by Eric Vissers, VP Marketing @GLADTOBE
Your Practical Guide to OOH Advertising in Germany
Hey there! If you’re planning your media strategy for the upcoming summer months in Germany, I wanted to share some practical insights about out-of-home advertising that might save you time, budget, and potential headaches.
I’ve seen plenty of brands dive into OOH without a clear plan, and honestly, it can be a bit of a mess. One thing is for sure, summer in Germany offers some incredible opportunities to connect with audiences while they’re out and about, but it requires a thoughtful approach.
So let’s talk about how to do this right.
First things first: What do you actually want OOH to do?
Before you start calling media owners or browsing billboard locations, take a step back and ask yourself:
“What am I really trying to accomplish here?”
In my experience, OOH in Germany works best when it’s designed to:
- Get a new brand on people’s mind quickly whilst on the go without intruding
- Show that your brand is established and credible (yes, physical presence still signals this in Germany!)
- Add a real-world dimension to campaigns running on other channels
Real-world dimension, what?!
Think about it: your brand exists in the digital world through social media, display ads, and search. But during summer, your audience is experiencing life in the physical world (hello sun, hello trees, hello real people!) – they’re at biergartens in Munich, walking through parks or on the way to lakes in Berlin, or heading to one of the many rockstar conferences in Hamburg.
OOH creates this powerful bridge between your digital presence and real-world experiences.
But here’s a tip I wish someone had told me much earlier: OOH isn’t a replacement for your performance channels. It’s the perfect complement to them. When I’ve seen brands try to make OOH do all the heavy lifting alone, it rarely delivers the ROI they were hoping for.
Location, Location, Location
(but not how you might think)
I’ve watched too many e-commerce brands fall into the “big city trap” – booking “Dickes B” Berlin just because it’s Berlin. But here’s what actually works: booking locations based on where your specific audience spends their time, and not your money (Berlin can be expensive!).
Think about it this way:
- Does your audience commute? Train stations and transit hubs might be your sweet spot
- Are they shopping-oriented? Look at retail-adjacent placements
- Weekend travelers? Consider ads along the Autobahn, gas stations, or at rest stops
Ströer, WallDecaux and others have some really helpful planning tools and samples where you can map your audience behaviors to specific locations. We’re often in conversation with them – they know their inventory and can often suggest spots we might not have even considered for our beloved clients.
The Booking Timeline nobody tells you about
If there’s one thing that catches advertisers off guard with summer OOH in Germany, it’s the booking timeline. Here’s the reality: summer inventory goes fast, especially in tourist areas, during big events and major cities.
From my experience, you need at least 6-8 weeks lead time when you factor in:
- Planning
- Securing the best locations
- Campaign sign off
- Production timelines (which always take longer than expected)
- Vendor scheduling and installation
Here’s a little booking hack I’ve found works wonders: Book three decades a.k.a dekaden (10-day periods), but structure it as two weeks on, one week off, then one more week on.
This gives you presence across nearly a month (4 decades) but at the cost of just three decades! Plus, that pause in the middle keeps your message from fading into the background as people pass by it repeatedly.
Mix Static and Digital (they're better together)
I used to think we had to choose between traditional billboards and digital screens. But the most effective campaigns I’ve seen use both:
- Big, bold static placements in key locations create that “we’ve arrived” feeling
- Digital screens let you play with dayparting and frequency capping (morning commute messaging vs. evening)
- Digital also lets you react to things like weather changes (we all know how unpredictable German Summer months can be!)
Here’s a real example: We launched a short-burst OOH campaign for Surfshark targeting match days and footfall-dense locations — tram and bus interiors, train stations, and busy inner-city spots. All timed to coincide with key games. The goal was simple: be present, be visible, and create curiosity. All with a pinch of humor.
What happened next proved the strategy worked:
- 📈 +3.8x national search spike for ‘Surfshark’
- 📍 83 search index in Leipzig
- 🌍 100 search index in nearby Dresden (even without ads)
- 🔥 Even weeks after the campaign ended, search volume stayed up
The campaign was brilliantly targeted to leverage both static placements (posters in trams and buses) and digital screens in high-traffic areas. The timing around match days created perfect relevance, and the mix of formats ensured maximum visibility with the right audiences at exactly the right moments.
Keep your creative simple (please!)
I’ve reviewed hundreds of OOH designs, and I’ll let you in on a secret: the most complex ones almost always underperform.
Remember that your audience is probably:
- Moving (walking, driving, on a train)
- Distracted (on their phone, talking with friends)
- Not actively looking for advertising (Who, apart from myself, does this anyways?👀)
What works is simple:
- Bold visuals that register in 2-3 seconds
- Text you can read in a glance (5-7 words max)
- A clear brand identifier
And about QR codes – I’m not saying don’t use them, but ask yourself: “Would I actually stop and scan this?” If the answer is no, leave it off. If there is a specific incentive, which you will actually reward the scanner for putting in the effort, then yes. One thought though, QR codes have been around in Germany for quite some time, how often have you used it personally?
Measuring beyond "We think it worked"
The old days of booking OOH and just hoping for the best are over. Here are just some practical ways we’ve measured OOH effectiveness:
- Compare brand searches in cities with your OOH vs. similar cities without it
- Track direct traffic with UTM codes (in case you DO use that QR code!)
- Look at social mentions and UGC in active markets
A favorite approach is what we call the “OOH elevation test”, it bridges OOH with Digital; run your digital campaigns at the same level across multiple markets, but add OOH in only some of them. The difference in performance shows you the OOH impact.
The digital effect; a great example of the powerful bridge between real-world experiences and the digital presence.
A quick reference for German OOH Formats
I know it can get confusing with all the different format names, so here’s a simple breakdown:
For making a splash:
- City-Light Poster a.k.a CLPs (the illuminated ones you see at bus stops)
- Mega-Light (the bigger standalone versions)
- BlowUp (those massive ones on buildings usually used by big brands who want to show off without thinking much about the cost and the resulting effect, if any)
For flexibility:
- Public Video screens (digital displays in public spaces)
- City Tower (those tall digital pillars in city centers)
- Infoscreens (usually in transportation hubs)
For reaching people on the move:
- Traffic Boards (alongside roads and highways)
- Public Video Train (screens in and around train stations)
There is more to choose from, but these are common formats.
Wrapping up: It's about being smart, not just being seen
Summer OOH in Germany isn’t just about securing any billboard you can find. It’s about being strategic with your placements, timing, and creative to make the most impact when audiences are most receptive.
I hope these tips help you navigate your summer OOH planning. If you have specific questions about markets or formats, drop us a message or reach out directly – I’m always happy to chat more about making OOH work harder for your brand. Big shoutout to a special someone at Ströer for providing great reference material to help write this piece, I couldn’t have done it without you (you know who you are 🙂)!
Happy planning!
