From Stadiums to Streets: How OOH Drives Performance Through Sports & Culture
CANNES, France – Live sports have become advertising’s last communal campfire. That shared experience is creating fresh opportunities for out-of-home advertising, which can now react to cultural moments with the speed once reserved for social media.
For brands seeking to participate in sports culture without paying for official sponsorships, the streets, transit stations, and stadium-adjacent screens have become an alternative stage.
“Fandom happens in real life – it’s not happening on the device,” said Ian Dallimore, VP of digital growth at Lamar, in a discussion with Beet.TV at Cannes Lions 2026. “The moment that happens, whether it’s a goal scored and there’s a specific center mid that scores a goal that’s affiliated with this soccer brand, let’s trigger creative. There’s no excuses anymore.”
The panel:
- Ian Dallimore, vp, Digital Growth, Lamar
- Scott Marsden, vp, Client Strategy, PMG
- Moderator: Lucy Markowitz, svp, gm Americas, Vistar Media
Ambush marketing meets community presence
Dallimore pointed to Nike’s legendary ambush of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where Reebok held official sponsorship but Nike dominated public perception through planes, wallscapes, and billboards. What has changed is the speed and precision with which brands can now execute similar strategies.
“Out of home is woven within the community,” Dallimore said. “Not only are you targeting the people that live within the community themselves, but now brands are able to not only talk that way, but also in different languages and different brands that they’re introducing to new people.”
Scott Marsden, vp of client strategy at PMG, emphasized that the opportunity extends beyond major sponsors. He described advising clients that “there’s 32 Super Bowls happening every single day” and urging them to find ways into the conversation. “After the fact, when somebody’s not playing and not engaged in out of home or not engaged in stadium or out of stadium, we’re sending them case studies and saying, this could be you,” Marsden said.
Reactive creative is no longer a dirty word
The traditional criticism of reactive marketing – that it signals a lack of planning – is giving way to a recognition that speed is a strategic advantage. Digital out-of-home’s ability to swap creative in real time has made the medium a natural partner for brands that want to participate in cultural moments as they unfold, the panel heard.
Dallimore described how brands now prepare conditional creative: “If this occurs, here’s our creative ready to roll. And if it doesn’t, then let’s shift.” He cited the Knicks’ championship run as an example of how quickly New York City activated in out-of-home, with celebratory creative appearing the morning after the win.
The Levi’s Stadium logo controversy at the 2026 World Cup illustrated the viral potential of such moments. When Levi’s was required to cover its stadium branding because it was not an official FIFA sponsor, the brand turned the covered logo into a social media phenomenon, changing its Twitter avatar to match the blacked-out signage. “That alone doesn’t do enough,” Dallimore said. “What happens is social amplification where all of a sudden they change their logo on their Twitter account, on their Instagram account. And then they’re taking photos of it. And then now that’s the viral aspect.”
Data-driven personalization at scale
The Spotify Wrapped campaign, which Marsden helped pioneer during his time at the streaming service, remains a template for how out-of-home can combine data, personalization, and social amplification. When Facebook proved unable to handle the scale of personalized creative, the team pivoted to neighborhood-level out-of-home placements that told listeners their community had streamed more of a particular artist than anywhere else in America.
“When their artists showed up in their neighborhood and they were responsible for it, it wasn’t just one person posting, it was everybody that lived in the neighborhood,” Marsden said. “I don’t think it would have worked without outdoor at all.”
Peloton has adopted a similar community-first approach, according to Marsden. At the Boston Marathon, the fitness brand displayed the names of every Peloton member on a large corner display along the race route. “Everybody that was a Peloton member saw their name on that board, took a photo, posted it, shared it, and it was talked about by the trainers,” he said. “It was lightning in a bottle.”
You’re watching The Beet.TV Leadership Sessions at Cannes Lions 2026, presented by OAAA. For more videos from this series, please visit this page. You can find all of our coverage from Cannes Lions 2026 here.
