Global Launches Billboards by Global to Prove Billboard Impact
Global has launched “Billboards by Global,” a new billboard proposition designed to help advertisers rethink the role of classic billboard formats in modern media plans.
Built around the UK’s biggest 48-sheet footprint, the platform combines national scale, creative support, data-led planning and measurement tools to help brands unlock the full brand-building power of billboards.
The launch positions billboards not as a traditional legacy format, but as a modern media canvas capable of delivering public impact with planning precision and proof of effectiveness.
Reframing the Billboard as a Modern Brand-Building Platform
Billboards have always been one of advertising’s most recognisable canvases.
Global’s new proposition is designed to make that role clearer for today’s advertisers, especially in a fragmented media landscape where attention is harder to earn and performance channels face increasing scrutiny.
The message is simple: billboards offer mass visibility, public presence and brand-building power, but now with better tools to plan, optimise and measure their contribution.
What the Outcomes Pilot Found
As part of the launch, Global ran a full-funnel Outcomes measurement pilot across 45 key advertisers.
Global’s Insight, Data and Outcomes team modelled three years of media and outcomes data, including each brand’s recent outdoor campaigns.
The analysis found that when billboards were included in a campaign, there was an average 2.4x uplift in brand-building impact compared with campaigns where billboards were absent from the media plan.
For advertisers, that finding strengthens the argument for billboards as a measurable contributor to persuasion, purchase intent and long-term brand growth.
Measurement Beyond ROI
Mark Singleton, CMO at Holland & Barrett, which took part in the pilot, said Global’s new Outcomes Measurement Tool adds value because it does not only look at bottom-line return on investment.
He noted that it also helps brands understand how outdoor media shifts persuasion and drives audiences closer to purchase.
That distinction matters. For many brand-building channels, the challenge is not only proving immediate sales impact, but showing how media contributes to consideration, trust and future demand.
Three Pillars Behind Billboards by Global
The new platform is built around three core pillars: scale, creativity and data-led outcomes.
No.1 for Scale
Billboards by Global offers more than 4,500 sites across the UK, reaching over 43 million people every fortnight.
From major cities to regional communities, the network is designed to give advertisers broad, trusted reach in a high-impact public medium.
No.1 for Creativity
Global is also positioning creativity as central to the proposition.
Its in-house creative team, drawn from top creative agencies, works with brands and agencies to design campaigns specifically for the billboard canvas.
The company is also expanding its partnership with D&AD, including sponsorship of the Yellow Pencil for the Outdoor Category and support for the “Creativity: Dead or Alive?” D&AD x Uncommon campaign.
No.1 for Data and Outcomes
The platform includes planning and measurement tools powered by Global:IQ, Global’s insight and data platform.
Access All Audiences for Billboards allows advertisers to identify audiences, optimise locations and plan billboard campaigns with greater precision.
Meanwhile, Global’s Outcomes measurement modelling helps advertisers understand how outdoor works alongside other channels to deliver business results.
A Trade Campaign Built Around Distinctive Brand Assets
To support the launch, Global has also unveiled a new trade marketing campaign created by Bird London.
The campaign uses a distinctive graphic device inspired by the Global logo, stretching it across playful and confident executions spanning multiple categories.
The idea reflects a simple principle of effective billboard advertising: the best billboards do two jobs at once. They make a brand easy to recognise and impossible to ignore.
In a medium where audiences may only have a few seconds to engage, distinctive brand assets cannot be an afterthought. They need to become the creative idea.
What Makes the Launch Effective
- It defends the role of billboards: Global positions the format as public, powerful and still highly relevant.
- It adds proof: The Outcomes pilot gives advertisers evidence of billboard impact across the funnel.
- It combines scale and precision: The network offers national reach with audience-led planning tools.
- It prioritises creativity: Global supports brands in building creative specifically for the billboard canvas.
- It modernises a classic format: Data, measurement and distinctive assets make billboards feel more accountable and contemporary.
The Bigger OOH Lesson
The future of billboards is not about choosing between classic fame and modern measurement.
Global’s launch argues that advertisers need both.
Billboards can still deliver unmatched public presence, but they become more powerful when paired with sharper planning, better creative and clearer evidence of outcomes.
Bottom Line
Billboards by Global is a clear attempt to reposition one of advertising’s most iconic formats for a more demanding media era.
By combining the UK’s largest billboard network with creative expertise, audience data and outcomes modelling, Global gives advertisers a stronger case for putting billboards back at the centre of brand-building plans.
The result is a platform built around a simple argument: billboards still work, and now brands can prove it with greater confidence.
Plan your OOH campaign
Get recommendations for markets, formats and availability based on your campaign goals.
Request a media plan
Comments
Share your take. Keep it constructive and specific.