Digital Out-of-Home Advertising (DOOH)

Digital Out-of-Home Advertising (DOOH)

Digital Out-of-Home advertising (DOOH) is a significant player in the MEERKAT media landscape. We regard it as one of the most powerful ways for brands to reach people in the real world. During our 2 decades of media planning and buying, we have seen DOOH evolve into a smart, dynamic and highly measurable channel that sits at the heart of modern media planning. For brands of all sizes, DOOH offers something unique: the ability to deliver eye-catching, contextually relevant messages in the places people actually live, shop, travel and spend their time. 

What is DOOH?

The term DOOH refers to any digitally delivered advertising displayed on screens in public or semi-public environments. DOOH ads can appear on:

• Large-format digital billboards
• Screens in shopping centres and supermarkets
• Digital panels at train stations and bus stops
• Roadside digital 48-sheets and 6-sheets
• Airport and transport network screens
• Digital panels in gyms, bars, offices and entertainment venues

At MEERKATworks, we see DOOH as combining the scale and impact of traditional outdoor advertising with the flexibility, targeting and agility of digital. This means when we buy DOOH for our clients, they gain the ability to activate messages at specific times, change creative based on data signals and measure campaign performance with growing confidence.

At its core, DOOH is digital storytelling in the real world.

How DOOH works

The power of DOOH lies in the technology behind the scenes. Here’s how it works:

1. Content delivery via digital screens

Campaign assets are uploaded to a central platform, which delivers creatives across screens in chosen locations. This can be managed manually or programmatically.

2. Smarter targeting

Unlike traditional outdoor advertising, DOOH can use:

• Time-of-day scheduling
• Environmental triggers (weather, traffic, temperature)
• Audience data (movement patterns, demographics, behaviours)
• Location-based insights

This means a travel brand can run ads on chilly mornings, a coffee brand can run messages at peak commuting times or a retailer can promote specific products near its stores.

3. Real-time flexibility

Campaigns can be updated instantly. Creative can be swapped, messaging refreshed or schedules adjusted as and when needed. The MEERKATs know that this provides a huge opportunity for businesses, large and small.

4. Measurement and reporting

One of the biggest shifts in DOOH advertising is how measurable it has become. While traditional OOH has long delivered strong brand impact, DOOH gives advertisers greater visibility into how campaigns perform, which helps brands plan with confidence and optimise investment.

DOOH campaigns can provide access to a range of metrics, including:

Impressions: Impressions estimate how many pairs of eyes have had the opportunity to see your ad. These are typically calculated using footfall data, traffic volumes and screen visibility modelling, giving advertisers a clear view of campaign exposure.

Audience demographics: DOOH data providers can offer insights into the likely age ranges, gender splits and behavioural profiles of audiences in specific locations. While privacy-safe and anonymised, this data helps advertisers understand who they are reaching, rather than just where their ads appear.

Dwell time: Dwell time measures how long people spend near a screen. Longer dwell times often indicate higher attention levels, for example in shopping centres, transport hubs or leisure venues, making this metric particularly valuable when planning creative formats and messaging.

Campaign reach and frequency: Reach shows how many unique people your campaign is likely to reach, while frequency measures how often those people may see your ad. Together these metrics help balance awareness and repetition, ensuring campaigns remain impactful without overexposure.

Footfall attribution: Footfall attribution links exposure to real-world behaviour. By using aggregated mobile location data, it is possible to estimate how many people visited a shop or location after being exposed to a DOOH campaign, offering a clearer picture of real-world influence.

In-store or online uplift: Some campaigns measure uplift in store visits, website traffic or conversions during and after a DOOH campaign. While DOOH often plays an upper- or mid-funnel role, this data can help demonstrate how it contributes to wider marketing performance.

Collectively these insights allow the MEERKAT experts, and the brands we work with, to assess DOOH activity with far more confidence than in the past – moving beyond visibility alone and towards meaningful outcomes that support smarter media planning and optimisation.

DOOH vs OOH: How they work together 

At MEERKATworks we see traditional Out-of-Home (OOH) and DOOH advertising as sharing the same core strength: placing brands in high-impact, real-world environments where people live, travel, shop and socialise. Rather than competing formats, they are most powerful when planned together, each playing a distinct role within a well-balanced media strategy.

Traditional OOH – such as posters, billboards and large-format placements – is valued for its permanence and scale. Once live, OOH becomes part of the physical environment, delivering consistent brand presence over time. This makes it particularly effective for long-term awareness, brand-building and high-visibility messaging in key locations.

DOOH, on the other hand, adds a layer of flexibility to the outdoor mix. Digital screens allow campaigns to rotate creative, tailor messaging by time of day or respond to contextual triggers such as weather, traffic or events. This makes DOOH ideal for tactical messaging, time-sensitive activity and creative experimentation. It is important to keep in mind that screen time on DOOH panels is usually shared with other advertisers on rotation, so the format delivers a share of the total screen time (unlike a static printed panel).

