Phil Eastwood: Out of Home – Act Like a Showman, and We’ll Provide the Stage
Guest post by Phil Eastwood, General Manager, JCDecaux New Zealand
Out-of-Home is a powerful force for mass reach and frequency but reach alone isn’t enough. To create real cut through, brands must act like showmen: bold, compelling, and ready to command attention, because in this medium, effectiveness is everything and getting it wrong can be a costly mistake.
In New Zealand 41% of Out-of-Home ROI comes down to creative execution, which is why understanding what works and what doesn’t is crucial, and why brands need to utilise all the insights and resources available to them.
In ‘The Optix of Out-of-Home ROI’, I discussed JCDecaux OPTIX, an AI-driven tool that helps brands predict visual saliency, ensuring that the most important elements of an out of home ad are seen and processed quickly by the brain. Our clients have embraced OPTIX and have reaped the benefits from this tool; refining creative by balancing the data-driven insights with human intuition used for the initial idea.
However, OPTIX is just the start of the conversation. While it can help identify whether an ad will capture attention, what happens next? How do factors like messaging, branding, and emotional impact influence campaign success? How can brands not just be noticed, but be remembered—and drive real commercial results?
To answer these questions, JCDecaux Australia partnered with System1 to develop one of the most comprehensive studies ever conducted on Out-of-Home creative effectiveness.
Building on an earlier System1 JCDecaux UK study where Andrew Tindall found the rather stark truth that 7 out of 10 Out-of-Home ads didn’t work, the team used local campaigns, considered both landscape and portrait formats, and rolled in OPTIX and business case study results.
This landmark study has provided a solid science-based framework for diving business growth, and I’m excited to share these results with you…
1. Brand fast: Brands that gain recognition within a crucial 2 second window achieve 54% higher recall than brands that don’t. Leverage brand cues people know and understand to help make it quick and easy for the brain to connect to your brand and message.
2. Don’t be dull: Yes really, this is a finding. When we say dull, we don’t just mean uninspiring design, we mean work that doesn’t create a meaningful connection with its audience.
3. Logo placement matters: Put your branding at the top (not the bottom right). Top of frame placement gives four times higher brand recognition.
4. Less is more: Creative with just one single message outperforms those with multiple messaging.
5. Make people happy: One of the most powerful findings has been that positive emotional engagement delivers stronger commercial outcomes.
6. Put on a show: Treat your creative like a stage show. Show characters with vitality, natural interactions, and dramatic scenes. Creating instant emotional connection drives effectiveness.
Of course, when you begin with the idea of putting on a show, you’re already on the path to standing out. You’re more likely to avoid being dull, to spark positive emotional responses, and to create a deeper connection with your audience. And while the study shows that longer engagement doesn’t necessarily boost recall, a traditional advertising metric, it does significantly increase both consideration and purchase intent. If I were a business owner or brand manager, that’s the outcome I’d be looking for.
At JCDecaux, we often describe our network as a series of stages, places for brands to put on their show. JCDecaux LARGE FORMAT is where bold ideas can play out at scale, and JCDecaux AIRPORTS offer premium, high-attention environments with extended dwell time, prime moments for meaningful brand storytelling. Whereas our SMARTFRAMES allow brands to deliver high-frequency performances in the heart of the action.
So we’ve built the stage, are you ready to perform?