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Author
Mees Rutten
Subject
Digital Out Of Home
Description
Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) is a relatively new form of outdoor advertising. An integration of technologies that allow you to blend animated life into your environment, digitally.

Digital Out Of Home

Merlin Studio

The Post

Experience – Digital Out Of Home

  1. Digital Out Of Home campaigns are taking the streets
  2. DOOH Campaigns: Merging Technology with Outdoor Advertising
  3. An example of an out of home campaign
  4. The Possibilities of DOOH Advertising
  5. Merlin’s Track Record
  6. Crafting an Effective DOOH Campaign
  7. Prototyping & Creative Fridays: Innovating with Hand Tracking, Physics, and 3D Worlds
  8. Conclusion

Digital Out Of Home campaigns are taking the streets

Today's Digital Out Of Home, or DOOH, campaigns are spawning new life into advertising, creating immersive experiences that capture attention like never before.

But Mees, doesn’t Merlin craft web experiences that resonate and impress people beyond comprehension? You’re totally right.

Technologies that power digital billboards and WebAR are perfect examples of web experiences, or “HTML5”, that run seamlessly in the scary outdoor world of displays and billboards.

Some billboards, by companies like CS Media, even have the capability to run small web servers. This allows for multiplayer experiences, turning public spaces into interactive platforms.

Merlin helps agencies and brands by crafting innovative ways to make brands stand out in today's digital world. We empower your team with the latest technologies—like real-time content and gesture-based displays—to create campaigns that captivate, convert, and surprise.
Check out our Prototyping Deck to see our limited time offer.

Merlin's Prototyping Deck

DOOH Campaigns: Merging Technology with Outdoor Advertising

Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising marks an interesting leap from traditional outdoor marketing by the integration of technologies that allow you to blend animated life into your environment, digitally.

Instead of relying on static billboards and posters, digital out-of-home harnesses the power of digital displays, cameras, microphones, interactive elements, and real-time data to deliver dynamic, engaging experiences.

As urban landscapes become more interconnected, brands can now use DOOH campaigns to craft innovative, flexible, and captivating content that stops audiences on the move in their tracks.

Both agencies and businesses should be taking advantage of this trend by leveraging DOOH to create personalized, data-driven campaigns that adapt in real-time to audience behavior, location, and even environmental factors like weather.

For businesses, this means enhanced brand visibility and direct interaction with potential customers in busy places.

By Yune for KitKat

An example of an out of home campaign

This campaign by the Dutch agency: Yune, features funny moments that hook into KitKat’s slogan.

What we like in this campaign is that it utilizes a combination of aspects that make it work. They make the slogan make sense, by hooking into weather, seasons, or moments people have during a hard day’s work.

The Possibilities of DOOH Advertising

In-store displays

Does an in-store display count as out-of-home? For the sake of this article, sure.

Display digital content in a physical location. Sometimes called “Phygital”, a way to showcase digital prowess, gather data, and bind customers digitally while they’re shopping.

You can display out-of-stock items, make people familiar with your online store, or allow people to fit clothes or shoes without having to wait in line.

It can seem counter-productive to distract people while shopping with a digital experience. But inter-connected brands seem to do way better than traditional ones¹.

Interactivity and Engagement

Digital billboards should be inviting you to become part of the experience.

By scanning a QR code or tapping your phone via NFC, your smartphone can transform into a controller, allowing you to be a part of the experience. Maybe you're playing a game, customizing a product, or contributing to a live poll that shapes what's shown next.

This seamless integration of mobile technology bridges the gap between the physical and digital worlds. By utilizing protocols like WebSockets, the billboard can handle real-time interactions from multiple users simultaneously. Groups of friends or even strangers can collaborate or compete, turning a passive viewing experience into an engagement with your brand.

Is this the future of out-of-home advertising? Absolutely. It's not just about displaying content anymore; it's about creating meaningful interactions and telling elaborate stories.

By hooking up smartphones, brands can extend the experience beyond the screen; back into homes, gather valuable insights, and foster a deeper connection with their audience.

Augmented Reality (AR) Experiences

Augmented Reality is changing the game. Billboards can be hybrid now. Both static and digital at the same time. Let me explain.

Using a QR Code, you can point your phone camera to the poster and visit a website. With machine learning, we can train a program to recognize the poster through your phone’s camera. By replacing or adding 3D content to the camera’s view, we extend reality and add new life to what you see.

You're not just looking at an ad anymore; you're part of an interactive brand story. Brands can use this to elaborate on narratives, showcase products in 3D space, or even hand out digital goodies or coupons on the spot.

Some billboards or displays have built-in cameras. These can detect when people are nearby and trigger interactive content accordingly. Maybe the display changes as you approach, or it reacts to your gestures. It's a whole new level of engagement that turns passersby into active participants.

We’ve been experimenting loads with gesture-based displays and billboards, more on that later.

By combining AR with (digital) out-of-home advertising, brands can connect with audiences in new ways.

Realtime Content

Being able to dynamically update content allows for interesting opportunities when advertising out of home.

Being able to change content instantly based on the time of day, weather, or events is invaluable. By creating moments you create memories, allowing people time to interact with your brand may leave a lasting, positive impression.

Changing the OOH’s copy or assets based on temperature, rain, or sun can be very interesting for travel, retail, or seasonal brands.

Next to that, dynamic content is particularly handy when it comes to tailoring to the wants of specific locations, audiences, or other demographics.

Conclusion

Digital Out-of-Home advertising offers limitless opportunities for brands to create interactive, immersive, and data-driven campaigns that engage people in meaningful ways. From real-time updates and relevant context to augmented reality, the potential for magical innovation is enormous.

