Why OOH Deserves a Place in Your Holiday Media Plan
OOH works. But most DTC brands either ignore it or add it too late. That’s a mistake. When done right, OOH lowers your digital CPA, boosts branded search, and improves overall performance across Meta, Google, and more.
Megan Reynolds, Director of Global Growth Marketing at Oura Ring, shared how their holiday campaigns now always include OOH. The reason is simple: it makes the rest of their media spend more efficient. The impact doesn’t show up overnight, but it does show up.
Want to watch the full webinar on-demand? Check it out below.
The Measurement Misunderstanding
Marketers avoid OOH because it’s not instantly measurable. But that mindset is outdated.
Here’s how brands measure OOH today:
- Mobile ad ID exposure data
- Geo-holdout tests
- Branded search lift in exposed DMAs
- Regional traffic spikes to landing pages
- Social mentions, screenshots, and direct feedback
It takes 4 to 6 weeks to see results. Not 24 hours. Build that expectation into your internal reporting so you’re not chasing false negatives.
Why You Need to Start Early
OOH has finite inventory. You can’t create more of it once it’s gone.
Airports, transit hubs, and high-traffic retail areas get booked months in advance. Oura Ring missed out on consistent presence at JFK Terminal 4 last year because they started too late. Now they lock in placements between May and July for a Q4 push.
If you wait until September, you will pay more and settle for less visible placements. The best brands already have their holiday plans 80 percent done by the time Q3 starts.
Creative That Actually Works
OOH is not the place to list features. It’s where you deliver one clear takeaway that matches the emotional arc of the season.
Here’s how Oura Ring structures it:
- Pre-holiday: Joy and indulgence messaging
- Post-holiday: Sleep, readiness, and personal reset
- Format: Digital OOH lets them swap creative by date range and placement
- Targeting: Location matched to audience travel patterns and FSA spending
Their “Go to Sleep” campaign ran in subway stations across NYC and became their most engaging OOH campaign ever. It didn’t just look good. It got photographed, shared, and talked about.
Pair OOH With Digital for Full-Funnel Impact
OOH builds familiarity and trust. Digital drives conversion.
Your best-performing campaigns will do both.
Use OOH to plant the seed with a clear brand impression. Then re-engage that audience on Meta, Google, or TikTok with retargeted messaging and offers.
When run together, OOH and digital lower CPAs, increase branded search, and improve ROAS. They’re not separate channels. They’re one ecosystem.
The Real Checklist You Should Be Using
If you’re serious about OOH for holiday 2025, here’s your step-by-step:
- Analyze 90-day trailing purchase data to identify top-performing zip codes and regions
- Map those regions to premium OOH inventory (airports, transit, urban core)
- Lock in placements by early Q3 to avoid inventory shortages
- Build creative that speaks to the emotional journey of Q4 (stress, indulgence, reset)
- Keep messaging to one clear idea per placement
- Use digital OOH to time-target your ads throughout the season
- Build a plan to track branded search lift, regional site traffic, and promo code usage
- Set internal expectations for reporting timelines and lag time on impact
- Work with a partner who can translate your media data into OOH activation
- Document anecdotes and social posts as real indicators of OOH resonance
What Marketers Are Missing About OOH
You can’t skip it. You can’t phone it in. You can’t measure it like digital.
OOH isn’t about impressions alone. It’s about owning the moment, the message, and the mindset of your customer during the busiest buying season of the year.
If your media mix is still digital only, you’re working harder for less return.
Advice From the Experts
“Start now.” – Megan Reynolds, Oura Ring
“Plan smart. Use data. Know your audience. Work with people who’ve done it before.” – Greg Wise, OneScreen
Need Help Mapping It Out?
Reach out to OneScreen for a custom analysis of your best OOH markets, creative ideas, and inventory options. Holiday 2025 starts now. Let’s make it count.