What makes you stop in the middle of a busy day? A fun and unique billboard? Well, yes maybe! But a giant mooshak asking you to whisper a wish into his ear? Definitely. That was Zepto and Go Desi’s Ganesh Chaturthi campaign idea, turning a cultural belief into an experience for passers-by. Outdoor advertising today has been pushed into a new role. One where visibility has smoothly transitioned into participation. Just eyes are no longer enough. But to be fair, previously, this medium has successfully delivered scale. Be it large formats like billboards, high-traffic locations and repeated exposure, brands have never gone cold feet to invest in these. But in a landscape where attention is fragmented and consumer journeys are non-linear, brands are beginning to question if only plenty of eyes can actually deliver. In response, outdoor is being reimagined as a medium that invites action rather than just attention. Brands are building activations that place consumers at the centre, whether through installations, live experiences, or simple, context-led interventions that encourage people to interact, participate, and share.
Take Swiggy’s Raksha Bandhan activation. The brand turned an oversized dumpster into an unconventional OOH canvas, carrying the line, ‘Koode se uthaye sibling ko aaj treat dedo,’ along with a QR code. By making the dumpster part of the creative and adding a simple digital call-to-action, Swiggy gave passers-by a reason to stop, notice, interact and take the experience beyond the physical space. The brand has experimented with similar participatory formats earlier too, like its Akshaya Tritiya activation, where people were invited to dig for gold coins in a public space as part of its ‘Gold Price Lock’ proposition.
Across categories, brands are approaching the medium differently. Nykaa has been building on-ground experiences that are designed to feed directly into digital behaviour—driving participation, user-generated content, and app traffic. Zepto, meanwhile, has been leaning into festival-led activations to anchor itself within cultural moments. Even emerging brands like Zylo are experimenting with formats that prioritise interaction over passive exposure. At one level, this might be a reaction to what traditional outdoor placements have always struggled to deliver. Yasin Hamidani, Director, Media Care Brand Solutions, explains outdoor has traditionally delivered presence, but not necessarily interaction or accountability. Activation-led formats, on the other hand, are beginning to change that by giving people a reason to engage rather than just pass by. “Brands today want people to not just see, but engage, experience, and share. These campaigns turn OOH into a participation-led medium whether through live demos, installations, or QR-driven journeys,” he adds.
For instance, beauty platform Nykaa has been consistently building on-ground experiences that go beyond spectacle. Their Bandra installation, built around an interactive birthday cake, encouraged people to physically engage and pull out slices that revealed products. The mechanic was simple. It gave people something to do, and in turn, something to post. “Today’s beauty consumer is digital-native but seeks real-world experiences that are personal, participatory, and share-worthy. While discovery happens on social media and conversion on the app, true brand affinity is built through moments worth showing up for,” says a Nykaa spokesperson. Anchored in this insight, Nykaa has strategically combined campaign-led marketing with experience-led engagement at scale. Over time, they have built an on-ground ecosystem that spans flagship IPs like Nykaaland as well as category-led immersive activations such as the Sun Shield Shack. “Our community consistently demonstrates this move from passive consumption to active engagement,” the spokesperson adds, pointing to how on-ground experiences are becoming a key bridge between digital discovery and real-world connection.
Zepto has also applied a similar approach. Chandan Mendiratta, Chief Brand Officer, Zepto, says, “At Zepto, we consistently build around culture-first moments across the country, from Onam and Lohri to Vishu and Poila Baisakh. Festivals are powerful cultural moments that shape how people buy and celebrate. Through these campaigns, we aim to create something timely and locally relevant, and build stronger brand affinity.”
That said, while these formats are clearly helping brands build stronger affinity, they also come with a very real cost. “Activation-led outdoor campaigns typically require 20-40 per cent higher investment than standard OOH, depending on scale and execution,” says Hamidani. Unlike traditional outdoor, which is largely media-led, these activities require production and amplification making them significantly more resource and investment-heavy. But are brands seeing returns that match the scale of investment?
“There’s no formula here, and that’s actually the point. Some of the most high-return activations in recent memory have been deceptively simple,” says Rahul Kirpalani, Business Head, Client Success and Planning at HOWL. He points to how context often outweighs scale. Swiggy giving free water on a sweltering afternoon costs a fraction of a stadium sponsorship, yet can generate more genuine goodwill per rupee than most large-scale spends. For Kirpalani, the effectiveness of an activation is less about the size of the investment and more about how relevant it is to the moment.
In some cases, the returns play out over time rather than immediately. For example, HOWL’s work on HRX’s virtual marathon, where the investment involved sending kits, including a t-shirt, medal, and a few goodies to 1,000 registered runners. A year later, the physical marathon drew 10,000 participants, demonstrating how the initial activation helped build a larger community over time rather than functioning as a one-off cost. And for brands, this long-term POV has become central. Nykaa notes that the focus today is on compounding impact rather than isolated outcomes. Standalone stunts often have limited returns. Instead, activations that are designed to travel across earned media, social media, influencer ecosystems, and commerce touchpoints are seen as more effective in driving both immediate sales and long-term brand affinity. Activation-led outdoor is clearly delivering more than static formats in certain contexts but it is also far less forgiving. When it works, it compounds. When it doesn’t, it risks becoming an expensive moment that fades quickly. While the ROI of these campaigns may be visible across social media, conversations, and brand affinity, business impact is what ultimately matters. And that is where activation-led outdoor will continue to be tested.
