Every day, we are bombarded with hundreds of advertisements. In such a saturated advertising landscape, the need for innovative ads that stand out and capture space in the audience's mind has never been greater.
In this context, Fake Out of Home (FOOH) advertising is paving the way for new opportunities.
Here’s a practical guide to understanding and maximizing the potential of FOOH for your advertising campaigns.
Table of Contents
How FOOH Advertising Works
Advantages of FOOH Advertising for Agencies
Steps to Create a FOOH Video
Best Practices for Successful FOOH Campaigns
Why You Should Use FOOH
Frequently Asked Questions About FOOH
1. How Does FOOH Advertising Work?
Fake Out of Home (FOOH) takes traditional advertising to the next level by combining footage of real environments with hyper-realistic CGI elements. These short videos (10–15 seconds) capture attention through the contrast between realism and absurdity, prompting the audience to question whether what they’re seeing is real or not.
This format works exceptionally well on social media because it creates those "wow" moments that stick in the viewer's mind.
FOOH is a flexible solution that allows brands to craft creative, even otherworldly visuals that would be impossible to recreate in traditional or digital OOH advertising. This makes FOOH an amazing way to tell stories and connect with audiences in a completely new and unprecedented way.
2. Advantages of FOOH Advertising for Agencies
In an increasingly competitive digital advertising landscape, FOOH offers numerous benefits for marketing agencies and brands:
Creative Freedom: It allows the combination of real-world environments with CGI imagery to create visually stunning content.
Cost Efficiency: High-impact campaigns can be produced without the large budgets required for physical installations or complex video productions.
Access to New Opportunities: Even smaller agencies can compete with major players by delivering impactful visual experiences.
To create high-quality FOOH content, it’s essential to partner with production studios experienced in CGI, ensuring both the technical and creative aspects of the project are expertly handled.
3. Steps to Create a FOOH Video
Producing a FOOH video requires more than just stunning visuals; it demands a combination of strategy, creativity, and flawless execution. Here’s a step-by-step guide to bring your FOOH video to life:
1. Develop a Winning Idea
Start with an attention-grabbing concept. Think outside the box and explore bold ideas, like a flying product or an extraordinary scene in an iconic location.
2. Approve the Concept and Create a Production Plan
Ensure the proposal is feasible in terms of budget, timeline, and resources. While freelancers might seem cost-effective, production studios offer a more reliable and comprehensive service. They can handle everything from high-quality filming to seamless CGI integration, providing greater assurance of a polished final product.
3. Location Planning
Selecting the right location is crucial, especially regarding permits. Collaborating with a production studio is key here: many FOOH videos feature urban settings without proper authorization, which poses significant legal risks.
4. Video Shooting
During on-location shooting, certain precautions can simplify the post-production process:
Avoid wide or panning shots to ease tracking and CGI integration, saving time and effort in post-production.
Focus on smooth yet dynamic filming to ensure a flawless final product.
Shoot in high quality, paying close attention to lighting, framing, and camera stability.
Additionally, consider how the video will appear on social platforms:
Be mindful of where “like,” “share,” and “comment” buttons will overlay the video.
Shoot in 9:16 vertical format or even directly optimize the filming for vertical orientation to cater to mobile-first audiences.
5. Finalizing the FOOH Ad
Once the video is shot, the real magic happens in post-production.
Using software tools like 3DS Max, Houdini, Cinema 4D, or similar, 3D objects are seamlessly integrated into the footage. This phase is quite complex, but the concept is straightforward: blending CGI elements flawlessly with the live-action video.
During this process, multiple previews will be shared. It’s crucial to provide clear and detailed feedback—vague comments like “make it more lively” are insufficient. Precise feedback ensures the final product aligns with expectations.
Edits to FOOH videos are often time-intensive and can take anywhere from 2 to 4 days of actual work.
Once the FOOH video is approved, it’s ready to go live! 🚀
4. Best Practices for Successful FOOH Campaigns
Planning a FOOH campaign means combining creativity with strategy. Whether your goal is to go viral or simply create impactful brand communication, following proven methods can help you stand out.
1. Leverage the Growing Demand
As more brands turn to FOOH to stand out and capture attention, demand from Marketing Managers in this sector is skyrocketing. For branding and marketing agencies, this presents a huge opportunity to differentiate themselves and become leaders in a field that is still emerging.
To stay ahead of the curve, don’t hesitate to experiment with bold and innovative ideas. This is an industry driven by creativity and fresh concepts. The more you explore and push boundaries, the more you’ll shape the future of advertising.
However, always keep a holistic view of the complexity of your idea. Workload in FOOH advertising can vary dramatically. Some effects and objects are relatively easy to create, while others require significant effort. Collaborating with experts will help you manage projects successfully and ensure your ideas are both ambitious and feasible.
2. Use the Right KPIs to Measure Success
Tracking performance is crucial for FOOH campaigns. Luckily, many digital ad formats—like display advertising, video ads, or social media campaigns—already operate on platforms with built-in metrics, so you don’t have to start from scratch. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) such as engagement rates, impressions, and social media shares are the best ways to measure whether your campaign resonates with your audience.
Of course, setting clear objectives from the start helps you identify the most relevant metrics for your brand. With these KPIs, you’ll have a clear snapshot of your FOOH ad’s performance and the insights needed to adjust your strategy. This allows you to refine your approach, making each campaign more effective than the last.
3. Learn from Great Examples
A simple search on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube will reveal countless examples of FOOH campaigns for inspiration—but not all of them are successful.
There are specific neuroscience principles that determine whether a FOOH video will win or flop! Understanding these rules can help you create content that truly captivates and engages your audience.
5. Why You Should Use FOOH
Agencies and brands that embrace FOOH can enjoy significant advantages, including greater creative freedom to produce visually stunning content, cost-effective campaigns that maximize budgets, and the potential for their ads to go viral on social media and beyond.
This innovative approach positions agencies as industry pioneers, showcasing their commitment to exploring new ways to make brands stand out.
The future of advertising is here, and it's waiting for your ideas to take center stage.
6. Frequently Asked Questions about FOOH
How does FOOH differ from traditional OOH and DOOH advertising?
FOOH goes beyond traditional Out-of-Home (OOH) and Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) advertising by allowing brands to create extraordinary scenarios that blend reality with imaginative digital elements. While OOH relies on physical installations and DOOH uses digital screens in public spaces, FOOH leverages CGI to create experiences that would be impossible to achieve in the physical world.What types of businesses can benefit from fake out-of-home advertising?
FOOH advertising is versatile and can benefit a wide range of businesses, including product companies, service providers, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations. Any organization looking to create engaging, visually impactful content can utilize FOOH to enhance their marketing efforts.Do agencies need specific skills to create FOOH campaigns?
Yes, creating effective FOOH campaigns often requires specialized skills in CGI and AR technology. This challenge is easily overcome by collaborating with 3D production studios or CGI experts who can handle the technical complexities of producing FOOH content. All the agency needs is a brief!How do marketing agencies validate FOOH creative proposals before production?
Validating creative proposals involves brainstorming with a team of experts to assess feasibility in terms of budget, resources, and timelines. Collaboration with 3D animation studios can provide insights into what is achievable within your project constraints.
