January 16th, 2026
Is this Britain’s most social billboard?
James McNulty
Planning and Investment Partner
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When global music platforms, artists, influencers, sports stars and best buddies want to share a big message across their socials, there’s one place they head – London’s Leicester Square.
Music titans Spotify UK, Amazon and YouTube are just some of the brands leveraging London’s shop window to the world, using our large format West End Out of Home screen which reaches millions of people a year to broadcast shareable messages and content across their social channels.
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Influencers are also getting in on the act, using the large format screen in one of the world’s most famous public spaces to amplify messages to followers and friends.
A big hit
Last week, musician and YouTuber James Marriott swapped California for London rain when he celebrated his Leicester Square spotlight on TikTok and Instagram in a spot for Amazon music, generating 450,000 views so far.
Strictly outdoor
Also spotted recently amongst the crowds was Olympic snowboarder Aimee Fuller who surprised her best friend, TV’s Strictly Come Dancing professional Katya Jones, with a special message of good luck to the dancer and her celebrity partner, Emmerdale’s Lewis Cope, as they progressed through the competition. Aimee’s OOH message clocked up more than 115,000 views.
West end native
London singer song writer Nilüfer Yanya was one of the artists spotlighted in large format OOH by Spotify UK’s indie girl summer, the artist personally sharing her billboard with her 102,000 IG followers.
The final act
Who can forget last year’s Traitors star Linda Rands who was awarded a Golden Cloak Award for “performance of a lifetime” in a reality TV game show. In a tactical ad, the BBC capitalised on Linda’s over the top theatrics with a topical nod to the Golden Globes, the tongue-in-cheek billboard subsequently going viral across social channels and featured by mainstream news outlets.
The BBC generated one million views in two days on its TikTok channel for its OOH send up, the ad generating seven million social media impressions from viewers posting and resharing pictures and video of the OOH poster. Linda herself even put in an appearance to snap a Leicester Square selfie for The Sun newspaper.
@bbc The people have spoken… 🏆 #TheTraitors #Traitors #Faithful #Linda #Icon #GoldenCloak #Awards ♬ original sound – BBC
How DOOH optimises social media
To quote Tom Stone in his recent More About Advertising article, there’s “something quietly revolutionary about the moment billboards stopped being billboards and started becoming content. Not just advertising you walk past, but the kind of creative execution you photograph, share and debate.”
He’s got a point, and three years ago we commissioned independent research to understand what happens when DOOH creativity is designed and delivered with other digital channels in mind.
Our fifth neuroscience led study, Ocean Outdoor: The Vital Ingredient, demonstrates how premium DOOH primes and optimises social media campaigns, elevating brand relevance, likeability and authenticity.
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The study concluded that when brands share DOOH campaign imagery across their social channels it builds personal relevance and familiarity, leading to a 21% uplift in engagement and 35% increase in brand lean in when influencers share brand content.
Put simply, if a brand has a social media strategy on the plan then it needs to build in DOOH to make it better and more effective.
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Neuroscience has previously established the priming effect of premium DOOH on mobile devices. Now we can demonstrate what happens when OOH transcends the physical screen and becomes the content for brands’ social media campaigns.
Using DOOH content across social media unlocks significant value, delivering well beyond the priming effect of real world DOOH alone. For advertisers these are serious benefits, proving DOOH is a vital ingredient when used to make big statements and mark important moments which by their very nature are incredibly shareable.
Contact james.mcnulty@oceanoutdoor.com (Planning + investment) for more information. Find out more about our study here, or email Head of Insight, Steve.Bernard@oceanoutdoor.com
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