People's habits change during the summer. They spend less time in front of computers and screens and more time outdoors. Less scrolling, more taking in real-life impulses. For brands, this means only one thing - if they don't want to disappear from the consumer's sight for a while, they should be present where people are naturally found: outdoors. And this is when outdoor advertising has its "best season".
Brands investing in the digital outdoors today are not just "advertising on the street". In fact, they're using one of the most effective and flexible formats available today - digital outdoor advertising, which today can change according to the habits and movements of the target audience, the weather or the time and location.
The summer months bring more movement of people in cities, more visits to shopping centres, cultural events and holiday locations. While online campaigns lose performance in the summer, outdoor digital advertising is gaining strength because it is present in the real world. And it actually has something to offer.
6 reasons why digital outdoor (in summer) works great:
- Visibility where the people are - High footfall in shopping centres and public spaces means more intervention. Digital screens reach audiences directly - at the moment of decision and at the point of decision
- Flexibility and speed - Ad content can be adjusted in minutes: swap creative/video? Run a different offer when the temperature drops/rises? With digital outdoor this is no problem, you enter the platform and swap the visual or video
- Context sells - Ice cream brands promote when it's 30 degrees outside. Summer cinema offers are best contextualised in the evening. Outdoor digital advertising can be wonderfully responsive
- Stronger memorability - Movement, light, location - all work excellently and synergistically. According to research, digital outdoor has up to 60% higher attention rates and 35% higher memorability than static formats
- Measurability without cookies and GDPR violations - At a time when digital marketing is struggling with behavioural tracking limitations, DOOH provides real-time data on impressions, time and performance - and without invasion of privacy
- Ecology - Costs for sticking up areas are eliminated, production time is reduced, overall the client saves thousands of euros in nationwide campaigns and still feels good about this flexible green medium
Summer campaigns that work repeatedly in the summer
Global and local brands such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Costa Coffee and many others have been using seasonal outdoor advertising for years. The examples speak for themselves:
Sprite - "Turn Up Refreshment", year 2025
- The campaign used heat-activated billboards: when the temperature in selected Italian cities exceeded certain thresholds, digital screens launched new visuals specifically aimed at inviting people to freshen up
- The communication ran across the EU, the UK, Australia, Asia and other regions, in a variety of formats - from billboards to festival activations to promotional stands on the beach
- The result: Targeted real-time challenge with the highest air temperature of the day sparked a substantial increase in soft drink demand
Costa Coffee - summer campaigns, UK, 2024
- The campaign used hundreds of unique creative campaign assets: from POS materials to digital billboards, where roll-out was 20% faster than in previous years
- Deployed special creative formats: digital OOH spots with giant ice cream cups in front of 100 Shell petrol stations
- Result: record summer visibility and high engagement - the campaign won the Grand Prix at the DOOH Live Awards 2024
Arla LactoFREE - year, UK, 2025
- Digital billboards at dairy stores responded to time (morning vs. evening) - offered smoothies in the morning, light suppers in the evening
- DOOH programme placements were in pedestrianised areas within 500-800m of stores + special digital installations in Boxpark Croydon
- Result: campaigns significantly boosted footfall to stores
Digital advertising is the best choice in summer. Let's summarise the facts:
- DOOH has 60% higher attention than static outdoor advertising = visuals with motion and context are easily captured
- DOOH has a higher ROI than online advertising - 76% of ad recipients actually take action (TV 50%, social media 48%, online 37%)
- Digital outdoor is efficient, non-intrusive, programmatic and cookie-free, so it respects privacy
- With real-time analytics (dashboards show campaign performance instantly) you can optimize campaigns dynamically and according to your creative and local goals
It's alive outside. And that's why the signs should be there
Summer is about emotion, movement and impulsive decisions. And outdoor advertising can capture these moments. When combined with data, context and fast execution, the result is a format that combines the benefits of digital and the real world. Without unnecessary clicks. With instant impact.
If you're wondering how to maximize your summer month - DOOH is here immediately and at no cost. Outdoor advertising today is merging with the digital world, changing content according to the situation and circumstances. It also fits perfectly with LIVE FEED formats, which we at Lurity make tailor-made for our clients.
Image credit: Unsplash.com, Weiqi-Xiong