OOH Advertising: What Does OOH Stand For?

If you haven’t read our article exploring what OOH means, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered here. To give you some perspective, OOH is those eye-catching advertisements you see while commuting or exploring public spaces on billboards, street furniture, buses, and other high-visibility areas. Since 140 million Americans commute each day, imagine how many people will see your brand out there. 

Read on as we explain what OOH stands for, what it means, and how it can help your brand boost visibility. 

What Does OOH Stand For?

Before diving further into how OOH can help your business, let’s first cover the basics of what OOH stands for. OOH stands for Out-of-Home Advertising. Put simply, the true OOH meaning is any form of advertising that reaches diverse audiences while they are outside of homes through a wide range of formats, like billboards, digital signage you find in airports or shopping malls, transit ads on subways or buses, and even ads on street furniture like benches. 

 

How OOH Advertising Has Evolved

From conventional static billboards, OOH has come a long way in involving high-tech digital displays that can change the content in real time, making it more engaging than ever. These days, OOH has even integrated technology that uses data and analytics to better understand the target audiences. As a result, business owners can have customized campaigns based on location and/or time using the data, targeting specific audience demographics. 

 

Types of OOH Advertising

1. Billboards

billboard to represent OOH Meaning

The most common thing that comes to mind once someone knows what does ooh stand for is billboard. As a business owner, you can choose between two highly effective forms of the billboard:  the traditional static billboard that displays a single message for extended periods or the digital billboard that rotates content and provides real-time updates. Whichever you choose, the large size and bold visuals make billboards ideal for building brand awareness and delivering messages to a broad audience quickly if placed in strategic locations, like highways, city centers, or busy intersections. 

2. Transit Advertising

Like the name ‘Out-of-Home Advertising’ clearly suggests, OOH aims to reach potential customers when they’re literally ‘out-of-home,’ which includes buses, taxis, subways, rideshare vehicles, and many more. This type of OOH is very effective in reaching wide and diverse audiences, especially in urban areas where many people commute daily. As a bonus, the cost makes sense in a way that it offers strong visibility without draining your marketing budget. 

 

3. Street Furniture Advertising

bus shelter advertising to represent OOH meaningBesides the other two you may be familiar with, OOH meaning extends to ads placed in everyday public fixtures like benches, kiosks, bus shelters, and newsstands. Not only does this OOH ad catch the eyes of people walking, waiting, or simply passing by in high-traffic pedestrian areas, but it is done in a subtle yet impactful way. Hence, it offers brands a clever opportunity to stay visible without being intrusive—blending seamlessly into the daily lives of potential customers.

4. Digital OOH (DOOH) Advertising

digital advertising in Time Square, New York City to represent OOH Meaning

If you’ve seen those glowing billboards lighting up big cities, then you’re already familiar with digital OOH or DOOH. It takes the traditional out-of-home ads to the next level with interactive digital screens that allow your company to rotate multiple ads, show real-time updates, or adjust content based on the time of day, audience demographics, or- you read it right- even weather. However, what truly sets DOOH apart is the ability to be integrated with mobile technology and programmatic ad buying, which places your ad right where and when it will make the most impact. 

5. Place-Based Advertising

As the name implies, a place-based ad involves placing the ad in specific places, like shopping malls, gyms, stadiums, or airports. These spots utilize contextual messaging relevant to audiences who spend their time in one particular place. For example, a fitness brand advertising protein shakes or workout gear on screens inside a gym or a travel insurance company running ads in airport terminals. Aligning your OOH with the setting ensures that your ad feels timely, relevant, and more likely to resonate

 

Why OOH Advertising Works

After you know what does OOH stand for and what it means, you may already have the gist of why it works. First off, OOH offers high visibility and strong brand recall, reaching people outside of the home with its large formats and strategic placements that are hard to miss. When you combine yours with other digital and mobile marketing efforts- say, someone sees your billboard on the way to work and then later gets a targeted Instagram ad from your brand- it will reinforce your brand across multiple touchpoints. On top of that, OOH is a cost-effective investment for staying top-of-mind in a crowded media landscape. 

 

Why Work with Nartak Media Group for OOH Advertising?

To make the most of OOH, seek no other than the expertise of Nartak Media Group, which brings the kind of local expertise and strategic know-how for impactful results in the Pittsburgh area. With access to premium billboard and transit ad locations, our team will help your brand get the maximum visibility in spots that matter. Even better, our team will work with you to formulate OOH strategies tailored to your goals so that the message connects with the right audience at the right time. 

From concept to placement and execution, you can leave your brand in our hands, knowing that Nartak will provide you with full-service campaign management that makes OOH advertising simple, effective, and, most importantly, impactful. So, reach out to our team today and discuss how we can help you with your OOH.

Nartak Media Call to Action - CTA saying "let's talk"

How Effective is Billboard Advertising?

Billboards are everywhere. Whether you are driving your morning commute to work or taking the trolly into town, you will see at least a few billboards on the way. In today’s day and age, are billboards effective when it comes to advertising? That is the question we will be answering today.

Advantages of Billboard Advertising

What is Billboard Advertising?

Billboard advertising is a type of traditional OOH (out-of-home) advertising that uses a large-scale print advertisement to market a product, service, company, brand, or campaign. Billboards are effective for building brand awareness and broadcasting a business, product, or service to a high number of people. Because they are typically placed in high-traffic areas, such as highways and cities, billboard advertising also gains a large number of views and impressions, as compared to other forms of marketing.

How Effective is Billboard Advertising? - advantages of billboard advertising

Are Billboards Effective?

According to the Arbitron In-Car Study, 71% of people look at billboards while driving. More than 50% said that they actively pay attention to the messages of those same billboards. On average, Americans spend about 300 hours total in the car every year. (Source) That is a lot of time. Knowing this, it is safe to say that billboards catch the majority of people’s attention, specifically while in the car. Even though display ads are an advantageous advertising tool, you can block them, whereas you cannot turn off billboards. Even if you choose to ignore what the billboards say, they will be there regardless. You simply cannot escape billboards. 

 

Second, billboards are strategically placed based on your geographic location. This allows you to target a specific location by strengthening your existing marketing or reaching out to a new area. If you are looking to target a specific store location, billboard advertising would be a great place to start!

How Effective is Billboard Advertising?

To truly be effective, billboards need to leave a lasting impression. Each billboard should follow the 8-Second Rule. This means that a person driving by your billboard should be able to understand its message in 8 seconds or less. Also, think about whether or not your product is relevant to a mass audience. If not, billboard advertising might not be the best option. A smartly-designed billboard will evoke many emotions–hunger, happiness, awareness, and more! Who hasn’t seen a huge hamburger on a sign and suddenly felt hungry? Evoking emotion is one of the ways billboards are effective.

 

Finally, one must consider the costs that come along with billboard advertising. There is more to paying for billboards than just the rental fees. Each company must think about a budget for design, material, and installation costs, depending on the billboard itself and the location. 

How Effective is Billboard Advertising?

Billboards ARE Effective!

Depending on your own target market and what you are advertising, billboard advertising is an effective way to market yourself. Always keep in mind the factors that go into creating an effective billboard/OOH campaign.

If you are looking for help with outdoor advertising in Pittsburgh, you’ve come to the right place! Nartak Media Group is here to help you utilize billboard advertising within your campaign. Reach out to us today to get started!