Guerrilla OOH Is Back (And Louder than Ever)

The billboard is having an identity crisis.

Attention is in short supply. Audiences are leading busy lives; headphones on, head down, phone in hand. For brands, that means one thing: you gotta go big or go h… don’t get noticed.

With that, orderly posters with predictable visuals aren’t going to cut it. The most talked-about campaigns lately have been 3D builds spilling out of frames, stunts piggybacking cultural moments, or streets transformed into brand worlds.

Guerrilla OOH is back. But forget everything you know.

Guerrilla means unmissable

Guerrilla doesn’t equal cheap or disorderly. It’s showing up when and where people least expect you, in a way they can’t ignore. Think the streets meet theatre.

And no, we’re not saying this is new. Brands have been flexing their guerrilla muscle for decades. What’s changed is the environment.

With audiences bombarded by as many as 10,000 ads a day (and only processing a fraction), invisibility is the default. The only way through is to create moments people can’t help but talk about.

What does guerrilla OOH look like?

The definition is a bit slippery; it’s more a mindset than a format. But once you get that, it's easy to spot. Guerrilla usually means brand moments engineered to live in culture, not your marketing calendar.

Some of our favourite examples of late? Here you go:

• Mascara wand apply product to an Underground carriage (Maybelline, Origiful)
• Giant 3D tennis balls bouncing across London (Sky Sports, Fallon Agency)
• Queen, I mean… Charli XCX’s surprise Times Square takeover (H&M, Ideko)

It might be reactive, surreal, or ballsy. What matters is that people pause, react, and share.

Why it works

Reach is nice; we like reach. But it’s not the sole (or even most important) aim of OOH. What matters is resonance.

Nielsen’s recent OOH Impact Report found that campaigns blending OOH with earned or social exposure boost brand recall by almost 50%. Why? Because people want to share the stunt that made them double-take.

And what usually sparks that?

• Boldness
• The occasional dash of controversy
• Rule-bending ideas
• A team nimble enough to make it happen before the moment passes

The human brain is wired to notice what feels “out of place.” Guerrilla exploits that glitch. If traditional ads politely ask for attention, guerrilla snatches without warning.

Strategy, not stunts

The global OOH market is set to reach $41.82 bn in 2025, so there’s a real and serious case for getting involved. It’s not gimmicks for the sake of going viral.

The best work is disruptive and deliberate. Find a cultural moment, understand the who and what, spot the opening and land with intent. Easy as A, B, C… right? (Help!)

Deloitte’s 2024 Global Marketing Trends report showed 74% of CMOs now put attention capture above reach. Exactly where guerrilla thrives.

Executed well, guerrilla is faster and cheaper than a heavyweight media plan, but with impact that travels far. The line between a masterstroke and a misfire, though, is knowing which conversations you can gatecrash, and which you absolutely shouldn’t.

How to pull it off? The guerrilla toolkit

Don’t read on expecting a multi-million media plan or a six-month strategy. We charge big bucks for that, you know?

The knack of successful guerrilla marketing is moments that feel spontaneous, but they’re engineered with intent. In the famous words of Shrek, “Ogres Guerrilla is like onions. It has layers! We both have layers!”

Weird segue, I know. But, strong guerrilla lands physically, hits socially and doesn’t crumble under scrutiny. Here’s our attention-hacking top tips:

• Break the frame: Literally. Billboards that pop, peel, or project outwards beat flat prints every time. 2024’s killers were 3D, interactive, scented, sans-brand… anything out of the ordinary
• Stay reactive: Weather changes, news breaks, cultural moments happen. The winners are the smart brands who can react in real time.
• Go mobile: Don’t wait for audiences to come to you. Take your brand to them. Look to unexpected places, but be ready for a logistical challenge.
• Hack culture: The smartest campaigns amplify culture. If it feels like clunky product placement, you’ve missed the point. It should feel, look, and sound authentic.
• Bridge digital and physical: With AR adoption skyrocketing, OOH can now morph into hybrid experiences. QR codes were just the beginning.

Playing safe is the riskiest move

It’s somewhat of a BK catchphrase at this point, but playing it safe is often the riskiest move you can make.

Every brand says they were to “disrupt” or their work to “shake up the competition,” but few are prepared to step out of proven formats. That’s why so much OOH fades into the background.

The truth? OOH needs to be treated like a stage, because that’s what it is. The brands making waves are those brave enough to take to the streets like a theatre show, hack attention, show up with intention, and lastly, do what their competition is too scared to consider.

Read more from Bearded Kitten here.