Once upon a time our fathers and grandfathers had their news in a big chunk of paper containing loads of categories and each paper was focused on a category, now a simple notification notifies us that there is very specific news on our phones in a moment.

Ads are no different, it’s not just a billboard anymore it can be a screen showing off multiple ads making it extremely efficient rather than owning 3 different outdoor advertising, you can just have 1 billboard with a screen setup showing off 3 different ads for your brand. Not just that it shows off that your brand is smart and up to date too!

The difference in limitations is only capped by the marketing imagination and the acknowledgment of the methods available in the market. Of course, it’s also capped by the marketing budget but this is why you are here… in this blog, you will know the types of OOHM which is out of home media, and their pros and cons to decide the most suitable choice according to your budget and requirements.

Did you know that outdoor advertising affects the subconscious mind? If interested you can click here to check it out What Are the Benefits of Outdoor Advertising?

1. Billboards:

Types of billboards:

Static, Mobile, and Digital.

 

Static is the one you are very familiar with, the normal ones on the road sometimes as big as a 6-story building telling the consumer that you are one of the big bosses in the business field.

 

• Static Billboards Pros:
  • High business Prestige
  • Market trust
  • Assured consistent marketing traffic
  • Very low maintenance

 

• Static Billboards Cons:
  • High cost
  • Setup costs a bit, changing it will cost nearly if not the same.

 

 

 

Whilst mobile billboards are the mobile ones, you can see them being transported or moved on a vehicle, very important when the brand wants to build awareness in multiple areas, knowing that these areas will have the traffic and market segment required whilst still on a budget.

Mobile billboards are very efficient if had proper use, might as well provide better value than the big chunky billboards, but no matter what they do not substitute the prestige nor consistent marketing effectiveness given to a brand by billboards.

 

• Mobile Billboards Pros:
  • Much less expensive than Static due to easy access to vehicles and billboard ownership.
  • Can move to multiple locations (i.e., multiple opening of branches but on different dates – high traffic on specific days in different areas)
  • Assured consistent marketing traffic in the area if left in place for a considerable period.
  • More catchy than Static (if the vehicle looks good enough which can be expensive)

 

• Mobile Billboards Cons:
  • Much lower business prestige than Static Billboard.
  • Is not as consistent in marketing effectiveness if not left in the same place for long periods.
  • High maintenance due to vehicle, and parking areas required. (You can’t leave a vehicle with a sign in random places in Egypt, can you?)

Finally, and the most advanced of them is the digital billboards, these might cost you a bit more than the normal setup of a billboard, yet the cost is nothing compared to owning a changeable billboard in a costless way, in addition to the fact that it provides an animated ad which provides a few extra advantages with a bit more initial cost.

 

• Digital Billboards Pros:
  • Very High business Prestige
  • Higher market trust than static
  • Assured consistent marketing traffic
  • Very eye catchy due to rarity especially in Egypt.
  • An animated ad is possible.
  • The setup allows for costless ad editing/changing.
  • Low maintenance (You might think a screen would require more maintenance, but no street screens are built to withstand the street environment much more than you can imagine.)

 

• Digital Billboards Cons:
  • High initial cost
  • Screen setup costs more than the normal static setup, but much more ROI long-term due to costless edits.

 

 

 

 

2. Retail advertising

One of the most common forms of OOHM providing the business with its beloved ROI and marketing cost-effectiveness is retail advertising. As obvious as the name, retail advertising is just billboards inside big malls, shopping stores, etc...

These are extremely cost effective as long as the ad is for example set in an area within a clothes shopping area, whilst the ad itself is marketing a competitive or related product, such as clothes itself or perfumes for example. In addition to its benefits of actually attracting consumers from a certain place in the mall that may be near to a competitor to your store/outlet, via an appealing discount or such its main use is if your business had a retail area close to the ad.

However, everything comes with a price, these ads may cost much more than their size, but due to excessive demand for these types of ads and their good ROI, their rental price might be higher than a 2-story street billboard depending on the location and mall it’s at.

• Retail advertising pros:
  • Very high traffic/ROI/Marketing cost-effectiveness
  • Can hunt consumers from competitors

 

• Retail advertising Cons:
  • Very high cost
  • Limited options in ad design and data as it has to be simple (i.e., 50% discount on x) or similar due to a very crowded area with too many details and other ads and stores, always focus on making your ad as eye catchy and simple as possible.

 

Types of retail advertising

Retail advertising takes many forms and can be applied on many scales, making it a viable option for businesses of all sizes and budgets. Some of the most effective and prominent types of retail advertising include:

 

Lift graphics: These are printed to vinyl and adhered to the surface of lift doors, allowing for creative and memorable two-part visual designs

 

Floor graphics: Floor graphics are adhered to the floor of a retail environment, allowing marketers to creatively provide an immersive advertising environment;

 

Mall media: Refers to media including floor and roof graphics, window films, and banners, used for retail advertisements in a large shopping mall space.

 

There are types of retail advertising, but they are not worthy to have their pros and cons as they all share the same pros and cons, yet vary in creative methodologies.

 

The types are Lift graphics, floor graphics, and Mall media, Lift graphics provide out-of-the-box two-part visual designs by being printed into vinyl and adhered to lift doors.

The floor graphics as per the name is a design that can be found on floors to provide an immersive experience via creative designs. Finally, Mall media is media that can be found on banners, window films, floor graphics, and roof graphics, basically your typical ad in a mall.

 

 

3. Vehicle advertising

Vehicle advertising is very similar to mobile billboards in a way, as such it is mobile, it doesn’t just sit around, you could have a prestigious eye catchy vehicle with cool printed graphics as an ad for your branding, which will add prestige whilst making it easy to spot between all the crowdedness.

 

Even then it does sit down, you could use it just for prestige next to the retail itself as well, or sit around an area known to have traffic for certain periods, but all that is considering your business owns or rents a car.

 

One of the cheaper and most cost-effective approaches is to just put your add graphic on a bus, taxi, or bus moving in certain areas, especially buses or even trains. This way you are not renting the whole vehicle yet just a small rental for the ad to be on it. This can be very successful if this ad were to be done on a vehicle that is going to move in a certain route, thus acting similar to a billboard yet in multiple known areas in a consistent way for a tiny price in comparison, thus increasing brand awareness, in addition to it being costless aside from the designs itself if used on company’s vehicles if the company owns vehicles such as Coca-Cola trucks.

 

it has a very high rate of increasing brand awareness in a certain area in short periods for a small amount of cost, check out a billboard price and divide that by how many busses you can rent for such a procedure, the result will end up with your brand’s awareness being extremely high in a certain area.

 

However, of course, it does not provide the same level of prestige, not even close! Brands on buses do not show the very high strength of a brand as a billboard can.

 

• Retail advertising pros:
  • Cheap cost with high ROI (if transportation routes were to be used)
  • Brand awareness on steroids for certain areas (if transportation routes were to be used)
  • Very cheap (if transportation routes were to be used)
  • Can provide high prestige (if the luxury branded vehicle were to be owned or rented)
  • Can be both static and mobile (if the vehicle were to be owned or rented)

 

• Retail advertising Cons:
  • Mildly expensive (If owned luxury vehicle)
  • Low prestige (If transportation routes were to be used)