When used together, Traditional OOH and DOOH form a holistic outdoor strategy:

• Traditional OOH provides sustained visibility and familiarity, firmly anchoring a brand within a location or audience mindset.
  

• DOOH builds on this with agility, enabling brands to layer dynamic messaging and targeted relevance on top of static presence.

Both formats benefit from the same audience environments, reinforcing each other through repeated exposure across different screen types and creative executions. Many of the strongest outdoor campaigns blend OOH and DOOH, using static placements to establish impact and digital screens to add immediacy, relevance and adaptability. The result is a broader reach, stronger recall and more consistent brand storytelling across the outdoor estate.

The MEERKATs approach outdoor media planning with this balance in mind, ensuring OOH and DOOH work in harmony to deliver maximum value from every location, format and opportunity.

DOOH in 2026 and beyond

At MEERKATworks we have noted several reasons for DOOH’s increasing relevance:

1. People are on the move 

Across cities, towns and transport networks, audiences are on the move – commuting, shopping, socialising and travelling. Both traditional OOH and DOOH place your brand in front of people during these key moments.

2. Screens are everywhere

DOOH benefits from the ubiquity of digital screens. From retail parks to petrol stations, the UK’s digital estate has grown dramatically in recent years. 

3. It cuts through the digital noise

Online advertising and privacy changes are pushing brands to diversify. DOOH offers the impact and trust of a broadcast medium without the intrusion of personal-device ads.

4. It works brilliantly with mobile

Brands can run synchronised mobile and DOOH campaigns, boosting recall and driving measurable outcomes such as footfall or app engagement.

5. It’s flexible, agile and cost-efficient

No printing. No installation. No delays. Just fast deployment and the ability to optimise throughout a campaign.

Types of DOOH advertising

The MEERKAT team are renowned for standing tall and having 360° media vision. We have seen DOOH advertising expand to cover a wide range of screen formats and environments, allowing brands to tailor campaigns to specific audiences, locations and objectives. This diversity is one of DOOH’s greatest strengths, giving expert media planners like the MEERKATs, the ability to build strategies that are both targeted and scalable.

Roadside DOOH

Roadside DOOH includes large LED billboards positioned along major roads, dual carriageways and high-traffic routes. These screens deliver high-impact visibility to drivers and passengers, making them particularly effective for brand awareness, mass reach and repeated exposure. Roadside DOOH works well for bold creative, simple messaging and campaigns designed to achieve scale quickly.

Digital 6-sheets

Digital 6-sheets are typically located at eye level in urban environments such as high streets, bus stops and town centres. Because they sit close to pedestrians, these screens often benefit from longer dwell times and higher attention levels. This makes them well-suited to detailed messaging, offers and creative rotations that speak directly to local audiences.

Retail screens

Retail DOOH appears inside supermarkets, shopping centres and retail parks, placing brands close to the point of purchase. These environments are highly valuable for influencing decisions, supporting promotions and reinforcing brand presence when consumers are already in a buying mindset. Retail screens are commonly used for product launches, seasonal messaging and in-store campaigns.

For example, when the MEERKATs planned and bought programmatic OOH for Mackie’s ice cream, the digital outdoor screens were planned next to key supermarkets. The ads were displayed during store opening hours and on warm sunny days (being triggered when the temperature exceeded a set point). This ensured that the Mackie’s brand was front of customers’ minds when visiting specific supermarkets on ‘ice cream weather’ days.

Transport DOOH

Transport DOOH spans screens across rail stations, tram networks, airports and taxi ranks. These locations provide access to large volumes of people during predictable daily routines, such as commuting or travelling. Transport environments often deliver longer dwell times, making them ideal for sequential messaging, storytelling and campaigns aimed at capturing attention during moments of pause.

Venue-based DOOH

Venue-based DOOH includes screens within gyms, cinemas, universities, offices, leisure centres and hospitality venues. These spaces allow advertisers to align messaging with specific lifestyles, interests or activities. Venue-based DOOH is particularly effective for targeted brand-building, community-focused campaigns and messaging tailored to niche but highly relevant audiences.

For example, the MEERKATs have recently planned and bought digital OOH campaigns targeting students in over 200 university halls across the UK. The various campaigns were planned for MPB, Idahoan Mash, The Protein Ball Co. and ArtUK.

Premium large-format DOOH 

Premium large-format DOOH refers to standout, full-motion digital screens in landmark locations. These placements are designed to create visual impact and memorable brand moments, often acting as hero formats within broader campaigns. Premium DOOH is commonly used for major launches, brand statements and creative executions that are designed to be noticed, shared and remembered.

Together, these formats allow brands to design DOOH campaigns that fit seamlessly into their wider media strategy, whether the goal is mass awareness, local relevance, point-of-purchase influence or high-impact brand storytelling.

