There's Always Something Happening Here!

Priming is one of the most significant—yet least visible—mechanisms explaining why OOH and DOOH often generate greater impact than “last-click” models reveal. When people first encounter a message in the public sphere, their brains are “pre-set” to notice it when that same message reappears on their mobile, in social media, or on a website. The effect is manifested as improved performance in other channels, not necessarily as a direct line item in the OOH report.

JCDecaux, in several projects with Lumen Research, has demonstrated how this priming effect works in practice and why it is becoming increasingly vital in a cookieless future.

What is priming in a marketing context?

In psychology, priming describes how an earlier exposure influences how we interpret and react to later stimuli, often without us being conscious of it. In marketing, this means:

• An initial contact with a brand (e.g., an OOH exposure) makes the brain faster and more inclined to notice, recognize, and react to the same brand later.

• The effect is not just about “liking” but primarily about mental availability—the brand feels familiar and is easier to choose when the need arises.

• When this first contact occurs through out-of-home advertising situated in people’s natural, everyday environment, it creates a visual memory that other channels can build upon.

JCDecaux x Lumen: Proof that OOH primes digital channels

JCDecaux UK commissioned Lumen Research to conduct an attention study titled “Primed and ready for the cookieless future” to test a clear hypothesis: if you expose people to a message on digital out-of-home (DOOH) first, does it increase their attention to the same message online? The study shows:

• Exposure in DOOH increased the likelihood of noticing subsequent digital ads with the same creative execution.

• The combination of OOH/DOOH and digital advertising can create an amplifying effect, where “2+2 equals 5,” compared to showing the same digital ads without visual priming. This is a concept further detailed by Mike Follett, MD of Lumen Research, for The Media Leader.

• The effect stems from visual recognition, not individual-based tracking. This makes priming a powerful tool in a world where third-party cookies are becoming less reliable due to browser blocking, stricter privacy legislation, and shifts like Google’s Privacy Sandbox.

The priming chain: From street to screen

A simplified journey looks like this:

1. First contact – Public screen: A consumer passes a DOOH screen in a transit hub and sees a brand campaign, clearly branded with a logo, color palette, and key message. The motif is registered both consciously and unconsciously.

2. Second contact – Private screen: Later that day, the person scrolls through social media or reads news online. When a banner or social ad with the same visual identity appears, it feels more relevant and is easier to notice. The Lumen study shows that this prior DOOH exposure increases the actual attention time spent on the digital ad.

3. Third contact – Search or retail: When the need arises and the consumer searches for the product, clicks an offer, or stands in front of the shelf, the brand is “top of mind.” This increases the likelihood that that specific brand is chosen.

Priming in a world without third-party cookies

As browsers like Safari and Firefox have long blocked third-party cookies by default, and Google moves toward more privacy-centric solutions in Chrome, the logic that long dominated digital advertising—”follow the person”—is becoming more expensive and less reliable. JCDecaux and Lumen suggest an alternative logic: follow the attention, not the individual.

OOH/DOOH creates broad reach and strong visual memory without using personal data. When the same creative is mirrored in digital channels, it captures attention because it feels familiar, not because the recipient is technically tracked.

What does the priming effect mean for ROI, ROAS, and ROMI?

Because the priming effect is largely realized in other channels, OOH risks being undervalued if one only looks at its own click data. With proper analysis, however, the connections are clear:

• ROI (Return on Investment): When OOH/DOOH is in the mix, total campaign ROI often improves because more digital contacts become effective.

• ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): Priming can cause search and social campaigns to achieve higher ROAS in areas or periods where the OOH campaign is active compared to areas without OOH support. In practice, part of “digital ROAS” is actually a result of visual priming from OOH/DOOH.

• ROMI (Return on Marketing Investment): When viewing marketing as a whole (brand + performance), OOH/DOOH becomes a central investment to raise the total ROMI.

How to use the priming effect in planning and measurement

1. Plan OOH/DOOH as the first contact: Define the role of OOH/DOOH as the “priming engine” in your strategy, aiming to create mental availability and a visual memory before a digital activation. Ensure creative consistency (logos, colors, key visuals).

