You are standing at a busy crossing in your city waiting for the traffic signal to red so that you can finally cross to the other side of the road and go home.

As your eyes wander, a huge screen comes alive above a storefront. The screen is filled with warm colours and a quick QR code comes on display that tempts you to act. For a few seconds, the screen feels more aware of the weather than anyone waiting alongside you.

Moments like these show why digital out of home advertising has become a powerful mid-funnel tool for Indian brands. These screens speak at the exact moment when audiences are already halfway through their decisions. 

They capture attention without interrupting and they guide people toward small actions that often bring conversions.

Anna Bager, CEO of the OAAA, summarised this strength perfectly when she said, 

“It is brand safe. You cannot skip it. You cannot block it. It gives creators a bold way to speak to people.”  

(Source: Digital Technologies Are Transforming Out-of-Home Advertising: OAAA’s Anna Bager, Timestamp: 2.42)

Her words describe why DOOH now feels closer to performance media than traditional outdoor.

What Is Digital Out of Home Advertising?

Digital out of home advertising uses digital screens in public or semi-public spaces to reach audiences during daily routines. These screens appear on unipoles, in parking areas, in shopping districts, in clubs, at transit stations, and inside mall complexes. 

Brands rely on digital OOH advertising because the medium brings motion and interactivity in one place.

Digital out of home media helps marketers create messages that adjust to weather, time, behaviour, and context. Unlike static out of home advertising, these formats can be adapted to real-time updates and user journeys that can be tracked and measured.

A great example of this sits in West Delhi’s Tilak Nagar Market. Our team at Excellent Advertising managed a twenty by ten foot digital unipole here that stays visible from both sides of the busy retail street. 

The illumination and height of the unit helped the brand stay noticeable even as the market filled with customers through the day. This placement shows how DOOH can remain effective in chaos filled and high-noise locations.

Why DOOH Advertising Is Growing Rapidly in 2025

Brands across India are rethinking how they speak to people who are already halfway through their decisions. DOOH fits neatly into this moment because it responds to real conditions and reaches audiences during everyday routines. Let’s look into some reasons which explain why DOOH advertising is scaling fast:

1. Real-Time Content and Programmatic Buying

Programmatic buying helps advertisers run campaigns that adjust to real conditions. 

Screens in Delhi Metro stations and newer smart locations in Hyderabad and Pune update content through automated bidding. This helps DOOH digital out of home messages appear only when the right audience is present.

Andrew Rose, VP EMEA captured this shift when he explained that programmatic DOOH could take up a major share of global outdoor spending within a few years. 

“Real-time, engaging campaigns like this, tracked through brand lift tools, highlight how DOOH’s rising adoption combines high visibility, dynamic creative, and precise targeting.” - Andrew Rose.

His point reflects the direction Indian advertisers are heading toward, especially as programmatic platforms grow more accessible.

2. Better Targeting and Audience Measurement

The idea that outdoor cannot be measured belongs to another time. 

Today, brands track behaviour through mobile data, QR scans, and website visits connected to screen exposure. Seventy four percent of mobile users take action after seeing a DOOH creative, which shows how outdoor and mobile journeys often sit close together.

This helps teams understand how digital out of home DOOH advertising influences consideration and conversion, especially in mid-funnel planning.

3. High Engagement with Dynamic Creative

Weather-linked and time-linked creatives often deliver higher recall because they feel relevant in the moment. For example, heatwaves boost cold beverage campaigns. Rain helps food brands promote warm snacks or delivery offers. These seasonal cues guide purchase decisions.

McDonalds’ ‘Crave & Claim’ campaign

McDonald’s Philippines used weather triggers to generate close to one lakh impressions a day during a short campaign period. Foot traffic increased meaningfully after the activation. 

These examples highlight how digital OOH advertising can speak to people with quick, context-based cues that stay memorable.

4. Better ROI Compared to Traditional OOH Advertising

A static billboard runs for months with steady visibility but little movement. Then a DOOH screen goes live, and the pattern changes. People start scanning. Brand recall grows. What looks like a small shift in format often becomes a clear shift in outcome.

Mordor Intelligence Research & Advisory. (2025 , November). India OOH And DOOH Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends And Forecast (2025 - 2030). Mordor Intelligence. Retrieved December 11, 2025,

The wider market reflects this change. India’s combined outdoor sector is valued at USD 519.93 million in 2025 and is expected to reach USD 656.13 million by 2030. 

The growth appears modest until you look at how quickly digital screens are climbing. Static formats grow at two to three percent each year, while DOOH advances at more than seven percent. (Source)

This pace is reshaping the entire category. By 2030, DOOH is set to hold more than half of all outdoor media. The DOOH market alone, valued at USD 2.2 billion in 2024, is projected to reach USD 6.3 billion by 2033 at nearly twelve percent annual growth. (Source)

Interactive features strengthen the effect further, with sixty seven percent of Indian viewers more likely to participate when a screen invites action. These moments of attention deliver conversion rates almost two and a half times higher than traditional outdoor.

What Are The Key DOOH Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Formats in India

Indian cities use a mix of formats:

1. Large digital billboards in high-traffic corridors. An excellent example is in Ahmedabad at Karnavati Club, where Excellent Advertising operates a sixteen by nine foot LED screen at the front of the campus. Visitors approaching the entrance take a moment to read the content because the area stays calm and the display sits at clear eye level. This placement works well for lifestyle, fitness, and F&B brands that want visibility among club-going audiences.
2. Transit screens at airports, metros, train stations, and bus stations like the one Excellent Publicity placed at Sector 7, Panchkula, Haryana Near DC Model School.
3. In-mall and retail placement networks.
4. Digital units installed in club campuses, parking areas, and markets.
5. Smart kiosks with QR-based actions.

