Remember outdoor advertising?

The industry group Outdoor Media Centre notes that expenditures on outdoor advertising (on billboards, transit posters, bus wraps and so on) now account for more than 10% of all UK display advertising. At least up to this point, outdoor (also known as out-of-home) ad spending exceeds Internet ad spending. And more than ever, some municipalities are seeing outdoor as an opportunity to make use of space and make money.

Posters and other outdoor ad materials don't have much time to grab attention--perhaps a matter of seconds as a bus drives by or a train rolls into the station. That's why marketers are testing new outdoor techniques and technologies to engage consumers and get their messages across more effectively and efficiently.

During the 2013 Wimbledon tennis tournament, for instance, Hertz asked its agency to update posters on the Wimbledon train platform every day, to keep passengers informed of who had the fastest serve the day before. Posters were easy to read, with just a few words and a few statistics, shown in Hertz's trademark bright yellow background and with its logo displayed as the sponsor.

Adobe, maker of Photoshop software, tested an unusual, personalised twist on bus advertising: It had a Photoshop expert hiding near a bus stop in Stockholm to take photos of consumers waiting for the bus. He instantly inserted these faces into fake "ads" displayed on the bus poster, showing the passengers in various amusing or unexpected settings. (Very personalised!) Then Adobe filmed the reactions of these passengers and posted the video on YouTube, where it caught the eye of 12 million viewers.

One more example: Sky combined digital billboards with mobile marketing not long ago. Travelers waiting at a train station read the digital billboard's question about what kinds of shows they wanted to watch. If they used their mobiles to tweet a request for show ideas using the hashtag #whatsonsky, the ad agency immediately tweeted specific suggestions. It also posted these same replies instantly on the billboard, making travelers smile and giving them a few seconds of public recognition. Again, personalisation helped engage the audience and make the ad a topic of word-of-mouth conversation.