2. Sync public and private screens: Run DOOH and digital campaigns in parallel rather than in sequence to amplify the priming effect between public and private screens. Use DOOH networks near key purchase situations (e.g., commute routes, retail hubs) and follow up with mobile and desktop in the same geographies.

3. Measure beyond the last click: Compare ROAS in digital channels in areas with and without OOH presence. Conduct A/B or geo-split studies to isolate the extra effect contributed by OOH priming. Integrate OOH/DOOH exposure into Marketing Mix Models (MMM) to capture both attention and sales impact.

Conclusion: OOH and DOOH should rarely be judged in isolation. A smart (D)OOH strategy is one of the most effective ways to make other channels perform better. When planning your next campaign, ask yourself: How can we use OOH/DOOH to prime the audience so that every subsequent digital contact is worth more? This is where the true power of out-of-home advertising lies.

How Outdoor Impact 2.0 Works

Measuring out-of-home advertising is fundamentally about moving beyond counting how many people pass by, to understanding how many actual contacts the advertising creates. Outdoor Impact 2.0 is the industry’s unified model for measuring OOH in Sweden. It allows us to calculate reach, frequency, and GRP for out-of-home advertising in a way that is comparable to other media.

Everything begins with traffic measurement. We start with traffic flows and record how many people pass a site during a specific period. These flows indicate potential, but they do not represent actual contacts. The next step is to calculate Opportunity To See (OTS), which describes the theoretical number of exposure opportunities. From there, we move toward Opportunity To Contact (OTC), taking into account how many people are actually in a position to perceive the advertisement.

The key to Outdoor Impact 2.0 is Visibility Adjustment (VA). Here, the raw traffic figures are adjusted: distance, angle, size, height, and surrounding visual noise are all factored in to determine the probability that someone will actually notice the site. The result is Visibility Adjusted Contacts (VAC). This is the model’s central contact metric and the foundation for calculating reach in (D)OOH.

Once VAC is calculated, the model can determine both gross reach and net reach—the total number of contacts created by the campaign and the number of unique individuals reached. We derive frequency by setting gross reach in relation to net reach, and GRP indicates the campaign pressure within the target audience. Additionally, we use Coverage Rate to describe what proportion of the target audience the campaign reaches for a given investment.

Outdoor Impact 2.0 is based on updated traffic data, higher geographic resolution, and shared standards for how out-of-home advertising is measured. The model is adapted for both traditional OOH and DOOH and handles everything from individual premium locations to large, broad networks. For those planning their media mix, this means that out-of-home advertising can be weighed against other channels using the same types of KPIs: reach, frequency, and GRP. Outdoor Impact’s documentation provides a concrete example where a weekly flow of approximately 170,000 passersby is reduced to around 88,000 OTS contacts, and then further down to VAC when visibility and speed are factored in. This clearly demonstrates how the model proceeds step-by-step from raw traffic flows to more realistic contact metrics. Source: Outdoor Impact.

In summary, Outdoor Impact 2.0 provides a shared, data-driven language for measuring out-of-home advertising. We move from traffic flows to VA-adjusted contacts, gaining a stable foundation to plan, compare, and optimize (D)OOH investments in a structured and transparent manner.

What is the “Super Bowl effect” in marketing?

The “Super Bowl effect” refers to what happens when a brand chooses an extremely prestigious, expensive, and high-visibility advertising space—such as a Super Bowl commercial in the U.S.—not just for the reach, but for the signal it sends.

You are not just buying contacts. You are buying a statement:

• “We are a large, serious brand.”

• “We take our market seriously.”

• “We expect to be around for a long time.”

Similar to the “peacock effect,” it is about showing off, but the stage here is a specific, iconic platform rather than a consistent presence over time.

Why do brands invest in Super Bowl advertising?

Question: Why do brands spend enormous sums on 30 seconds of advertising during the Super Bowl? Answer: To achieve three things simultaneously:

1. Massive reach at a single moment: The Super Bowl gathers a huge audience all at once. This turns the commercial into a cultural moment rather than a standard spot buy.

2. Status and legitimacy: Being seen there is a status signal in itself. Brands that advertise during the Super Bowl are perceived as large, stable, and serious.

3. Amplified earned media: Super Bowl ads are analyzed, shared, reviewed, and discussed on social media, in the press, and on podcasts. A strong ad can have much more impact than the placement itself if it becomes a conversation starter.

