Digital vs. Static Billboards: Separating the Hype from the Reality
Digital out-of-home is one of the most exciting developments in the billboard industry, and also one of the most over-hyped.
TRAILHEAD MEDIA · COMPANY NEWS
Digital out-of-home is one of the most exciting developments in the billboard industry — and also one of the most over-hyped. It’s worth separating the two.
What's Real
Digital billboards can now be bought programmatically, in real time, with creative that changes by time of day, weather, or traffic conditions. Exposure can be tied to mobile data and store visits after the fact. That’s a genuine leap forward — the board is no longer a static, one-message medium.
What's Hype
The idea that digital makes static billboards obsolete simply isn’t true. A printed board on the right road, seen by the same drivers every day, remains one of the most reliable values in advertising. Digital is a powerful new tool, not a replacement for the fundamentals that have always made out-of-home advertising work.
The operators who succeed going forward won’t be the ones who go all digital or all static — they’ll be the ones who know exactly which board should be which, and why.
Read more on where digital buying is headed in What Is Programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (pDOOH)?