Benefits of digital out-of-home advertising 

High impact and visibility – Large, bright, dynamic screens command attention.

Flexible and reactive – Update creative instantly or schedule messaging around key moments.

Data-driven and targeted – Reach the right audience at the right time, in the right place.

Measurable – Improved analytics help track outcomes such as impressions and footfall.

Cost-effective – No production costs and efficient buying options mean budgets stretch further.

Scalable for all business sizes – From small businesses to global brands, DOOH’s flexibility supports a range of objectives.

How businesses of all sizes can use DOOH 

One of DOOH’s greatest strengths is accessibility. Whether you’re a national FMCG brand or a single-site start-up, DOOH has formats to fit.

Small and local businesses 

Local screens can drive immediate action, for example:

• Promoting new openings
• Highlighting offers
• Directing people to locations nearby
• Driving footfall from commuters, shoppers and families
• Localised buying means campaigns can start from relatively small budgets.

Medium-sized businesses

• Scale up with regional or multi-city campaigns:
• Promote seasonal campaigns
• Support omnichannel activity
• Launch products or events
• Retarget mobile audiences in specific catchments
• DOOH’s flexibility means these brands can deliver smart, efficient and relevant messaging.

Large brands and national advertisers 

For bigger advertisers, DOOH offers:

• Nationwide coverage
• Creative personalisation
• Full-motion campaigns
• Real-time data integration
• Programmatic buying
• Synchronised cross-channel activity

The result? Consistent brand presence at scale, with the agility of a digital medium.

Creative opportunities in DOOH

The MEERKATs are creative creatures and we’re pleased to note that DOOH opens up some exciting possibilities:

• Motion graphics for higher engagement
• Dynamic content triggered by weather, time or sports results
• Live data feeds
• Countdowns and contextual messaging
• User-generated content integrations
• Full-motion video on premium screens

DOOH helps transform static creative into living content that adapts to audience context.

DOOH campaign examples from MEERKATworks

The Palm Beaches

The MEERKATs’ DOOH expertise was demonstrated in the campaign we planned and bought for The Palm Beaches. Working alongside Brand USA to promote this classic warm-weather resort in Florida, the team planned the activity across various OOH formats. The campaign targeted “families and couples with a passion for travel” in London and the South-East, with large format digital OOH highlighting the destination’s blue skies and relaxed lifestyle. These digital screens were carefully planned and bought in high footfall, dense traffic areas from King’s Cross to Billingsgate to Fulham Broadway.

Ist Central

The MEERKATs planned, bought and created a multi-platform branding campaign, with DOOH at its heart. The campaign encouraged people in Edinburgh to buy Ist Central’s easy and accessible car insurance. This impactful campaign included geo-targeted large-format digital screens and digital 6-sheets. The latter were sited in high footfall areas in the city centre where they benefited from longer dwell times and higher attention levels. 

Louisiana

A further example can be seen in the campaign the MEERKATs planned for Explore Louisiana. The brief was to “generate excitement for Louisiana as a destination for foodies” in London. The team planned and negotiated activity on the Waterloo Motion screen – currently the largest DOOH screen in the UK – to run alongside an experiential space in Waterloo Station. The results showed a 13% overshow of impressions on the motion screen, plus 3 additional days, delivering 244k impressions.

MEERKATworks and DOOH planning

At MEERKATworks, DOOH isn’t just about buying screen space; it’s about building a strategy that aligns with your brand, audience and goals. Our approach typically includes:

• Understanding audience behaviour and movement patterns
• Selecting the right environments and formats
• Combining DOOH with complementary channels
• Using data to optimise performance
• Ensuring creative fits both the context and objective
• Delivering clear reporting and measurable outcomes

Whether you need a local activation or a national presence, our team ensures your DOOH investment lands exactly where it matters.

The future of DOOH 

DOOH is always changing and continues to grow, shaped by innovation in:

• Programmatic buying
• Real-time targeting
• 3D anamorphic creative
• Computer-vision measurement
• Sustainability improvements in screen technology
• Smarter integration with mobile and social

As the digital estate expands, DOOH’s influence in the media mix will only strengthen.

Digital Out-of-Home works best when it’s planned with intent – balancing the right formats, locations and messaging to suit your brand and objectives. If you’re looking to test DOOH for the first time, scale an existing outdoor strategy or blend OOH and DOOH into a more joined-up media plan, expert planning with ‘MEERKAT punch’ makes all the difference.

At MEERKATworks, we help brands navigate the full outdoor landscape from traditional OOH to data-led DOOH, ensuring every placement works harder and delivers real-world impact.

If you’d like to understand how DOOH could fit into your media mix, get in touch with our team to start the conversation. We’re friendly and don’t bite, unless you’re a scorpion.