This means the purchase carries a symbolic weight far beyond the raw number of contacts.

How does the Super Bowl effect relate to the peacock effect?

Question: Are the Super Bowl effect and the peacock effect the same thing? Answer: They are closely related but not identical.

• The peacock effect is about being seen big, clearly, and often in people’s daily lives—for example, through OOH in city centers, subways, and on billboards.

• The Super Bowl effect is about being seen big, clearly, and at the “right” iconic moment—such as a Super Bowl spot, a massive halftime exposure, or another major media event.

Common denominators:

• A strong status signal.

• An “everyone sees us” feeling.

• The brand is perceived as bigger than it was before.

The main difference:

• Peacock effect: Builds the brand through continuity, presence, and proximity in everyday life (what you do with OOH/DOOH).

• Super Bowl effect: Builds the brand through a concentrated, symbolic “power move” at a single, charged moment.

In practice, they work best together: the iconic moment (Super Bowl effect) achieves full force only when the brand is also felt and seen in people’s daily lives (peacock effect via OOH).

Is there a “Super Bowl effect” in Sweden?

Question: We don’t have a Super Bowl; can the effect be translated to our market? Answer: Yes. The Super Bowl effect is essentially a principle: being seen in a context that signals size and importance. In Sweden, equivalents might include:

• Nationally televised live events.

• Sponsorships and visibility during major sports or cultural events.

• Specially charged times of the year—such as Christmas, post-holiday sales, back-to-school season, or election campaigns.

When many people are watching simultaneously, talking about the same thing, and the media is focused on one moment, advertising in that context carries a logic similar to the Super Bowl spots in the U.S. However, it becomes even stronger when that “statement moment” is supported by a clear presence in people’s everyday lives—and this is where out-of-home (OOH) advertising comes in.

How to create a “Super Bowl effect” with OOH/DOOH

Question: How can you achieve an effect similar to Super Bowl advertising using OOH/DOOH? Answer: By combining two things:

1. Iconic, prestigious sites.

2. High visual and creative impact.

Examples with JCDecaux:

• Large billboards in premium city-center locations.

• MetroVision: Europe’s largest digital format in the subway.

• Domination of an entire station or a major transit hub.

• Networks that link ground-level sites (bus shelters, city screens, billboards) with digital screens underground (the subway).

When you “go big” in these environments at a crucial time (launch, rebranding, campaign kickoff), you create a local variant of the Super Bowl effect: a clear, visually and socially noticeable moment where the brand steps into the spotlight.

How does MetroVision enhance the Super Bowl effect?

Question: Why is MetroVision particularly interesting in this logic? Answer: Because MetroVision is effectively a “Super Bowl format” in the subway:

• It is the largest digital format in that environment.

• It offers extreme visual dominance—seen from both a distance and up close.

• It is a natural hub in the traveler’s journey through the station.

By pairing MetroVision with other digital screens underground, using the same creative, and utilizing “share of time” so you appear on all relevant screens simultaneously, you create a concentrated, powerful moment that feels like, “Wow, they are taking over the whole station,” while reinforcing the peacock effect.

What is the difference between “just being there” and creating a Super Bowl effect?

Question: Is it enough to be seen in a prestigious context, or does it require more? Answer: The context is important, but it is the combination of context, creative, and scale that creates the effect.

• “Just being there”: Single sites, low frequency, cautious creative expression.

• Creating a Super Bowl effect: Large formats (billboards, MetroVision), coordination of many sites simultaneously, creative that dares to take up space and feels like an event itself, with a clear link to something important (a product launch, rebranding, or brand-defining campaign).

How to connect the Super Bowl effect to the rest of your marketing

Question: What does a smart combination look like between a “Super Bowl moment” and the rest of the media plan? Answer:

1. Anchor it in the peacock effect: Ensure the brand is already present in people’s daily lives through continuous OOH/DOOH presence. This makes the big moment a natural climax rather than an isolated one-off.

2. Build up, execute, follow up:

   • Before: Teasers and presence on selected billboards, bus shelters, and digital screens.

   • During: A powerful “statement” (MetroVision + Innovate solutions) during launch days.

   • After: Extend the life digitally by reusing material in social media, on the website, and in PR.

