The Grand Visual Creative OOH Glossary

Welcome to the Grand Visual Out of Home (OOH) Glossary, a comprehensive guide designed to familiarise you with the key terms and concepts within the dynamic world of OOH advertising. Whether you’re new to the industry or a seasoned professional, this glossary offers clear definitions of commonly used words, technical jargon, and GV-specific phrases. Covering everything from digital billboards to transit advertising, it’s a valuable resource for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of OOH media and its evolving role in today’s advertising landscape.

A

Ad Recall
A metric that measures how well an audience remembers an ad they have seen. It’s a crucial indicator of an OOH campaign’s effectiveness.

Airport Advertising
Includes internal and external displays of various sizes.

Ambient Media
Unconventional or non-traditional media that integrates advertising into the surrounding environment, often blending seamlessly into urban spaces (e.g., branded street furniture, bus stops).

Animation
Animation involves special treatment such as moving units, flashing lights, etc, used to gain added attention and awareness. It is more commonly used in rotating, permanent or spectacular sites.

Anamorphic DOOH
DOOH creative with 3D illusionary effects to make content appear as if it’s leaping out from the screen. These designs often leverage forced perspective and are typically displayed on large curved or angled digital screens, creating a highly engaging and immersive visual experience for viewers.

Asset
An individual site of any particular OOH format.

Audience
A group of people that an advertising message is aimed towards. This group can be defined by age, gender or any other grouping specified by the advertiser.

Audience Impressions
Audience Impressions are calculated by taking the won impression and multiplying it by the impression multiplier passed by the exchange. This allows advertisers to understand the potential number of viewers of our OOH campaign and not just the number of times the ad was shown.

Audience Reach
A term that provides a count of the total number of people who were likely to be exposed to the message.

Augmented Reality (AR)
A technology that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view.

Augmented Reality OOH (AR OOH)
A blend of digital and physical environments, where OOH ads use augmented reality to create interactive and immersive experiences. Often involves mobile apps or digital screens to bring the creative to life in a new dimension.

B

Backlit Billboard
A billboard illuminated from behind by lights, ensuring visibility in low-light conditions, such as at night.

Beacon Technology
Small wireless devices that use Bluetooth to communicate with nearby smartphones and deliver personalized messages or ads, used in proximity-based OOH campaigns.

Billboard
Large format advertising displays intended for viewing from extended distances, generally more than 50 feet. Billboard displays include, but not limited to: bulletins, junior posters, posters, and spectaculars.

Brand Awareness
The extent to which a brand is recognized by potential customers, often a key objective in OOH campaigns.

Bulletin
The largest standardized OOH format; typically measuring 14’ x 48’ in overall size. Sold either as permanent displays or in rotary packages.

Bus Shelter
A curbside structure located at regular stopping points along urban bus routes.

Bus Wrap
An advertisement site which covers the whole of a single or double deck bus. Effectively ‘wrapping’ the entire bus.

C

Campaign
The interval of time when an OOH advertising campaign is run.

Campaign Amplification
Strategies used to increase the impact of OOH campaigns, such as integrating social media, PR stunts, or experiential elements to extend the campaign’s reach beyond traditional OOH placements.

Campaign Flight
The duration or scheduled period in which an OOH ad runs.

Client Services
Our client services team are responsible for bringing your campaign to life. They are your point of contact, overseeing the campaign’s progress from start to finish.

Contextual Advertising
OOH campaigns that are tailored to the specific environment or moment in which they appear, enhancing relevance and impact. Based on audience demographics, location, or behavioural data.

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)
The cost of reaching one thousand viewers or impressions of an OOH ad. It’s a common pricing model for buying media space.

Creative Development
The process of conceptualising and producing creative assets specifically tailored for OOH campaigns. This includes everything from artwork to motion design, ensuring the visuals align with the brand message and the environment.

Creative
The design and content of an advertisement, which could include images, graphics, or text.

Custom Builds
Unique OOH installations created specifically for a campaign, often incorporating physical structures, interactive elements, or bespoke designs to enhance engagement and visibility.

D

Dayparting
The practice of scheduling OOH ad displays to run at specific times of day when the target audience is most likely to be present, commonly used in digital OOH.

Digital Billboard
Billboards that can change advertising content using digital technology. Content is static with multiple advertising message presented in rotation every few seconds.

Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH)
OOH ads that are displayed on digital screens, often allowing for dynamic and real-time updates of content.

