The Seen Stealers: How Panoramic Dominates Attention
Toby Fairlamb, Sales Director
In an era where attention is fragmented across countless channels, brands are increasingly searching for media that can deliver genuine standout. Within the UK’s busiest retail environments, one format in our portfolio is proving that scale still commands attention: Panoramic.
Known internally as “The Seen Stealers,” these large-format advertising sites are designed to do exactly what the name suggests - capture attention instantly and hold it for longer. Research from our recent study, The Attention Space, reinforces this idea, revealing that Panoramic sites are not only seen by shoppers, but are often the first advertising formats they notice when entering related spaces.
The Panoramic network delivers approximately 9 million adult impacts every two weeks across five locations
At their core, Panoramic sites offer the largest standard advertising formats available in UK retail environments, with sites reaching up to 2,000 square feet in size. That scale transforms a campaign from a typical mall placement into something closer to a landmark within the space. For brands aiming to build fame, talkability and visual impact, the format provides a canvas that few other environments can match.
Scale is only part of the story. Panoramic sites are strategically located in some of the busiest sections of the UK’s leading shopping centres, primarily positioned in open atrium areas and central hubs where shopper movement naturally slows. These placements allow the format to intercept audiences during moments when they are moving between stores, waiting for friends or naturally looking around to take in their surroundings during their visit. Shopping centres typically see dwell times of well over an hour, giving brands repeated opportunities to capture attention during a single trip.
The network itself spans a number of the UK’s most prominent retail destinations, including Manchester Arndale, Metrocentre, Eldon Square, Grand Central and Highcross Leicester. These centres attract millions of visitors each month and sit among the most heavily trafficked retail locations in the country. Manchester Arndale alone welcomes tens of millions of visitors annually, reinforcing its position as one of the UK’s busiest city-centre malls. Collectively, the Panoramic network delivers approximately 9 million adult impacts every two weeks across five locations, offering brands a level of reach and visibility comparable to broadcast media within a physical retail setting.
“At their core, Panoramic sites offer the largest standard advertising formats available in UK retail environments, with sites reaching up to 2,000 square feet in size.”
Another defining feature of the format is ownership. Panoramic sites are 100% owned by the client for the full duration of a campaign, meaning brands have exclusive presence within the space rather than sharing rotation with multiple advertisers. This exclusivity amplifies the impact of the format, allowing campaigns to dominate their environment and create the sense of a true retail takeover.
Again, our research has helped quantify just how powerful that dominance can be. The Attention Space shows that Panoramic formats deliver exceptional performance in capturing attention. Among shoppers who were exposed to advertising in the mall environment, the format achieved complete awareness penetration, meaning that if consumers were present within the viewing area, they saw it.
The study also found that Panoramic sites were often the first format people noticed, with roughly three-quarters of participants directing their gaze toward them before any other advertising format in the space. The reason is simple: size fundamentally shapes visual behaviour. The research showed that the scale of the format makes it around seven times more visually attractive in the initial glance, immediately pulling the eye toward it within a busy retail setting.
Once noticed, Panoramic sites also hold attention longer. Eye-tracking data indicates that the format delivers over three times the attention time compared with traditional large-format high-street advertising formats, driven largely by its physical dominance within the environment. In a marketplace where attention is increasingly fleeting, that extended engagement becomes a critical advantage.
The Seen Stealers - our eye-tracking research study shows that Panoramics capture, keep and carry attention
The benefits of scale extend beyond simple visibility. Studies into large-format out-of-home advertising have consistently shown that bigger formats generate stronger brand outcomes. Research conducted by blowUP media into giant poster formats found that large-scale outdoor advertising significantly lifts brand metrics, increasing awareness by 25 percent, improving brand perception by 27 percent, raising consideration by 26 percent and boosting purchase intent by 27 percent. In other words, when an advertisement becomes physically dominant in a space, it not only captures attention but also strengthens how consumers feel about the brand behind it.
Panoramic’s reach is also particularly strong among younger audiences. Major shopping destinations have become social hubs for younger consumers and the Panoramic network indexes heavily against 16–24-year-olds, performing at more than twice the national average. For brands looking to connect with Gen Z in environments beyond digital platforms, retail media offers a rare opportunity to reach these audiences in real-world settings where they are spending time with friends, shopping and socialising.
Creatively, the format also offers opportunities that go beyond standard poster advertising. The scale of Panoramic sites combined with full ownership allows campaigns to transform an advertisement into an experience. Three-dimensional builds, structural attachments, breakout creative that extends beyond the frame and specialist materials can all be used to amplify visual impact. We’ve seen great success with activations like Netflix installing a 3D Bee on Rowan Atkinson’s nose for Man vs Bee, glittered vinyls that reflect the light from different angles and a superpowered Minion laser that broke free from the constraints of the site and onto the floor below, extending interest beyond what people expect to see. These executions not only draw attention but often become shareable moments within the mall environment, encouraging shoppers to photograph and share the campaign online.
Creatively, the format also offers opportunities that go beyond standard poster advertising, including 3D attachments, special production techniques and extensions
Ultimately, the success of Panoramic comes down to a simple principle: attention follows scale. In crowded retail environments filled with visual stimuli, the formats that dominate the physical landscape naturally become the ones people notice first and remember longest.
For brands looking to create impact within the UK’s busiest shopping centres, Panoramic does more than simply deliver impressions. It creates moments of visibility that are impossible to ignore.
That’s why they’ve earned their nickname. They don’t just capture attention - they steal it.
Want to discuss this further? Please feel free to get in touch if you would like to talk to us about opportunities relating to anything mentioned above or any other queries.