3. Measure both short-term impact and long-term status: Direct metrics like increased searches and web traffic, and indirect metrics like brand perception, association with “big solutions,” preference, and top-of-mind.

Summary: When does it pay off to invest in the Super Bowl effect?

The Super Bowl effect is the right path when you:

• Want to make a clear statement in the market.

• Have a launch or campaign that defines the brand.

• Want to combine brand building with major PR and buzz value.

• Already have, or are planning, a broader presence in people’s daily lives via OOH (the peacock effect).

The peacock effect ensures you are seen big and consistently. The Super Bowl effect ensures that certain moments become iconic. Together, they help you both build the brand long-term and create moments that people actually remember.

A well‑designed media mix is less about individual channels and more about how they reinforce one another. Out‑of‑home ((D)OOH) acts as a physical, always‑on presence that connects the rest of your investments. OOH builds recognition in everyday environments, while TV, radio, social media and search capture and deepen interest.

Evidence from both academic research and industry studies shows that the greatest impact often occurs when channels are combined, rather than optimised in isolation. MMM studies and industry bodies such as IPA and WFA emphasize that overall effectiveness typically comes from how channels are combined (reach + frequency + distinct roles), rather than from any single channel on its own. In the report “Making effectiveness work”, IPA describes how MMM, experimentation and attribution should be used together, stressing the importance of understanding the whole picture: how different channels and activities jointly drive impact, not just each one individually. Major MMM players such as Ipsos explicitly highlight “cross‑channel synergies” as a key issue: they measure not only ROI per channel, but also halo and synergy effects between channels when optimising the mix.

In combination with TV, (D)OOH builds reach over time. TV can create sharp peaks, while an OOH network across shelters, bus stops, street furniture and standalone sites maintains visibility between heavier burst periods. Burst periods are the shorter, intensive campaign phases when you apply high media pressure over a limited time – for example, a couple of weeks of heavy TV and digital advertising around a launch or promotion. Between these bursts, brands often reduce pressure (“always‑on light”) or are almost silent in certain channels. With (D)OOH, your brand continues to be visible in the same urban environments where the audience moves, regardless of whether TV pressure is currently high or low.

Radio works in tandem with (D)OOH by adding sound on top of an already established visual picture. As listeners move through the city and see the same message on outdoor sites, the link between audio and visual is strengthened. Campaigns can be planned so that radio pressure peaks in time windows where traffic flows and (D)OOH placements deliver maximum exposure.

Social media and search capture the demand that (D)OOH helps trigger. When people recognise a message from the street, the threshold is lower to click on an ad or type a brand name into a search bar. Programmatic buying of digital out‑of‑home (prDOOH) can reinforce this by controlling digital screens in those OOH environments where you know the target audience is present shortly before typical search or purchase moments.

Creative (D)OOH executions – so‑called special builds, productised in Sweden by JCDecaux as “Innovate” – can function as the hub of the media mix. A 3D outdoor installation or a local takeover campaign creates tangible content that can be amplified in TV coverage, social content and PR. Standardised formats such as Eurosize Major Cities or Digisize National around these executions ensure that a broad audience actually experiences the idea in everyday life, not just in feeds.

To identify the best formats for reach and impact, the media mix should be planned from the location outward. Start with where the target audience moves, which environments are strategic, and how (D)OOH can establish a clear baseline presence. TV, radio, social and search are then layered on top of this structure, with clearly defined roles for each channel. In this way, out‑of‑home is used to hold the whole system together, rather than as a standalone add‑on.

Out‑of‑home advertising is now an established component of many marketing budgets, but effectiveness is determined by more than just which sites you buy. Equally important are the frameworks, standards and sources of insight you rely on. This is where Brand Marketing Association Sweden (formerly Sveriges Annonsörer) and Sveriges Marknadsförbund become highly relevant, even for those working specifically with OOH and DOOH.

Brand Marketing Sweden (formerly Sveriges Annonsörer) drives issues related to transparency, measurability and contract terms across the media market. This influences how out‑of‑home is priced, how reach is reported and how comparisons with other channels are made. When industry bodies negotiate common recommendations on, for example, measurement standards, data management or sustainability, it has a direct impact on how OOH investments can be justified internally.

