Screenplay: The script for better digital interactions
As the DOOH (Digital Out-of-Home) landscape evolves, the potential for interactive campaigns has surged, enabling advertisers to captivate audiences in increasingly dynamic and memorable ways. Interactive DOOH offers a unique opportunity to engage, entertain, and inspire action from audiences on the go. Here, we outline what makes interactive DOOH campaigns truly effective, engaging and memorable.
1. Clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs): Paving the Path to Engagement
A strong CTA is the cornerstone of any interactive campaign. It should be concise, action-oriented, and prominently displayed to capture attention instantly. Phrases like "Tap to Win," "Wave to Play," or "Scan to Discover" are examples of how to communicate interactivity clearly and effectively. The success of interactive campaigns often hinges on removing ambiguity and making the desired action obvious to passersby. Limited Space’s Orbit Ownership screens perfectly combine interactive technology with printed artwork screen surrounds, ensuring any CTA can be present and clear for the entire duration of the campaign and not displaced by the interactive screen content itself.
2. Simple but Effective Instructions: Removing Barriers
Interactive campaigns should never feel complicated. Audiences are more likely to engage when instructions are intuitive and take only a moment to understand. The key is making sure it’s so easy that anyone from any age group can get involved without asking for help. The more seamless the experience, the higher the chance of maximum participation. After all, no one’s got time for a 20-step tutorial in 2025 – we want instant gratification.
Why It Matters:
With visit durations averaging 90 minutes per visit (British Council of Shopping Centres, 2023), shopping centres provide the more than enough dwell time to entice, educate and engage, as long as the process is seamless and accessible.
3. Incentives for Audiences: Driving Participation
Incentives are a proven motivator for engaging audiences. Discounts, freebies, competitions, and exclusive content provide tangible reasons for individuals to interact. People are naturally driven by the prospect of gaining something in return for their time or effort, such as saving money, receiving a gift, or gaining access to something special or exclusive. Moreover, offering incentives can help create a sense of urgency, further encouraging people to act through a fear of missing out.
Case study:
A previous interactive campaign we ran for Volvic ‘Juiced’ turned our screens into a giant touch screen game that offered prizes as a reward for high scores. Alongside the prizes, sample bottles of the drink were handed out to participants and passers-by to encourage engagement. More than 6,000 game plays were recorded across a two week period whilst more than 8,800 members of the public stopped to sample the drink.
4. Brand Ambassadors: Catalysts for Engagement
Interactive campaigns rely heavily on human connection too - driving engagement and creating connections between the technology and the participant, helping to humanise the digital experience. They can approach passersby, spark curiosity, and encourage participation, which can significantly increase the likelihood that individuals will engage with the campaign. These ambassadors not only explain how the interactive features work but also address any questions or concerns in real-time, eliminating potential barriers to participation.
Why it matters
Figures from our interactive campaign for LEGO Dots show a surge in participation when brand ambassadors were on site, with interactions increasing by +237%!
5. Leveraging Advanced Interactivity: Touch, Gesture, Motion, and Mobile
Interactive campaigns must leverage the latest advancements in technology to craft truly immersive and engaging experiences that can captivate an increasingly tech-savvy audience. By incorporating cutting-edge tools such as touchscreen games, gesture-based interfaces, and motion detection, brands can create highly interactive environments that encourage participation and deepen user involvement. Augmented Reality (AR) offers the potential to overlay digital elements onto the real world, transforming everyday interactions into dynamic, interactive experiences that resonate with users on a personal level. Meanwhile, mobile integration ensures that these engagements are accessible anytime, anywhere, fostering seamless connectivity between audiences and brands. When thoughtfully combined, these technologies unlock new dimensions of engagement, making campaigns more compelling, memorable, and effective in capturing attention and driving meaningful interactions.
Case Study:
For our recent touch-screen interactive campaign for McCain, where people were challenged to tap as many falling potatoes as they could within a time limit, we saw incredible interaction across the three-week campaign period:
The campaign averaged 6,696 gameplays per screen (that’s 319 per day and 32 per hour) with the screens being in use for c.50% of the day on average.
In fact, there were 1,253,120 total gameplay seconds – that roughly equates to 15 days of interaction!
6. Audio: Creating Deeper Connections
Integrating audio into interactive Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH) campaigns amplifies impact by extending the experience beyond just the visual sense. Sound enriches digital content, adding depth and emotion that make messages more immersive and memorable. By responding dynamically to real-time interactions, movements, or environmental cues, audio creates a seamless, multi-sensory engagement that strengthens audience connection. Beyond enhancing interaction, strategically designed soundscapes, directional audio, or voice activation can attract wider attention, drawing passersby into the experience. By tapping into both sight and sound, campaigns become more compelling, ensuring a lasting impression that resonates beyond the moment of engagement.
7. Extending Awareness with Additional Shopping Centre Advertising
To maximise engagement and direct more visitors to the interactive DOOH experience, brands can take advantage of additional advertising opportunities within the shopping centre where the activity is taking place. By strategically placing messaging in high-visibility locations, brands can incorporate multiple touchpoints that ensure continued and repeat exposure and education whilst driving foot traffic towards the activation.
Opportunities include:
Adlift – Lift door branding provides multiple points of contact throughtout the centre as shoppers move between floors, reinforcing campaign awareness.
Hanging Banners in Key Atrium Spaces – Positioned in high-traffic areas, these large-format banners offer high visibility and serve as directional prompts for the interactive campaign.
Panoramic – These create a huge impact by capturing attention in high-dwell areas, making them perfect for brand reinforcement and driving awareness of the interactive campaign location.
Learning, Leveraging, and Leveling Up
Finally, a crucial yet often overlooked advantage of interactive DOOH campaigns is their ability to generate valuable real-time data and insights. By tracking engagement metrics—such as interaction rates, dwell times, and user preferences—advertisers can refine their messaging, optimise future campaigns, and even personalise experiences dynamically. In shopping centres, where audiences are diverse and constantly shifting, this data-driven approach enables brands to adapt to consumer behaviors in ways static advertising never could. Ultimately, interactive DOOH is not just about engagement—it’s about continuous learning and evolution, ensuring campaigns become smarter and more effective with each iteration.
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