing outdoor ads, consumers are more likely to look up product information or visit a store than with other forms of advertising.

With wide coverage, build brand awareness and a natural push toward action, OOH advertising remains one of the effective marketing strategies that businesses cannot overlook.

OOH advertising makes it easy to be creative and grow your brand

OOH advertising gives businesses unlimited room to be creative in how they approach customers. Formats such as billboards, digital LED screens or vehicle advertising can all create a strong visual effect that makes a brand memorable quickly.

In particular, outdoor advertising is not limited by airtime or display algorithms like online advertising. Instead, it can appear continuously at strategic locations and strongly affect the awareness of potential customers.

During brand positioning, having a professional identity goes beyond a logo or main color. It must also be applied consistently across every marketing item such as billboards, signage or banners.

These are the “touchpoints” that help a brand make a strong impression on customers. brand identity design service at MONA Media offers a complete solution that helps your business leave a mark with customers across every kind of promotion.

Specifically, here is what you get when you design your brand identity with MONA:

• Marketing materials design: Designing billboard materials, poster design, advertising banner design,…
• Designing sales and store materials: Standee design, brochure design, company profiles, and more,
• Brand standards: Company logo design following a standard set covering colors, fonts, images and more.
• Communication strategy consulting: Setting direction and planning communication that fits each marketing campaign

And there are many more benefits when you choose MONA to accompany you in building your brand identity. Contact HOTLINE 1900 636 648 or get direct advice from the MONA team here!

How to roll out an impressive OOH outdoor advertising plan

Besides learning what OOH advertising is, businesses also care about how to do it. To run an impressive outdoor advertising campaign, you need to follow a specific process. Here are the specific steps worth knowing.

Step 1: Research the market and choose a suitable format

Before starting an OOH outdoor advertising campaign, the most important thing is to research the market, current trends and how competitors run OOH advertising.

You need to decide among formats such as billboards, LED screens, vehicle advertising or placements in shopping centers to find the one that fits your brand goals.

Step 2: Identify your target customers

Knowing your target customers well helps you pick a sensible ad location. For example, if you are targeting office workers, place ads on busy roads during rush hour.

Step 3: Set the campaign goal

Depending on your goal, you can choose a suitable format and budget. If you want to raise brand awareness, the ad needs to appear in many locations over a long period. If the goal is to promote a sale, focus on areas with heavy foot traffic in the short term.

Step 4: Design the ad content

The visuals and message must be clear, striking and easy to remember. A successful outdoor advertising campaign is one where customers understand the message after just a few seconds of glancing.

Step 5: Decide on the budget

The budget decides everything, such as the number of OOH billboards, their locations and the run time. Keep in mind that big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City usually cost more than other areas, so think carefully before allocating resources.

Step 6: Roll out the plan

Once the plan is detailed, you can start rolling it out. But don't forget to track results and adjust where needed to make your OOH campaign stand out more. Numbers such as reach, engagement and customer feedback will help you judge whether the campaign is communicating effectively.

Experience running a successful OOH advertising campaign

Besides planning a campaign in detail, practical experience helps make your ads leave a strong impression. Here are a few tips you can refer to and apply to get the most out of your outdoor advertising campaigns.

• Be as creative as you can: OOH advertising is a chance for businesses to show creativity and make a brand stand out among countless other messages. Successful campaigns usually have bold ideas, striking design and an easy-to-remember message. Big brands such as McDonald’s, Heineken and many local brands have made a strong mark with this creative approach.
• Choose locations wisely: The effectiveness of OOH advertising depends heavily on where it is displayed. Businesses need to look closely at their target customers to choose the right location. Traffic density, viewers' travel habits and the surroundings are all important factors to consider.
• Make an impression in a short time: Passersby only have a few seconds to take in information from OOH ads. So the content needs to be short, easy to understand and strong enough to make an immediate impression. Eye-catching visuals, a concise message and a sensible layout make an ad more attractive. 
• Run campaigns that are easy to share: An OOH outdoor campaign is truly successful when it not only grabs attention on the spot but also spreads on other platforms. If the content is unique enough, viewers will share it on social media themselves, giving the ad wider coverage at no extra cost.

The potential of digital out-of-home advertising (DOOH)

Digital Out-of-home (DOOH) advertising is opening a new era for outdoor advertising. DOOH lets you show multiple pieces of content on a single screen, and even connect a network of screens with one action, so messages spread quickly and effectively.

No longer limited to static images, advertising can play vivid video and eye-catching motion effects, which makes it easy for a brand to grab attention. As a result, OOH advertising becomes more striking and reaches viewers with greater impact.

In addition, some DOOH campaigns are integrated with advanced AI technology such as face-recognition cameras, AR (augmented reality) or content updated from real-time data. This lets ads adapt to location, weather or even the customer's mood, making the communication more effective.

Among countless modern marketing channels, the various types of OOH advertising still keep their own appeal thanks to the strong impression they make and the large number of potential customers they reach. For outdoor advertising campaigns to be truly effective, businesses need to choose the right format, location and way of rolling it out. And don't forget to bring digital technology into your OOH billboards to add a fresh touch and attract more consumers.

→ See more media services at MONA:

• TV commercial (TVC) production
• Product videography services
• Corporate introduction filming