Direct-to-consumer brands are on the hunt for the best brand awareness strategies as they gain distribution in physical stores. But rather than looking to AI or a social media platform’s algorithm for all the answers, many are now adding an old-school tactic to the mix: outdoor advertising.
The billboard embrace comes as out-of-home ad sellers enjoy an overall uptick, with global OOH ad revenue expected to jump by 12.7% this year to nearly $36 billion, according to GroupM’s midyear forecast.
The forecast does not break out DTC spend. But three out-of-home agency operators—as well as a multitude of DTC brands—told Ad Age that DTC brands are now spending more money on OOH advertising than they have in recent years and quarters.
Some of these companies are running OOH ads for the first time, whereas others are simply increasing spend and overall OOH efforts.
“We’re seeing a lot of brands come in now—especially DTC brands—and spend in the space,” Brian Rappaport, founder and CEO at Quan Media Group, an out-of-home advertising agency, said. “It seems like there are a lot of brands that are coming out of nowhere that have never spent in the out-of-home space before, that are in the DTC world, that want to either test the channel or do something big in it.” Knix, Athena Club, Omnilux, Maëlys and Recess are among the DTC brands that have worked with his agency in recent months.