A new study released today from Outsmart, the marketing body for Out of Home (OOH), reveals that OOH activity drives +17% uplift in smartphone brand actions.

‘OutPerform’ is its first major study since opening doors in September 2015. Outsmart joined forces with leading market researchers, Ipsos and OOH industry measurement body, Route, to explore how the medium performs in today’s connected world, especially with the proliferation of the smartphone. The groundbreaking study, believed to be the biggest of its kind, investigated how public journeys can become personal stories among 16-44 year olds in the UK.

The results also show that the uplift in smartphone brand action increases to 38% among the top 20 best performing campaigns within the study and even higher for Millennial and Gen Z audiences.

Results demonstrate that OOH converts brand advertising into brand behaviour, revealing 66% of smartphone actions are direct to brand, such as a search query or website visit.

Furthermore, 57% of respondents that took action were new or lapsed customers, highlighting the power of OOH for brands seeking growth by reaching a wider group of consumers beyond the core buyer.

The very latest passive measurement and geo-location techniques were used to ensure natural consumer behaviour was captured. Combining this with the power of data-driven broadcast OOH means the real relationship between OOH and smartphones is unlocked. The study was the biggest of its kind – producing a huge volume of data from over 60,000 sites and more than 1300 hours of OOH dwell time, 16,000 brand actions and over 150 hours of time with brands.

Alan Brydon, CEO, Outsmart, commented “Our study reveals a clear message; having OOH on your media plan will increase interaction with your brand via a smartphone. We already know that OOH builds brands and delivers long-term effectiveness. With our ‘OutPerform’ results we’ve shown that OOH is a gateway to personal time with brands, simultaneously driving brand interaction in the short term and all advertisers and agencies should want to learn more.”

Tim Lumb, Insight and Effectiveness Director, Outsmart, commented “In an age of snapping, searching, sharing and shopping, OOH and smartphones, now more than ever, have proven to be a very powerful combination for brands to make connections with people.”

‘Outperform’ is out now. Find out more on our website: www.outsmart.org.uk