As brands embrace these technologies, they enhance brand visibility but also foster deeper customer connections, driving engagement both in-store and out in the world. Adopting DOOH is no longer just a trend—for the right brand, it can be a powerful strategy for staying ahead in today’s digital-first world.

Ipad

Merlin’s Track Record

Dior: The Garden of Dreams WebAR

Merlin Studio helped GoSpooky bring Dior’s "The Garden of Dreams" to life through an enchanting WebAR experience. Users were invited into a ~2-minute virtual journey where they navigated a magical maze, with custom 3D WebGL animations guiding them through interactive challenges.

Thanks to scalable graphics optimized for iPhones as old as the iPhone 7, this immersive experience reached a broad audience. This is one of many unique features built at Merlin, powering our 3D experiences.

Beyond captivating visuals, the experience allowed users to seamlessly move into the e-commerce environment, blending the magic of AR with Dior’s luxurious brand identity. This project is an example of how technology can elevate online shopping into a memory.

Heineken: Ghost in a Bar

For Heineken, Merlin Studio created a unique, user-generated campaign called "A friend in the office is a ghost at the Bar."

Users uploaded images of friends, which were transformed into ghostly figures that haunted a Heineken bar setting, powered by AI for face recognition and machine learning-based image processing. Don’t worry, the generated assets were completely private and people receiving them from friends received a free beer at their favorite Heineken bar.

With more than 10,000 users transforming friends into ghosts, this spooky yet playful experience encouraged social media sharing, generating user-generated content that can quickly go viral.

Heineken successfully tapped into the fun of digital interactivity, creating an unforgettable campaign that boosted both brand engagement and online visibility.

Avastars: Interactive Poster Campaign

In the Avastars campaign, Merlin created an augmented reality experience using posters as AR triggers.

Spread throughout the Netherlands, these posters featured a scannable QR code that activated an immersive scene. When scanned, the posters transformed into interactive stages where a digital Avastar character emerged and performed a sneak peek of their performance.

Together with GoSpooky, we allowed people from all over the country to interact with characters and build brand awareness before the show was launched.

After the poster campaign ended and the TV show aired. We collaborated once again to create an AR experience that took place in your living room. Allowing you to view performances right there and then, and even record or take photos with your favorite character.

Dior, Heineken Silver, and Talpa

Crafting an Effective DOOH Campaign

Creating a successful DOOH campaign is done with a few pointers:

  • Know your audience
  • Bring the concept to life, creatively
  • Correct technical implementation
  • Regulatory compliance and accessibility
  • Balance

It starts with knowing your audience. It's about understanding where and how they interact with the world around them and your brand. When we grasp what makes our audience tick, the campaign feels personal and hits the mark.

Next, bringing the creative concept to life is where the magic happens.

Storytelling and visual impact are key here. We craft narratives that resonate, using high-quality graphics, motion, and animations that stand out amidst the urban clutter. As an individual with undiagnosed ADD symptoms, I love a shiny, distracting billboard.

The visuals shouldn’t be just eye-catching. They should amplify the brand message, ensuring the campaign leaves an impression and makes you top of mind.

Then comes technical implementation, where creativity meets Merlinical precision. Coding well, ensures everything runs smoothly, so the experience is seamless and engaging, without annoying breaks.

Finally, regulatory compliance and accessibility can't be overlooked. The campaign must adhere to local advertising laws and, most importantly, be inclusive and usable.

At Merlin, accessibility and usability are top priority when creating web experiences.

By following Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), we ensure people can experience the campaign, including those with minor disabilities. Inclusivity isn't just a box to tick—it's essential for reaching a wider audience, making you more likable as a brand, and making a genuine impact.

In the end, a well-executed DOOH campaign balances creativity with technical features, making it engaging, functional, and accessible.

It's about creating that magical experience that not only captures attention but also fosters a deeper connection with the audience.

Prototyping & Creative Fridays: Innovating with Hand Tracking, Physics, and 3D Worlds

At Merlin Studio, prototyping is our most cast spell, and nowhere is this more evident than in our Creative Fridays. These dedicated sessions give our wizards the freedom to explore the latest technologies and experiment with immersive experiences.

One of our recent prototypes combined hand-tracking, real-world physics, and 3D worlds, resulting in an interactive environment that responds naturally to human gestures.

To become a Jedi, if you like.

By fusing these elements, we created a fully immersive experience that could easily be applied to a digital billboard or display, where users interact with dynamic content in public spaces or conferences through intuitive, touchless gestures.

These prototypes enable brands to create gesture-based interactions, place products in 3D space, offer virtual try-on experiences, or captivate audiences with immersive 3D scenes integrated into the real world, transforming traditional advertising into dynamic, interactive experiences.

Emiel trying physics
Hand Tracking Cannon Control Demo

Conclusion

Digital Out-of-Home advertising is rapidly reshaping the landscape of outdoor marketing, transforming public spaces into dynamic, interactive canvases. With technologies like WebAR, real-time 3D, and AI-driven interactions, brands can now create immersive experiences that captivate audiences in ways that traditional billboards never could.

Whether it’s using augmented reality to bring a static poster to life, employing gesture-based controls for deeper engagement, or offering real-time updates based on audience behavior or environmental factors, DOOH unlocks creativity and connection.

DOOH is not just the future of advertising—it’s the present reality. For brands looking to stand out, the ability to create interactive, impactful campaigns that bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds is key to building deeper, more meaningful connections with their audience.

As a creative Code Boutique, we bring together technologies like WebAR, real-time 3D powered by WebGL, and multiplayer interaction to create immersive and engaging digital campaigns. Whether it's tinkering with physics or developing responsive, touch-enabled displays, each campaign is a tailored experience designed to captivate your audience.



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