Exploring world of Digital Out of Home advertising

Blue Billboard, a Worthing digital advertising company, gave eight local students a hands-on introduction to the world of DOOH advertising while also giving four local charities a platform to reach thousands of shoppers at the Guildbourne Shopping Centre.

The scheme was led by Holly Sellors, Blue Billboard's office manager and professional artist, who works with students throughout their placements to develop both their creative and professional skills.

Holly explained: “Out Of Home advertising refers to any advertising we see whilst we are out of home like a static (printed) poster on a billboard or poster mount, bus stop etc in a public place.

“Digital Out of Home – DOOH – is the same, except on a digital screen, so any advertising screens seen in public places like gyms, shopping malls, supermarkets, train stations, bus stops.

“Blue Billboard, which operates digital screens across the Guildbourne Centre, hosted the students for work experience placements. They came from Collyers, Bohunt and St Andrews, and spent their time designing real adverts for real causes with their finished work displayed on the screens for the public to see.

“The charities featured were Electric Storm Youth, Sight Support Worthing, Life Centre and Creative Waves, all of which were able to promote their upcoming events to a wide audience through the placements.

“As well as learning design tools including Canva, students were introduced to the growing role of AI in the workplace, with a focus on how it can be used practically to boost productivity rather than replace creativity.”

One of the students, Asa Finch said: “During my week's work experience at Blue Billboard, I delved into the world of DOOH (Digital Out Of Home) advertising in which I learnt a lot of valuable skills that I can take forward with me into my future career.

“The insight I received into this field of work was beyond intriguing; the technology, the use of data and statistics, the systems and programming, we only just touched the base of the vast realm of analytics in this market.

“This work experience saw me work on creating adverts for local businesses and charities throughout the week, which were then displayed in the Guildborne Centre in Worthing.

“To produce a successful advertisement it was important to understand the landscape in which they were being shown. The majority of the billboards are located in shopping centres so therefore people are generally passing by the boards fairly quickly with the dwell time fairly low, meaning that the adverts needed to encompass all the important information that will stand out to someone walking past. This is where I learnt that less is more. Instead of cramming in a lot of information about the brand or charity it was more efficient to carefully select what was going on that advertisement, especially considering they only appear on the billboards for ten seconds at a time.”

Blue Billboard also runs longer-term placements for students interested in software development. Three students are currently working with the company in this capacity, gaining extended experience in a professional environment.