Out of home advertising reaches people outside their homes: on the high street, at the station, in the pub, on a day out or at a live event. Pear Media Ltd, the independent, family-run group based in Cardiff, meets people this way through Pear OOH, iDO and Brightsky Media, with iVisit Media alongside for live events.

Out of home, in plain terms

Out of home, often shortened to OOH, is any advertising you meet away from your own front door. A poster on the high street is out of home. So is a screen on a station platform, a beer mat on the bar or a leaflet in a stand at a holiday park. The common thread is place: the message lives somewhere people already are.

It comes in two broad forms. Printed out of home covers posters, leaflets and cards placed in physical spaces. Digital out of home, sometimes called DOOH, covers screens, which can change what they show through the day. A campaign can use either, or both.

Out of home sits alongside everything else a brand does, online and off. As one of Pear Media’s own lines puts it:

“The internet reaches people everywhere. We meet them somewhere.”

The family business behind Pear Media began in 1997 on Ed Pereira’s belief that “if you meet people where they are, you can create powerful connections.” Out of home is that belief in its most literal form.

Local out of home: Pear OOH

Local out of home focuses on the particular streets and venues where a brand’s customers live, shop and unwind. Pear OOH, short for Pear Out of Home, calls itself the home of local outdoor advertising and a new style media owner focusing on niche environments.

“Curated audience impressions in key locations. Not everyone, everywhere. The right people, in the places that matter to them.”

In practice, that means the places people pass in ordinary life:

  • the high street where customers shop
  • the pub where they unwind
  • the station they pass twice a day
  • the doorstep they come home to

Behind those places sits a network of more than 100,000 sites, 22 centres across the UK and Europe and an activation team more than 300 strong. Pear OOH works as a turnkey service, carrying a campaign through plan, print, distribute, display and report.

Always-on out of home: iDO

Always-on out of home is there every day, on the routes people take and the screens they pass. iDO, short for Info Display OOH, works this way.

Since 1997, iDO has held one belief: meet people where they are. For iDO, that means the screens they pass, the streets they walk and the biggest live moments of the year, always on and always measured. In its own words:

“From student print to city screens. From city screens to stadiums. From Wembley to Times Square. For Premier League clubs, national treasures and world title fights.”

Think of the commuter on the platform, passing the same screens day after day. Always-on out of home is made for moments like that, as much as for the biggest live moments of the year.

Out of home for tourism and days out: Brightsky Media

Tourism out of home meets visitors in the places they stop along the way. Brightsky Media is a tourism marketing and distribution company. It places leaflets, mini cards, mini concertina cards and posters in exclusive point of sale stands where visitors actually stop: hotel lobbies and holiday parks, motorway services, supermarkets, cafes and hairdressers, from Cornwall to Cheshire. Every stand is placed, photographed and tracked, and Brightsky Media works in partnership with Pear OOH.

“Every great day out starts with an idea. Ours fit in your pocket.”

The same thinking reaches beyond holidays. Culture OOH (opens in a new tab), one of the brands in the Pear Media family, offers out of home and print distribution for the arts, heritage, tourism and events.

Where live events and experiential fit: iVisit Media

Experiential marketing turns a brand into something people take part in, in person. It is not out of home advertising in the narrow sense, but it starts from the same place: going to where people already are.

iVisit Media is a global live events and experiential marketing company, and the bridge between brands and their audience. In its own words: “We don’t just put brands in front of people. We put them in the moment with them.” Its work includes a football match in Central Park, streamed to the world, and a takeover in the heart of Times Square.

Within the family, iVisit Media is the moment people show up for, iDO the connection that never switches off and Pear OOH the place they pass every day: from Welsh high streets to the world’s biggest stages.

A lot of out of home is seen in passing. Print can also be carried away and kept, like a card in a visitor’s pocket or a story on the shelf.

Pear Publishing has been an independent house since 1997, publishing content worth keeping. Its titles include Enterprise (opens in a new tab), the magazine for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs, in print since 2002, with 275,535 copies in circulation. Publishing is its own discipline rather than out of home, but it shares the same instinct: be somewhere people value.

How to choose the right kind of out of home

No format is better than another in the abstract. The useful questions are about your audience and where they spend their time.

Where does your audience already go?

Start with places, not formats. Commuters, shoppers, pub regulars, families on a day out and fans at a big event are found in different places, and each suggests its own kind of out of home.

Is the moment every day, or once?

Some messages are meant to be there every day, on the routes people take week in, week out. Others belong to a single occasion, such as a live event.

Is your audience local or visiting?

Locals meet a brand on the high street, at the station and on the doorstep. Visitors meet it in the hotel lobby, at the holiday park or at the services on the way.

Should the idea be seen, or kept?

A screen or a poster is seen in passing. A mini card or a magazine goes with the reader. Think about what you would like someone to do next.

How will you know it happened?

Ask how placement is confirmed and reported. Pear OOH’s turnkey service ends with a report, Brightsky Media photographs and tracks every stand, and iDO describes its out of home as always measured.

Not sure where to start? Talk to Pear Media, meet all six companies in the family or read the Pear Media Ltd company information.

Questions people ask

What does OOH stand for?

OOH stands for out of home. Pear OOH is short for Pear Out of Home, and iDO is short for Info Display OOH.

Is out of home advertising the same as billboards?

Billboards are one form of out of home, but the term is wider. It covers any advertising people meet outside their homes, from posters and screens to beer mats on the bar and leaflets in stands.

Which Pear Media companies work in out of home?

Pear OOH works in local out of home and iDO in always-on out of home. Brightsky Media, which works in partnership with Pear OOH, places tourism print in point of sale stands. Alongside them, iVisit Media works in live events and experiential marketing.

What is the difference between Pear OOH and iDO?

Pear OOH curates audience impressions in key locations: the high street, the pub, the station and the doorstep. iDO is always on: the screens people pass, the streets they walk and the biggest live moments of the year.

Does Pear Media work outside the UK?

Yes. Pear OOH has 22 centres across the UK and Europe, and the work of iVisit Media includes a football match in Central Park and a takeover in the heart of Times Square.

How can I plan an out of home campaign with Pear Media?

Email hello@pearmedia.co.uk or call +44 (0)20 3876 4268. Each company also has its own website, including pearoutofhome.co.uk, infodisplayooh.com and brightsky.media.