Traditional Campus Media: OOH Advertising

The visual impact of traditional campus media delivers excellent bang for your buck. From bike shelters to newspaper kiosks to bus wraps, offline campus ads have the power to gain outstanding exposure and impressions. As one of the first advertising touchpoints, physical media increases brand awareness and recognition. Learn how and why to incorporate OOH ads into your traditional campus media campaigns.

What is OOH media?

As you might expect, OOH (or out-of-home) media is advertising that reaches consumers outside of their homes. While it encompasses transit ads, outdoor kiosks, bus shelters, billboards, digital screens, posters and more, for now we’ll focus on large format OOH advertising - billboards, signs, wall panels, etc. 

What are the benefits of OOH media?

 According to Darcy Keller, former Communication Head at The Financial Times, the objective of OOH media is to build awareness and increase engagement. The Out of Home Advertising Association of America explains that “OOH goes where most other media can’t go to surround and immerse consumers out of home, where they spend 70 percent of their waking hours.” That explains why this traditional form of advertising is still wildly successful if executed correctly.

"Any strategy that gets a message to rise above the clutter is terrific from the advertiser's perspective." 

– JOSH BERNOFF

Whether delivered via billboards, signs, or screens, OOH media generates repeated exposure, delivering your message over and over again. And the visual impact delivers more bang for your buck. After all, viewers can’t turn these ads off, scroll past them, or fast forward through them. This explains why a large percentage of consumers notice static and mobile billboards, and many of them take related follow-up actions.

How can I best incorporate OOH ads into my traditional campus media campaign?

OOH ads can be used for a wide variety of purposes - everything from suicide prevention awareness campaigns to driving back to school dollars to increasing website traffic. And this versatile media form can be placed almost anywhere, including along roadways, on newsstands and kiosks, and inside and outside of shopping malls, stadiums, movie theaters, convenience stores, gyms, bars, restaurants and gas stations. Popular campus locations include high-traffic areas like student unions, dorms, dining halls, lecture halls, libraries and bookstores.

OOH ads are often seen while people are on the go, giving advertisers only seconds to capture their attention. Here are six key tactics for engaging audience attention in a short period of time.

1. Be strategic: Focus on your primary purpose or goal. Don’t try to accomplish too much. 
2. Be creative and engaging: Be clever but not too clever. You want the audience to be captivated by the ad, but also to easily understand your message.
3. Keep it short: People only have a few seconds to read. The general advice is to stay between 6-8 words.
4. Choose font wisely: Make sure the font is easy to read from a distance.
5. Maximize your visuals: Choose large and engaging visuals with color. People are more likely to remember pictures than words. Capitalize on that.
6. Location, location, location: Pick a site in a high traffic area that is frequented by your target audience.

See our complete guide to advertising to university students.

Here at MSS Media, Inc., we’ve been providing Education, Government, Real Estate & Lifestyle clients with succinct, optimized, and successful marketing solutions for more than 15 years. Consider MSS Media, Inc. a full-service, one-stop shop for all your Media and Public Relations needs. Your goals are our motivation. And our mission is to propel your message, further and faster, to achieve the outcomes you’re looking for. If you found this blog post helpful, please share!