Sveriges Marknadsförbund takes a broader perspective on marketing and brand building. For an advertiser using out‑of‑home, this means access to analysis, case studies and research that position OOH within a wider media mix. Topics such as how OOH interacts with social media, how prDOOH can be connected to digital purchase journeys, or when creative OOH solutions deliver the strongest impact are often discussed in a larger strategic context.

Both organisations also create networks where advertisers can compare experiences. This may include how to procure OOH networks in a structured way, how to follow up on placements in different environments, or how to work with select sites around stores in a way that is measurable and evaluable. A more shared view on best practice benefits everyone who uses OOH.

For those looking to develop their use of out‑of‑home, membership and active engagement offer the opportunity to influence how the industry evolves. Standards for measurement, views on contact quality and discussions about the best formats for reach are not defined by individual suppliers, but through dialogue between advertisers, media owners and industry organisations. In that process, Brand Marketing Association Sweden and Sveriges Marknadsförbund are key platforms.

How visibility is adjusted in out-of-home measurement

Today, out-of-home (OOH) and digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising are planned with far greater precision than simply counting the number of sites and traffic flows. To ensure campaigns can be compared fairly, standardized visibility metrics are used. Concepts such as VA (Visibility Adjustment), VAC (Visibility Adjusted Contacts), and VAI (Visibility Adjustment Index) help both buyers and sellers transition from asking “how many people pass by?” to “how many actually had a realistic opportunity to see and absorb the message?”—in line with global guidelines for OOH measurement.

VA: The adjustment that moves us beyond raw traffic figures

VA is based on gross traffic flows: how many people pass a site by car, on foot, or via public transport. These figures are then adjusted based on the actual conditions required to perceive the site, such as:

• Distance

• Angle to the traffic flow

• Speed (car, pedestrian, bicycle, etc.)

• Height and size

• Potential obstructions and competing visual impressions

Once the visibility adjustment is applied, we obtain a more realistic basis for the next step: VAC.

VAC – Visibility Adjusted Contacts (“Those who actually saw it”)

VAC (Visibility Adjusted Contacts) is the metric used as the “currency” in modern OOH measurement systems, both by JCDecaux and in international guidelines from ESOMAR and the WFA. The concept is straightforward: instead of counting everyone who could have seen a site (OTC – Opportunity To Contact), we only count contacts where the ad was truly perceivable.

To calculate VAC, we combine:

• Visibility-adjusted flows (VA)

• Exposure time and the duration people spend in the environment

• Movement patterns (how people navigate between different sites in a network)

At JCDecaux, we describe this as the core of high-quality (D)OOH measurement: the best systems deliver “viewed impressions”—meaning data on how many people actually saw the ad (VAC), rather than just how many walked or drove past. Outdoor Impact 2.0 uses VAC as the foundational metric for calculating reach, frequency, and total contacts.

VAI – How high is the quality of the contact?

VAI (Visibility Adjustment Index) goes a step further by describing the quality of the contact—essentially, how favorable the conditions are for the message to be read and understood. In systems like Geopath in the U.S., VAI is calculated based on factors such as:

• Surface size

• Road type and roadside positioning

• Distance from the road

• Lighting and surrounding environment

VAI is used to compare visibility quality between different sites, not just traffic volume. This means, for example, that a site with lower traffic volume but a better angle, superior legibility, and longer dwell time can have a higher value than an extremely high-traffic location with poorer visibility.

In DOOH, factors such as spot duration and loop frequency also play a major role in the strength of the actual contact. A short spot that appears infrequently generates a weaker contact than a spot that appears more often and during times when the target audience is truly present, even if the passing volume is the same.

Source: JCDecaux, “OOH Audience Measurement 101 – Who, What, Where, Why?”

Why this matters for OOH planning

Together, VA, VAC, and VAI make it possible to steer OOH and DOOH investments toward locations where the campaign is not just visible on a map, but also:

• Actually seen within the available timeframe

• Readable and understandable

• Possesses a reasonable chance of influencing behavior or attitude

This is at the heart of current global recommendations for responsible and comparable out-of-home measurement: moving away from raw traffic numbers and instead optimizing toward visible, qualitative contacts (VAC) to get as close to “real views” as possible.