Billboards Are Having a Pop Star Moment: How Out-of-Home Advertising Is Driving Music Hype in 2025
When people hear traditional media, they often think outdated. It doesn’t sparkle like emerging channels or move as fast as digital. But billboard advertising—one of the oldest and most visible forms of out-of-home (OOH) media—is proving it still has serious star power in the modern marketing mix.
Over the past year, a wave of music artists and their teams have embraced OOH as a creative way to build anticipation, engage fans, and generate buzz that spills far beyond the physical space. These aren’t just awareness plays. They’re smart, multi-layered marketing campaigns that blend traditional placements with digital, experiential, and social activations.
In a time when attention is fragmented across platforms, pop stars are reminding us that a bold billboard can still turn heads, start conversations, and drive millions of views—online and IRL.
Charli XCX’s “Brat Wall”: Billboard + Digital Buzz
Charli XCX’s Brat Wall campaign was named the OOH Media Plan of the Year by the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA). The campaign used a striking Brooklyn mural to promote her single 360 and the full Brat album. But it wasn’t just static signage. The wall became a cultural moment—doubling as a live performance backdrop, a fan destination, and a dynamic message board as the creative changed over time. Though rooted in one physical location, the mural spread far beyond via social media and online chatter, making it a real-world anchor for a digital wave.
It’s a perfect example of how location-based media can transcend geography and fuel digital conversation
Chappell Roan’s Billboard Phone Line Activation
Chappell Roan took a similarly inventive approach earlier this year, using Nashville billboards to tease her track “The Giver.” These weren’t your typical promo placements—they featured a phone number that fans could call to navigate a voice menu and hear ex
clusive song snippets. The experience blended physical placement with direct fan engagement, offering a playful, mysterious, and personalized interaction in the lead-up to the official release.
In an era where fan involvement is currency, this was a standout example of how even a “static” medium like a billboard can be reimagined into a two-way channel—bridging analog and digital in a way that resonates with younger audiences who crave experiences.
Sabrina Carpenter’s “Manchild” Debut in Houston
Just this week, Sabrina Carpenter dropped a series of surprise billboards in Houston—Avail Media’s own backyard—to announce her new single, Manchild. The billboards were simple but bold, using just the song title and her name to intrigue and entice fans
While only local Houstonians saw them firsthand, it didn’t take long for the images to explode across the internet. In fact, Avail Media’s own media buyer Taylor Roby tweeted a photo of one of the billboards—and that tweet went viral, racking up millions of views and being reposted by fan accounts from Brazil to Europe.
This campaign shows the viral power of hyperlocal media. A single billboard, seen by a few, can be amplified exponentially by the right audience—especially when paired with a devoted fan base and a smart, coordinated social rollout.
What all these campaigns have in common is the smart use of out-of-home not as a standalone play, but as part of a bigger, multi-touchpoint strategy. They were backed by digital content, experiential moments, and real-time fan interaction. They didn’t just put up a billboard—they put on a show.
The takeaway? Traditional media isn’t boring—it just needs a fresh perspective. When used creatively and strategically, it can be just as trend-setting as the latest platform. Billboards are still one of the most high-impact, high-visibility media tactics available today. But making them work in 2025 requires more than just space—it requires strategy, creativity, and an understanding of how media moments travel across channels. These artists and their teams understood their audiences, designed thoughtful campaigns, and proved that billboards can still break through.
So the next time someone calls traditional media “boring,” remind them that Charli XCX, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter are out here breaking the internet with it.