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Digital Out of Home advertising (DOOH) has never been more original or adventurous. Now, with attention firmly fixed on finding new ways to make it ever more interactive, immersive and participative, a creative evolution is underway.

“Once, full motion DOOH was only about putting a TV ad or trailer on a digital billboard. Then, brands began generating distinct DOOH assets. Today, it’s all about interactivity. And latest technologies are making creatives think harder about how to use new capabilities,” says David Tait, group creative director at Ocean Outdoor.

DOOH accounts for two thirds of OOH revenue, which grew by 7.7% to £1.4 bn in 2024, according to Outsmart and PwC. Growth is being driven by greater capacity – more digital inventory being made available, and greater capability – more brand owners and creative agencies using latest digital technologies in new and exciting ways. Ocean is working to drive both.

A significant driver of this was the development in 2021 of DeepScreen® by Ocean Labs UK, Ocean’s immersive ad ideas incubator.

This 3D OOH storytelling tool mathematically warps imagery so, when viewed from a specific vantage point, the illusion of 3D depth is created on flat surfaces. Making something appear to jump out of the screen without the need for the audience to wear special glasses is a popular deployment. 

The improved attention and appeal of the full-motion that DOOH DeepScreen delivers is 2.5x more impactful than equivalent static sites, according to Ocean research. It also has an especially strong connection with younger audiences.

"DeepScreen is a powerful means of cutting through to younger audiences in particular” says Steve Bernard, Ocean’s Head of Insight. “These audiences are typically described as ‘hard to reach’ through broadcast channels, but 3D DOOH engages them in a way that few other broadcast channels can. We’ve also found that they’re more willing to share unique and engaging content consumed on OOH, so social amplification is another unique aspect of the full-motion DOOH opportunity."

DeepScreenAlive, OOH’s most advanced real-time 3D creation tool more recently created by Ocean Labs, is now being used by a growing number of brands, including The British Army and Samsung, to deepen connections and elevate visual impact with the unexpected (see below).

Built on a powerful gaming engine, DeepScreen Alive provides 3D content in real-time and allows integration of components such as interactive features, contextual relevance, and real-time data to generate dynamism, excitement, and impact way beyond that of static imagery. 

“We’ve always been about enabling the creation of outdoor experiences that make people stop, engage, and enjoy. Latest technologies allow us to take the creative potential of this to a whole new level,” says Melanie Blood, Ocean Labs UK head. “With current high demand for interactivity, DeepScreen Alive offers an opportunity to do something very different.” 

Another rapidly evolving opportunity lies in the rise of immersive spaces as landlords and brand owners invest in creating outdoor destinations for people to enjoy. Embedding Ocean technologies such as DeepScreen into such spaces helps make experiences immersive, exciting, and unique enough to earn repeat visits and word of mouth. 

One example is Piccadilly Lights: The Venue, which recently hosted L’Oreal’s “Worth It Experience” (see below). Others include Printworks Skylight – a fully immersive and interactive 1,000 sq m LED ceiling which is the centrepiece of Printworks in Manchester’s busiest restaurants and leisure area.

Ocean also creates pop-up spaces, as it did during Paris 2024 when it hosted fan zones with Team GB, and will do for this summer’s tennis championships in Wimbledon and the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Buzz generated by the raw power of the interactive, immersive, and participative outdoor experiences enabled by today’s technologies has led to talk of “3D DOOH theatre”. Even so, challenges remain, notably around understanding how best to tap the creative potential. 

“There can be an assumption that when creating something, you do so in a linear fashion then have to stick to it,” Blood says. Yet building DeepScreen Alive around a totally dynamic engine ensures flexibility, which means it’s not as complicated or costly to go back and change something if you want to,”.

Meanwhile, an over-focus on using DeepScreen to create shock and awe – or on the need to use every aspect of the technology – can distract from its potential use for subtler, more nuanced interactions.

“DeepScreen Alive is a unique platform with very open-ended technology, meaning time and budget are the only real constraints,” says Tait. The key is understanding how it can be used differently in different scenarios and not getting hung up on how to use the full bells and whistles of it. Sometimes the simplest application has the greatest impact”.

In the words of the Digital Creative Competition strapline: “All you need is an idea”.

The 2025 Digital Creative Competition is run by Ocean Outdoor in partnership with ±±¾©Èü³µpk10. , the closing date for submissions is August 29. Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on October 16. 

Winners in the UK competition will go forward and compete against those from five other European countries for the international Grand Prix. In 2024, the inaugural Grand Prix went to UK Gold winner (commercial category): McVitie’s “Dare to dunk?” campaign by To Boldly Go.