Global has launched Billboards by Global, adding new data and measurement tools to its network while more than doubling its digital 48-sheet footprint to over 600 sites
Media and entertainment group, Global, has announced the launch of Billboards by Global, a billboard advertising network that adds new data and measurement tools to the UK’s largest 48-sheet billboard portfolio by footprint.
The newly launched brand aims to combine the scale of Global’s out-of-home (OOH) network with a range of creative and analytical tools that allow advertisers to unlock what they describe as “the full brand-building power of billboards.”
Global has expanded its physical inventory as part of the brand launch, more than doubling its digital 48-sheet footprint to over 600 sites and combining with its classic billboard portfolio to bring more than 4,500 panels in total to advertisers.
Billboards by Global sites span both major cities and regional communities in the UK and are estimated to reach over 43 million people every fortnight.
Under the new brand, Global’s in-house creative team will work with advertisers and agencies to design campaigns built specifically for the billboard canvas. This will be combined with new data and analysis tools including Access All Audiences (AAA) and Outcomes, both powered by the Global:IQ insights platform.
Access All Audiences (AAA) is powered by datasets exclusive to Global, with the aim of allowing advertisers to identify audiences, optimise locations, and plan billboard campaigns with greater precision.
Global’s Outcomes measurement modelling enables advertisers to understand the role outdoor advertising plays alongside other channels in delivering business results, helping planners to integrate billboards into modern media strategies.
As part of the launch, Global ran a full-funnel measurement pilot for 45 of its key advertisers, using its new Outcomes measurement tool.
Global’s Insight, Data, and Outcomes team modelled three years of media and outcomes data including each brand's recent outdoor campaigns – finding that where billboards were included in a campaign, there was an average 2.4x uplift in brand-building impact compared to when they were absent from the media plan.
Mark Singleton, chief marketing officer at Holland & Barrett, which took part in the pilot, says: “I'm really quite excited by the new Global Outcomes measurement tool.
“It doesn't just look at the bottom-line impact in terms of return on investment. It also helps you to understand how that's shifting persuasion [and] driving towards purchase. We want to use this as part of our full measurement tool, because it adds an extra layer of understanding.”
Simon Pitts, Group chief executive officer at Global, adds: “Billboards do something unique. They help brands show up in a way that feels immediate, public, and powerful. In a world where attention is harder than ever to earn, that has never mattered more.”
As part of the launch, Global has also unveiled a new trade marketing campaign, created by Bird London, designed to show what great billboard advertising can do.
The campaign is built around a visual design element derived from Global's logo, applying the brand asset across various product categories. The creative approach follows a standard outdoor advertising principle: ensuring that a brand is immediately recognisable and highly visible.
According to the launch details, the strategy prioritises integrating brand assets directly into the core creative design, rather than treating the logo as an afterthought, to maximise engagement within the few seconds a billboard typically holds an audience's attention.