Domination
When a campaign has a domination of an OOH format, it means that a single advertiser occupies or controls the majority, if not all, of the available advertising space in a particular OOH location or platform. This strategy is designed to create a powerful, high-impact presence by overwhelming the environment with the brand’s message, making it impossible for consumers to miss.

Dwell Time
The interval of time when a consumer is in close proximity to an OOH ad.

Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO)
The use of technology in digital OOH to change and optimize creative content in real-time based on variables like weather, time of day, or audience demographics. This allows for personalized and responsive advertising.

E

Effective Reach
The number of persons within the target audience exposed to the advertising schedule an average of three or more times.

Engagement Rate
A measure of how much an audience interacts with or responds to an OOH advertisement. This can include direct actions like scanning a QR code or engaging in social media.

Experiential OOH
A form of advertising that focuses on creating an interactive, immersive experience for the audience. This can include live events, pop-up installations, or digital interactions that engage passersby in a memorable and meaningful way.

Exposure
As derived from TAB’s visibility research, a physiological or behavioural measure of actual eye contact with an OOH media unit and its advertising. TAB OOH Ratings are derived from the adjustment of circulation or passing to those who notice the advertising.

Eye Tracking
A survey methodology that records the movement of the eye and its fixations in relation to what an individual is looking at. The fixations are used to determine the factors that influence a person’s Likelihood To See (LTS) an advertising face.

F

Footfall Tracking
The process of monitoring the number of people who pass by or engage with a specific OOH ad location. Often used to evaluate effectiveness.

Format
Refers to the type of OOH media: Billboards 25sqm+, Bus/Tram/Kiosk, Retail, Airport, etc.

Frequency
The average number of times an individual notices an OOH advertising message during a defined period of time. Frequency in OOH advertising is typically measured over a four week period, but can be reported for any campaign length.

G

Geographic Targeting/ Geofencing
Targeting audiences defined by their location in the real-world. Location attributes can vary from granular attributes such as mobile/GPS-enabled latitude/ longitude data to broader attributes as post code or state/province. In technical specifications, targets may simply be referred to as “geo”, “user”, “audience” without spelling out the full term.

H

High-Impact Site
A premium OOH location with high visibility and foot traffic, often commanding higher advertising rates.

Hyperlocal Targeting
The use of specific geographic targeting to reach audiences within a narrowly defined area. This is particularly effective in DOOH, where content can be customized for different locations in real-time.

I

Immersive Installations
Large-scale OOH setups designed to fully engage the senses of the audience, often incorporating visual, auditory, and sometimes tactile elements. These installations can include projection mapping, 3D builds, or other interactive features.

Impact
A unit of measure with one impact being equal to one person’s viewing of a single face. Impacts also referred to as gross impressions or contacts.

Impressions
The total number of times people are likely to notice an ad on an OOH display. Gross impressions are those delivered against a demographic audience for an advertising schedule.

Interactive OOH
These are campaigns designed to engage the audience actively, often through technology such as touchscreens, mobile integration, or augmented reality.

Interactive Kiosks
Freestanding, digital, touch-screen displays found in high-traffic areas, allowing passersby to engage directly with content or retrieve information.

J

K

L

Large-Format Digital Screens
Digital displays used in high-traffic areas like city centres or major transit hubs. Grand Visual may work with animation and motion graphics to create dynamic content that leverages the large digital format.

LED
LED’s or Light Emitting Diodes, are the lamps used in Electronic Messaging Centres (EMCs) and colour screens.

Line of Sight
Refers to the visibility of an OOH ad, meaning it is within clear view of potential viewers, unobstructed by trees, buildings, or other structures.

Location-Based Advertising
Targeting OOH ads in specific locations based on the proximity of the target audience.

Digital Creative

M

Market
Geographically defined areas used to buy and sell media. Standard markets definitions are DMAs and CBSAs.

Measurement Metrics
Data used to assess the performance of OOH campaigns. Common metrics include impressions, engagement rates, and ad recall.

Media Owner
A media owner is a company or individual who has the right to sell outdoor advertising space.

Media Plan
A plan for an advertising campaign that specifies details of the selected media, advertising content, dates and delivery goals such as reach and frequency.

Mobile Billboard
A truck equipped with one or more poster panel units. The truck can either be parked at specified venues or driven around designated localities.

Motion Graphics
Animated visual elements used in digital OOH ads to grab attention and enhance creativity.

Mural
Murals painted or attached directly onto the exterior surface of a building.

N

O

Omnichannel
This refers to the integration of OOH media with other digital and physical channels to create a seamless, consistent, and unified advertising experience for consumers. It combines traditional outdoor formats (e.g., billboards, transit ads, digital displays) with online, mobile, and in-store engagement, ensuring that the messaging across all these platforms is cohesive and enhances the consumer journey.

