u/LoudOOH

OOH Impressions vs Online Impressions
https://digitalsignagepulse.com

Retailers Keep Asking Me the Same Question: What Does a Billboard Actually Cost?
https://365retail.co.uk/retailers-keep-asking-me-the-same-question-what-does-a-billboard-actually-cost/

Why does OOH still hide its prices?
https://www.thedrum.com/industry-insight/why-does-out-of-home-still-hide-its-prices

I plan and book out of home advertising. Billboards, bus stops, digital screens, that sort of thing.

Over the last few months the enquiries have shifted. More and more of them are prize draw operators. The ones raffling off houses and supercars.

None of this is illegal and I’m not claiming anyone has been done over. But it’s been bugging me and I want to know if I’m being precious about it.

Here’s the problem with the format. A 48 sheet gets you maybe two seconds from someone driving past. So the poster carries about six words. What makes the cut is a house and a big number. What doesn’t make the cut is entry cost, odds of winning, whether the draw still goes ahead if they don’t shift enough tickets, and what happens to your money if it doesn’t.

Online, all that is at least a click away in the terms. On a billboard there is no click. There’s just the house.
DCMS commissioned a market study from London Economics on this. Roughly 7.4 million UK adults enter these draws, worth something like £1.3bn a year. Not a niche. Back in May the Prize Competition Council published a voluntary code, which is a reasonable start, though “voluntary” is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.

The bit I keep coming back to is that the advertising side has no standard at all. Gambling ads have rules about this stuff. Prize draws sit outside the Gambling Act because of the free entry route, so they don’t.
I’m not arguing for banning anything. I’d just like entry cost and odds to be a line in the artwork spec, the same way APR has to appear on a finance ad. If a draw only stacks up when nobody can see the numbers, the numbers are the issue.

Happy to be told I’ve got this wrong. Anyone worked on one of these from the operator side?

The campaign, called The Living Room, was created for flood reinsurance scheme Flood Re by creative agency Cavendish Consulting, which also leads public affairs and PR on the wider ReThink Resilience initiative.

Out of home advertising agency Loud! OOH sourced the media placement, putting the work on a digital ad van and specifically on the largest Digital EcoVan in the UK.

ReThink Resilience. 🌊

We wrote a piece in The Drum about how SMEs miss out on OOH advertising opportunities due to lack of price transparency when searching for billboards costs etc

We want to change that!

You can read the article here: https://www.thedrum.com/industry-insight/why-does-out-of-home-still-hide-its-prices

We would love to hear your thoughts, let us know!

We could have written a white paper. We could have built a slide deck, sent a newsletter, or posted a series of LinkedIn updates about why billboard advertising is more accessible than most small businesses think.

This is the full story behind that campaign: https://www.loudooh.co.uk/billboard-advertising-costs-uk-2026/

Two boards. One street. Zero spin.

We bought billboard space in Leeds city centre and just told the truth on it. £650 quoted. £325 with us. Same site. Same format. Same two weeks.

No sales call required. Just look left, look right, do the maths.

That’s the whole pitch for Loud! OOH in one sentence: big brand exposure, not big agency fees.

York Street, Leeds. Go and see it for yourself. 👀

https://www.loudooh.co.uk/pricing/

If you’re running an SME and you’ve ever thought “maybe outdoor advertising could work for us” but then got lost in the jargon - 48-sheet this, T-side that, cross-track whatever - you’re not alone.

I’ve spoken to plenty of business owners who want that big-brand exposure and credibility without blowing the budget or paying too much with agencies.

Here’s a no-fluff breakdown of the main formats people actually use: roadside billboards, bus ads and London Underground.

I’ve included rough UK starting prices (mostly for a standard 2-week campaign, excl. VAT and production).

These are current ballpark figures - they move around depending on location (London is pricier), exact site, demand and how long you book. Longer runs usually get decent discounts. Always get fresh quotes.

