DOOH and screens: when a banner is no longer enough
DOOH (digital out of home) is advertising on digital screens outside the home: LED screens in shopping centers, totems, columns, bridges and outdoor. Unlike a banner, a DOOH piece is seen in a physical space, often without sound, from a distance and while moving, and that is why it needs content designed for that format.
What DOOH is and how it differs from a banner
The multiplication of digital screens changes a decision campaigns used to take for granted. Many formats that used to get a static graphic can now incorporate movement, product, characters and short sequences. But turning a banner into a video does not simply mean adding animation.
Why a screen is a physical space
Distance, angle, foot traffic, lighting and exposure time matter as much as resolution. A piece can look very good on a laptop and not work when it is seen from another floor of a shopping center or from a moving car. That is why, in Back the team, the piece was designed from scratch for a very tall vertical LED screen, seen by people on the move.
DOOH in a shopping center: what changes
In a shopping center, the same screen is seen from different levels, by people walking past and generally without sound. The piece has to be understood in a few seconds and fit with the visitor's route. We saw it at MINISO at Unicenter: an extremely vertical screen, without sound and visible from different levels, which also had to change from "Coming soon" to "Now open" without redoing the campaign.
How that content is designed, from the idea to the delivery, is developed in content for LED screens.
When something should move
Not everything should move. In quick-read formats, a clear transformation or a product gesture can be more effective than a sequence loaded with stimuli. Animation has to help establish hierarchy.
Why extreme ratios force a redesign
Horizontal bridges, columns and vertical totems change where the subject can live, how much text fits and how the image is read. The same master rarely works well on all of them. In MINISO at Alto Palermo we tell how a single idea was redesigned for six screen formats, and what to ask for and deliver for each one in video specifications for LED screens. How to adapt the same campaign to each screen is covered in One campaign, many screens.
What AI brings to DOOH content
Settings, characters, background extensions and new compositions can be developed with more flexibility. Combined with motion graphics and post-production, AI allows the format to be thought of as part of the creative work.
How to tell a story across a circuit of screens
When a brand occupies several screens within the same space, each format can serve a different function: impact, product, wayfinding or recall. Designing the whole system usually achieves more than repeating a single piece.
DOOH works better when the idea is born for the space and not when a campaign arrives adapted at the last minute.
Frequently asked questions
What is DOOH?
DOOH, short for digital out of home, is advertising on digital screens outside the home: LED screens in shopping centers, totems, columns, bridges and outdoor. Unlike a banner, the piece is seen in a physical space, from a distance, often without sound and by people on the move.
What is the difference between a piece for social media and one for DOOH?
On social media the piece competes with the scroll and usually has sound. In DOOH it is seen from afar, for a few seconds and in proportions that can be extreme. That is why the scale of the subject, the amount of text, the rhythm and the composition change.
How is DOOH content made for a shopping center?
Starting from the place: where the screen is seen from, at what distance, in what proportion and whether it has sound. With that, the scale of the characters, the hierarchy of the text and the rhythm are designed, and each version is delivered with the technical specification of each format.
This is how we work on retail, screens and DOOH at FeedGuru.