Out of Home Advertising (OOH)
Advertising that reaches consumers while they are outside their homes, including formats like billboards, street furniture, transit ads, and place-based ads.

OOH Tech
OOH technology refers to the application of innovative techniques, methods, and processes used to develop and advance the product offerings of the OOH advertising industry.

P

Panels
An OOH unit can also be referred to and/or divided up into panels for ease of selling/buying.

Poster
A standardized poster format, typically measuring 12’3” x 24’6”; formally known as a 30-Sheet Poster.

Posting Date
The date when a poster program is scheduled to commence. A five day leeway is customary.

Posting Instructions
Detailed directions provided to an OOH company by an advertiser or agency assigning specific copy to specific locations.

Place-Based Advertising
OOH ads that are strategically placed in specific venues or environments, such as malls, airports, or gyms, where the target audience is most likely to be.

Play Length
The interval of time when a DOOH message is viewable. Also as message duration in other markets.

Point of Sale (POS)
An OOH advertising format located near retail outlets, encouraging immediate purchases.

Printed OOH Media
Any OOH display that uses a printed substrate to display advertising content.

Programmatic DOOH
The automated buying and selling of digital OOH ads using data and algorithms to deliver ads at optimal times for the target audience.

Production
The production department is responsible for the physical creation and delivery of advertising materials across various OOH media formats, such as billboards, digital signage, transit ads, and street furniture. This department ensures that the creative assets are produced to the right specifications, installed correctly, and meet the required quality standards for the chosen advertising platforms.

Projection Mapping
A technique that uses light and motion to project dynamic images onto surfaces like buildings, creating the illusion of movement and transforming structures into vibrant canvases for creative OOH executions.

Q

QR Code
Quick Response Code – a machine-readable code consisting of an array of black and white squares, typically used for storing URLs or other information for reading by the camera on a smartphone.

R

Rapid Versioning
The process of quickly creating multiple variations of OOH creative content to cater to different audiences, locations, or contexts. This method allows for fast and efficient updates across campaigns, often used in dynamic or digital OOH to ensure the messaging is relevant and timely.

Reach
The approximate percentage of a target audience’s population who notice an advertising message at least once during an OOH campaign.

Real-Time Bidding (RTB)
A digital advertising model where ad space is sold in real-time through an auction-based system, commonly used in programmatic DOOH.

Real-Time Content
Digital OOH creative that updates in real-time based on external factors such as social media trends, news updates, or live event feeds, ensuring the content is fresh and contextually relevant.

Retargeting
Targeting audiences that are defined by having recently shown interest in said advertiser, interest most often being defined as visiting the advertiser’s website or store location.

Rotation
The process of moving the advertiser’s message from one location to another at stated intervals to achieve a more balanced coverage of a market.

S

Sampling
Sampling refers to the practice of distributing free product samples or trial-size versions of a product to consumers. This technique allows advertisers to directly engage with potential customers while reinforcing the messaging seen on billboards, transit ads, or digital displays.

Share of Voice (SOV)
Amount of ad display time received out of the total display time of call advertisers and content displayed. Usually calculated over a 24 hour period or operating hours, whichever is shorter.

Sites
The exact location of the infrastructure on which the individual outdoor advertising faces are exhibited. For example, a site may represent one internal bus panel, a double-faced supersite or a scrolling bus shelter with three advertising faces.

Social Amplification
Integrating social media with OOH campaigns to encourage interaction and sharing. This may include hashtags, user-generated content, or interactive features that link the OOH experience to digital platforms.

Solutions

Special Builds
Custom OOH installations that go beyond standard billboard formats, often involving physical structures or kinetic elements to create an impactful presence in the environment. These may involve sculptures, interactive digital components, or larger-than-life installations.

Spectacular
A large-scale, often custom-built OOH installation in high-traffic locations. These are high-impact ads with a strong visual presence, often used in places like Times Square or Piccadilly Circus.

Street Furniture
Advertising displays, many that provide a public amenity, positioned at close proximity to pedestrians. Street furniture displays include, but are not limited to: transport shelters, newsstands, shopping center panels, convenience store panels and in-store signage.

T

Target Audience
Any audience reflecting the most desired consumer prospects for a product or service, defined by age, sex, race, ethnicity or income; or their combinations for any geographic definition.

U

V

Vinyl
A single-sheet substrate on which an advertising message is rendered by either computer production or hand painting. Vinyl is primarily used on the face of Bulletins and premiere products.