Roadside Billboards (Static & Digital)
The big panels you see on high streets, roundabouts and main roads.
Formats & what they actually mean:
• 6-sheet (roughly 1.2m x 1.8m): Smaller, more local/pedestrian-friendly. Good for town centres or near your actual premises.
• 48-sheet (about 3m x 6m): The classic roadside workhorse. Most popular format for a reason - solid visibility without going full spectacle.
• 96-sheet: Basically twice as wide. Maximum roadside impact.
• Digital versions of the above: LED screens instead of printed vinyl. You can run video, animations or swap messages by time of day.
Rough costs (2 weeks):
6-sheet from ~£250. 48-sheet from ~£400 (regional) up to £1800–£1,200+ in prime London spots. 96-sheet from ~£1,000. Digital 48-sheet-style from ~£850.

Best for SMEs: Brand awareness and “we’re a proper player” vibes in a specific area. Static is reliable and always-on. Digital gives you flexibility (promos, multiple messages) and often feels more modern. Great support for your Google/Facebook activity.

Bus Advertising:
Moving billboards you can route exactly where your customers are.
Main formats:
• Supersides / T-sides (Streetliners): Big side panels (Superside is one long panel; T-side covers more of the side between the wheels). Seen by pedestrians, cars alongside and at stops.
• Rears (Mega Rears): Back of the bus. Drivers stuck behind it have nothing else to stare at - surprisingly good dwell time in traffic.
• Full bus wraps: The entire bus. Maximum “wow” factor.
• Interiors (posters/cards or digital screens inside): Captive audience sitting there for 15–30+ minutes.
Rough costs (2 weeks, per bus or panel as appropriate):
Superside from ~£100 regional / £150–£300 London. T-side from ~£200–£500. Interiors from ~£25–£95. Full wraps are premium (£18k–£25k per bus per 8 weeks typically). Rears sit in between.

Best for SMEs: Route targeting is the killer feature — pick buses that go past your shop, your competitors, or through key postcodes. Interiors are a surprisingly affordable way to get repeated exposure with people who have time to actually read. Exteriors give you that moving billboard energy and people sometimes photograph them.

London Underground (Tube) Advertising:
If your audience is in or commuting through London, this is powerful. High dwell times and a mix of professionals, locals and tourists.
Main formats:
• Platform posters (4-sheet, 6-sheet, 12/16-sheet cross-track): On walls or opposite the tracks. People waiting have time to look.
• Escalator panels: Along the walls as people go up/down. Great for sequential storytelling (message builds as they move).
• Tube car panels (inside the carriages, above the seats): Long exposure. People are bored and often actually read them.
• Digital screens (escalators, ticket halls, some platforms): Video and animation. More premium.
Rough costs (2 weeks):
4-sheet platform from ~£150 (outer zones) to £350+ central. Escalator panels from ~£80 each. 16-sheet cross-track from ~£800. Car panels from ~£10 each (usually bigger packages with minimums). Digital escalator or station takeovers start much higher (£15k+ for bigger executions).

Best for SMEs: Car panels are a hidden gem for anything that needs a bit of explanation (services, tech, considered purchases). Platform and escalator for quick, high-attention awareness. It feels premium, which helps smaller brands punch above their weight in London.

Quick reality check for SMEs:
You can run a proper test for a few thousand pounds all-in (media + artwork + print). Start smaller/regional or with interiors/car panels if budget is tight. The biggest variables are location and creative - a simple, bold idea on a well-chosen site/route beats a busy design on a cheap site every time.

Production is extra (design usually a few hundred quid, printing on top). Measurement isn’t as clean as digital ads, but QR codes, landing pages or just tracking brand searches/footfall work well. Many people layer it with their online activity.

Honestly, outdoor isn’t just for the big corporates anymore. There are accessible entry points across all these formats, and when it’s done right it delivers proper brand lift and that offline credibility that’s hard to buy any other way.

If you’re weighing it up for your business, what are you leaning towards - local awareness, London commuters, route-specific stuff? Drop it in the comments, always interesting to hear what people are actually trying.

(Full disclosure: if you want straightforward quotes and proper planning without the usual agency fluff, loudooh.co.uk specialise in exactly this - billboards, buses, Tube, the lot - with transparent pricing aimed at growing businesses. Bigger. Bolder. Louder.)