JC Decaux Launches Creative Playbook for Boosting Out-of-Home Impact
September 26, 2025 by guest author, John Berkovich
New global research from System 1 and JC Decaux UK underscores how creative quality can dramatically amplify the effectiveness of Out-of-Home campaigns. The Double Take study, spanning seven markets, connects emotional resonance and clear branding in OoH advertising to double the commercial impact for brands.
Drawing on System1’s predictive testing of more than 1,000 OoH campaigns with 180,000 consumers across Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, the UK, and the USA, the report links emotional engagement to measurable business outcomes. For the first time, these insights were matched with JC Decaux’s campaign performance data, providing a real-world lens on how ads drive attention, memory, and results.
The study revealed that OoH creatives rated as “Good” to “Exceptional” on System 1’s Star Rating scale generated twice the commercial effect—whether in terms of store visits, website traffic, or conversions—compared to weaker creative. Campaigns that sparked happiness, surprise, or other positive emotions delivered a 52 percent lift in consumer action, while well-branded ads were over 50 percent more likely to be remembered.
Fluent branding, using familiar characters, colors, or tones across channels, further doubled recall. Yet despite these advantages, only two in five campaigns currently combine strong branding with emotional impact, leaving considerable untapped potential for marketers.
(Image: JC Decaux)
I’m happy to hear a study speaking to the value of the content on the screen. In this case ads. It makes us all reading this think – well why wouldn’t all advertisers put out ‘exceptional’ ads if it creates a better impact?
We can ask the same thing about content in digital signage. Can we double the results of our digital signage by employing better content? Absolutely.
If you’ve spent $200,000 on hardware, install and management of a network and better content can increase viewership and impact by 50%, then that content is worth $100,000.
All it takes in most installs is someone to hold a higher bar for content and champion it. If you champion it with a results based strategy, you’ll find others will follow.