How We Helped Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Leverage Digital Out-Of-Home to Drive Awareness

Prior to the 2024-25 season, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra had traditionally managed out-of-home buys in-house. But by shifting to Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH), they unlocked a double win—freeing up their team’s time and tapping into the unique power of digital placements.

Why DOOH? Because it doesn’t just catch eyes—it sticks. Research shows it outperforms TV and other digital channels in both ad recall and purchase intent, making it a natural fit for elevating awareness of the Symphony’s season and spotlighting key performances.

And here’s where CI came in: we didn’t just place the ads, we leveled up measurement. Out-of-home is notoriously hard to quantify, but with digital placements paired with retargeting banners, we expanded the Symphony’s reach, scaled their presence, and tied it all back to real, tangible sales results.

Results above are from four targeted flights that ran for 1-2 months at a time between mid-October 2024 and June 2025. The display portion of this campaign had a 0.13% CTR, which is higher than we typically see for display campaigns, showing that reaching folks who had been more likely to see a DOOH ad helped capitalize on that channel’s ability to drive awareness and intent. 

FLEXIBILITY

Digital out-of-home placements allowed us to serve our ads not only in Baltimore but targeted locations within Bethesda, MD and DC’s Union Station (critical given that the Baltimore Symphony also performs in Bethesda, not just Baltimore!).

We ran four separate flights to be able to spend when it would be most impactful for ticket sales. We were also able to swap out creative as needed, critical when dealing with limited inventory (for example, a show sold out quickly and we were able to replace the creative). No more old, out of date posters and billboards seen around town!

It’s hard to say how much less DOOH costs relative to traditional billboards (it varies quite a bit by location). But DOOH, as compared to a traditional Out-of-Home buy, definitely allows for a lower minimum investment and competitive CPMs. With digital screens, you aren’t locked in to a longer buy with a high spend across a limited number of locations. This makes DOOH more accessible to a range of budget sizes.

REAL RESULTS

Previously, there was almost no way to know if out-of-home campaigns were making an impact. While we still cannot know with 100% certainty that a digital out-of-home placement drove a purchase, we are better able to integrate this channel as part of the larger digital marketing ecosystem. 

Through mobile device tracking, we served retargeting banners to those in the area of the out-of-home placements. This allowed us to continue to capture the attention of those who walked past screens displaying the BSO’s ads in a format that could get the viewer to the website more easily (as opposed to scrambling to scan a QR code on the screen itself – though we did see a few scans throughout this campaign!).

TAKEAWAYS

• Out of home campaigns don’t have to be a static black box anymore. With digital out of home, we have more control over where and when we reach potential audiences and gain tangible results and insights. 
• Leverage retargeting banners to reach those exposed to DOOH placements with follow up messaging and easier conversion opportunities.

READY TO OVERHAUL YOUR OUT OF HOME CAMPAIGNS?

Let’s talk about how your holistic, integrated strategy can be refreshed to improve performance and drive more revenue across the board!