How Brands Are Using DOOH to Boost ROI in 2025

Indian marketers have been shifting their outdoor budgets noticeably. DOOH now forms roughly one fifth of India’s outdoor market and is expected to reach nearly one third by the end of 2025. (Source)

The movement feels natural thanks to rapid urban growth, new tech infrastructure, smart city projects, and ROI clarity that static outdoor rarely provides.

Some categories have moved faster than others.

Real estate developers lifted their DOOH spending by twenty eight percent in 2024, stepping away from their long dependence on static billboards. FMCG, mobile, BFSI, e-commerce, OTT platforms, fintech, and q-commerce brands followed a similar path. (Source)

These sectors rely on recall, speed, and cultural hooks, which DOOH supports with motion and context.

Flipkart’s Big Billion Days: A Story That Travelled Everywhere

A standout example arrived in September 2025 when Flipkart used DOOH to tell a playful and data-led story instead of pushing individual offers. The brand created witty comparisons that stayed rooted in local culture:

• Mumbai: “The amount of rain in Mumbai? Still less than iPhones sold during Flipkart’s last Big Billion Days.”
• Bengaluru: “Startup ideas born every day? Still less than iPhones sold during Flipkart’s last Big Billion Days.”
• Delhi: “Daily passengers of the Delhi Metro? Still less than iPhones sold during Flipkart’s last Big Billion Days.”

These lines appeared across metro stations, airport screens, high-street placements, and commuter routes. Flipkart even shaped farmland near Bengaluru and Kanpur airports into crop-circle patterns announcing Big Billion Days. Travellers photographed them, and the story spread online without any push.

The results matched the ambition:

• Forty two percent aided recall in metro cities.
• CPMs of ₹120 to ₹180, far lower than many digital display formats.
• Ten to fifteen crores in estimated earned media.
• Strong post-sale momentum that kept the brand visible for weeks after the event

Why DOOH Works for Measurement and ROI

Brands now rely on DOOH because its measurement tools finally match mid-funnel goals:

1. Mobile location matching:

Teams study how many exposed devices later open an app, visit a website, or walk into a store.

2. QR code tracking:

Each scan records time, date, place, and device behaviour which helps teams understand intent.

3. Offline-to-online journeys:

People exposed to DOOH respond more to related mobile ads, with engagement rising by thirty eight percent.

4. Retail analytics:

Geofenced insights linked to footfall data often deliver two to three times the accuracy of traditional outdoor.

5. Programmatic insights:

Real-time bidding data reveals which screens, places, hours, and conditions create the strongest response

What Are The Best Practices to Maximize ROI with Digital Out of Home Media?

DOOH works best when each element , the moment, the message, and the screen, supports a clear action in the mid-funnel journey. The practices below help teams shape campaigns that stay relevant and measurable across different locations.

1. Choose High-Traffic DOOH Locations

Brands should pick locations where people pause or pass through regularly. Market streets like Tilak Nagar catch active shoppers. Club campuses like Karnavati offer focused audiences in calmer surroundings. 

Parking areas like the one in Sector 8 Panchkula help brands reach people who have a moment to spare. Each setting supports a different intention.

2. Use Short, Powerful, Dynamic Creatives

Clear visuals and crisp lines work better than long explanations. Weather triggers, time-based sequences, and simple QR prompts help capture attention.

3. Integrate DOOH with Social and Mobile Ads

Once someone scans a QR code, visits a landing page, or searches for a brand name after exposure, the mobile journey begins. Smart retargeting strengthens the mid-funnel path.

4. Use Programmatic DOOH Platforms

Programmatic buying gives brands control over time blocks and conditions. Food chains can run weekend evening bursts. Fitness brands can activate morning hours during peak resolution season. Retailers can align schedules with payday cycles.

5. Measure Results with Footfall and Mobile Tracking

Mobile location tools, scan data, and website visit patterns reveal the effect of each screen. This helps marketers fine-tune their next cycle of creatives and placements.

Why Should Brands Invest in DOOH Advertising in 2026?

Indian audiences respond well to visual cues. Cities now carry richer networks of digital screens, and more 

MSMEs are starting to use these placements because the entry cost is manageable. DOOH stands out because it meets people during everyday movement without interrupting their routine.

Bager’s reminder still guides many marketers. She said, 

“Outdoor works as a standalone and strengthens other media when used together.” 

(Source: Digital Technologies Are Transforming Out-of-Home Advertising: OAAA’s Anna Bager, Timestamp: 1.50)

Her view reflects the steady shift toward DOOH in mid-funnel strategies.

Final Thoughts

India’s cities are full of small moments where screens quietly shape decisions. A pause in a market, a calm entry into a club campus, or a short wait in a parking area can guide people toward their next choice. 

These moments show why digital out of home advertising has become a reliable partner for brands planning their 2025 strategy.

If your team wants placements that meet audiences in the right settings and support mid-funnel movement, Excellent Advertising can help you explore locations that match your category and timing needs. 

Our network of digital screens across India provides useful ground for performance-linked outdoor planning.