CANNES, France – Live sports have become advertising’s last communal campfire. That shared experience is creating fresh opportunities for out-of-home advertising, which can now react to cultural moments with the speed once reserved for social media.
For brands seeking to participate in sports culture without paying for official sponsorships, the streets, transit stations, and stadium-adjacent screens have become an alternative stage.
“Fandom happens in real life – it’s not happening on the device,” said Ian Dallimore, VP of digital growth at Lamar, in a discussion with Beet.TV at Cannes Lions 2026. “The moment that happens, whether it’s a goal scored and there’s a specific center mid that scores a goal that’s affiliated with this soccer brand, let’s trigger creative. There’s no excuses anymore.”
The panel:
- Ian Dallimore, vp, Digital Growth, Lamar
- Scott Marsden, vp, Client Strategy, PMG
- Moderator: Lucy Markowitz, svp, gm Americas, Vistar Media
Ambush marketing meets community presence
Dallimore pointed to Nike’s legendary ambush of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where Reebok held official sponsorship but Nike dominated public perception through planes, wallscapes, and billboards. What has changed is the speed and precision with which brands can now execute similar strategies.
“Out of home is woven within the community,” Dallimore said. “Not only are you targeting the people that live within the community themselves, but now brands are able to not only talk that way, but also in different languages and different brands that they’re introducing to new people.”
Scott Marsden, vp of client strategy at PMG, emphasized that the opportunity extends beyond major sponsors. He described advising clients that “there’s 32 Super Bowls happening every single day” and urging them to find ways into the conversation. “After the fact, when somebody’s not playing and not engaged in out of home or not engaged in stadium or out of stadium, we’re sending them case studies and saying, this could be you,” Marsden said.
Reactive creative is no longer a dirty word
The traditional criticism of reactive marketing – that it signals a lack of planning – is giving way to a recognition that speed is a strategic advantage. Digital out-of-home’s ability to swap creative in real time has made the medium a natural partner for brands that want to participate in cultural moments as they unfold, the panel heard.
Dallimore described how brands now prepare conditional creative: “If this occurs, here’s our creative ready to roll. And if it doesn’t, then let’s shift.” He cited the Knicks’ championship run as an example of how quickly New York City activated in out-of-home, with celebratory creative appearing the morning after the win.
The Levi’s Stadium logo controversy at the 2026 World Cup illustrated the viral potential of such moments. When Levi’s was required to cover its stadium branding because it was not an official FIFA sponsor, the brand turned the covered logo into a social media phenomenon, changing its Twitter avatar to match the blacked-out signage. “That alone doesn’t do enough,” Dallimore said. “What happens is social amplification where all of a sudden they change their logo on their Twitter account, on their Instagram account. And then they’re taking photos of it. And then now that’s the viral aspect.”
Data-driven personalization at scale
The Spotify Wrapped campaign, which Marsden helped pioneer during his time at the streaming service, remains a template for how out-of-home can combine data, personalization, and social amplification. When Facebook proved unable to handle the scale of personalized creative, the team pivoted to neighborhood-level out-of-home placements that told listeners their community had streamed more of a particular artist than anywhere else in America.
“When their artists showed up in their neighborhood and they were responsible for it, it wasn’t just one person posting, it was everybody that lived in the neighborhood,” Marsden said. “I don’t think it would have worked without outdoor at all.”
Peloton has adopted a similar community-first approach, according to Marsden. At the Boston Marathon, the fitness brand displayed the names of every Peloton member on a large corner display along the race route. “Everybody that was a Peloton member saw their name on that board, took a photo, posted it, shared it, and it was talked about by the trainers,” he said. “It was lightning in a bottle.”
You’re watching The Beet.TV Leadership Sessions at Cannes Lions 2026, presented by OAAA. For more videos from this series, please visit this page. You can find all of our coverage from Cannes Lions 2026 here.
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