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What is a billboard?

A billboard is a large-format Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising space that has been strategically positioned in a high-traffic location to reach a wide audience. Billboards are traditionally known for having a horizontal, rectangular display, offering a larger canvas for brands to showcase their campaigns. 

Billboards can be found all over cities, and are used to target audiences in public at the most important points, such as during a journey or in a high-dwell time, indoor environment.

Examples of billboard advertising

You can find billboard advertising in a variety of sizes, in lots of different locations. While you might typically think of billboards being seen along busy roads or on the sides of buildings, billboard advertising can be used by brands to engage every key audience you can think of - from pedestrians and drivers, to rail passengers, to international flyers.

Take a look at some examples of JCDecaux's premium billboard portfolio, which is strategically located along the busiest routes and environments in the UK.

Digital billboards on the Old Street Roundabout in London

Old Street Roundabout

Multiple digital billboards in Heathrow Terminal 5 T5

Heathrow Terminal 5 Towers

A large billboard near Clapham Junction in London running a campaign Jaguar Land Rover

The Clapham Colossus

A billboard over a major road in Manchester with an ad campaign by Diet Coke

The Trafford Arch

a billboard advertising campaign in Edinburgh Waverley Station

Edinburgh Waverley Station

What are the advantages of billboard advertising?

Billboard advertising provides several advantages that make it stand out from other channels. With the ability to reach large audiences and powered by new exciting capabilities, launching a campaign across JCDecaux's network of billboards is a great way to amplify your brand and showcase it to the world.

A big canvas for creativity

Thanks to their size, billboards offer a perfect space for fun and creative advertising campaigns that engage large audiences and leave a lasting impression. 

 

These showstopping 'special-build' billboards use out-of-the-box thinking and bespoke creative elements, such as layered cut-outs and special lighting effects, to push creative boundaries and turn billboard advertising into a moment of real excitement, in the real world. 

 

Special-build billboard advertising is a great way to develop your brand - building lasting awareness of your brand among consumers, creating positive perceptions, driving consideration and supercharging sales figures. 

 

Now's your chance to craft a campaign of your own. Get in touch with our JCDecaux Brand Impact team who will help every step of the way, from idea inception all the way through to project management and campaign delivery, ensuring your billboard campaign is one to remember. 

Digital billboard advertising

Digital billboards are similar in size and shape to traditional billboards, but they use a digital LED screen in place of a paper display. These billboards are a key type of Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH), offering all the capabilities of digital advertising on a grand scale.

 

This adds a range of exciting new visual opportunities to digital billboard advertising, such as video and motion advertisement capabilities, and the ability for several advertisements to play on loop. 

 

Behind the scenes, digital billboard advertising makes it even easier to see the impact of a brand's advertising campaign. JCDecaux's premium network of digital billboards is integrated with our full data stack, including Route audience data. This data tells us exactly where and when audiences travel, a key factor in planning and evaluating impactful digital billboard advertising.

 

Digital billboards demonstrate proven effectiveness, from driving 52% more effectiveness in advertising campaigns to inciting 2.3x more brand recall.

Target specific audiences with programmatic advertising

Digital advertising billboards are now equipped with programmatic DOOH capabilities, making it easier than ever for brands to target audiences in specific locations with billboard advertising. 

 

A programmatic DOOH campaign on a digital billboard can therefore reach this specific audience on a large scale - while also making use of exciting leverage triggers like weather, footfall, time of day and even pollen count to make sure messaging lands at the right time, to the right people.

Download examples of billboard advertising campaigns and their impact

a digital billboard in a train station with an advertising campaign by Lloyd's Bank

How much does billboard advertising cost?

Billboard advertising costs are influenced by a variety of factors. Getting a quote for a campaign can take into account everything from location and audience to format and campaign length.

Key questions include:

•    Who do you want to reach?
•    Where do you want to be seen?
•    When does your campaign need to be live?
•    What role should billboard advertising and Out-of-Home play in your wider media plan?

Effective billboard campaigns are built around your specific brief, and prices can vary. Click here to learn more about billboard pricing.