August 6th, 2025
Engage to impress: why your next DOOH campaign needs a creative upgrade
Jennifer Bell
Marketing Director (maternity cover)
Back
Nowadays, brands are generating distinct Digital Out of Home assets as a bold and original component of their media plan.
And next generational technology is making creatives think more imaginatively about how to use the abundance of Out of Home formats to best effect. Because entertainment beats education, and interesting scales creative effectiveness even further.
With attention firmly fixed on finding new ways to make DOOH ever more contextual, immersive and participative, a creative revolution is underway. Here’s how to tap into it.
Maximising the moment
DeepScreen Alive is DOOH’s most advanced real-time 3D creation tool. It deepens audience connections and elevates audience impact in premium spaces.
Built on a powerful gaming engine, it provides 3D theatre in real-time allowing for the integration of plug and play interactive features, contextual relevance and real-time data to generate dynamism and impact way beyond that of static imagery.
The key is understanding how it can be used differently in various scenarios and not getting hamstrung by trying to use all the available bells and whistles at once. Sometimes the simplest creative application has the greatest impact.
British Army Recruitment Campaign
One example is The British Army which used real-time 3D visuals and innovative weather-related animated artwork to immerse audiences in a realistic military rescue operation as part of a national recruitment campaign aimed at 16 to 34-year-olds.
As soldiers were shown delivering aid in hurricane conditions, an animated officer runs to the foreground, leans out of the screen and beckons passersby to get involved. DeepScreen Alive allowed the ad to update live, matching the time of day and light conditions in the animation as it changed to the vicinity where it played out. Clever, dramatic stuff.
Download Samsung Gaming Hub meanwhile turned its Piccadilly Lights residency into a worldwide first interactive 3D livestream for a sensational Rocket League challenge.
The live rendering in DeepScreen Alive starred two gaming influencers going head-to-head for bragging rights. The match appeared to play out on a giant 3D animation of a smart TV, delivering on Samsung’s core marketing message. 3D content featured in both the livestream video content and interactive 3D element which accommodated live reactions from OOH spectators as they watched the gamers battle it out.
Download Winning effectiveness gold
Seventy percent of city runners follow the same daily routine, losing motivation. Adidas spotted an opportunity to reignite the running community with a challenge to test their limits. The Billboard Run, a winner in our Digital Creative Competition, blended utility, movement and digital storytelling to reach runners in real time.
To start a race, participants triggered a countdown on the billboard and their phone. As they raced, their performance was tracked and displayed in real time. The finish line billboard displayed times and leaderboards to add a competitive edge and the chance to win adidas gear. This campaign has since won multiple industry awards and its inclusion on this year’s Cannes Lions shortlist shows how creativity and tech are continuing to evolve together.
Taking a different tack, another winner, McVitie’s, connected with a new generation of biscuit lovers with an irresistible interactive challenge to celebrate 100 years of the Chocolate Digestive. Dare to Dunk? used gesture control haptics, allowing players to mimic the traditional teatime biscuit dunk, trying to hit the right sweet spot before the virtual biscuit broke.
A live leaderboard dialled up the competition, extending dwell times by encouraging repeat play, with social call outs sharing the fun well beyond the screen. More than 1,000 players tried their hand, and more than 600 biscuit samples were awarded to the top scorers.
Download Interactivity takes many forms
There are many ways to stop OOH audiences in their tracks, diverting them from their everyday. Ruby Wax’s mental health charity Frazzled chose interactivity to help people in Manchester weather their everyday storms. ‘The Feeling Ceiling’, was a cracking audio and visual experience which deployed animations and special effects, using dynamic weather symbols to start important conversations about how people really feel. Location was everything, the Printworks SkyLights proving the perfect format for a highly original creative piece.
The installation was featured by ITV Granada, attracting an earned media reach of more than 2.1 million. Two organic social posts by Ruby Wax generated over 24,000 impressions. *Source: Meltwater
Download Of course, some audiences can be teched without even knowing it. Kwik Fit outwitted its competitors with a funny, non-intrusive Vehicle React campaign designed to put a smile on the faces of Britain’s drivers. On this occasion, the interactive trigger was the make, model or colour of drivers’ vehicles as they waited at the traffic lights. Kwik Fit used this anonymous data to serve a selection of tailored jokes to raise a laugh and make our roads a happier, safer place.
Download Winning the battle for attention
Ocean has carried out numerous independent research studies to prove the effectiveness of full motion, DeepScreen and immersive brand experiences.
- According to our original Neuroscience research, full motion DOOH is 2.5x more effective than a static ad in terms of memory encoding and primes other media channels, building familiarity and holding greater attention when the same ad campaign is subsequently viewed on other channels
- Brands harnessing 3D DeepScreen see the number of viewers actively noticing and engaging rise to 55%, which increases to 64% amongst 18 to 34 year-olds. 3D DeepScreen also enjoys a 17% increase in creative appeal versus 2D full motion (source: Opinium study 2023)
- In terms of brand recall versus attention time, premium large format full motion sits well above social and online video, as revealed by our latest study, The Attention Dividend. These are not marginal gains. They speak to fundamental brand-building effects
Download Harness the above technology and submit a creative idea that could win our Digital Creative Competition e. Enter here.
To discover more about the creative potential of interactive OOH, contact Ocean Labs, email labs@oceanoutdoor.com
More from Ocean...
The two seasons drinks brands can’t afford to miss on Out of Home 
Ocean celebrate Manchester’s music scene with local artist and musician Peter Hook 
Ocean celebrate Manchester’s music scene with local artist and musician Peter Hook
By Louise Jones
July 31, 2025
