A Revolutionary Billboard - But We’re Still on the Sidelines.

Forget the static billboards of the past.

Big brands like Nike are starting to experiment with real-time, AI-generated billboard creative. What does that mean? Digital billboards updating automatically based on location, time, or current events. Even more simply - they can deliver highly relevant messaging to anyone passing by.

It sounds futuristic. And honestly, it kind of is. Think Minority Report, but without Tom Cruise (or hopefully the dystopia). AI-generated creative that shifts minute-to-minute? That’s cool. It’s new and has boatloads of potential.

But it also comes with real risks, particularly for small and mid-sized businesses who don’t have Nike’s budget, brand power or PR recovery team.

Let’s unpack it.

What We’re Digging About AI Billboards

The benefits are easy to see:

• You can update ads in real-time, tailoring creative to weather, traffic, game scores - anything you want and prompt.

• You can create more personalized experiences (in theory).

• You can run campaigns that evolve without a human touching a keyboard after launch.

Andrew Newman covered some of this in a recent piece for The Drum, where he explained how this new approach could push out-of-home (OOH) advertising into the next era of relevance.

And he’s not wrong. For media buyers and big agencies, this could change the game. Imagine an ad for running shoes that only shows up when it’s sunny out. Or a burger joint’s special popping up when local traffic patterns suggest people are heading home from work. Heck, even a bit of heckling towards the away team right outside a sporting event as the home team takes a lead. That’s smart targeting! And it’s creative firepower that used to be out of reach for traditional billboard campaigns.

What We're Not Buying

Here’s what didn’t get enough airtime in Newman’s piece - and why we’re not on board.

1. The Sample Size Problem

If every impression shows a slightly different creative, how do you measure what’s actually working? You don’t get 1,000 people seeing the same ad. You get 1,000 people seeing 1,000 different versions of an idea. That’s a data nightmare.

Small businesses, in particular, don’t have the budget to “test into” something that nebulous. It’s not a focus group—it’s a gamble.

2. The Brand Recognition Black Hole

OOH is about visibility. About repetition. It’s a medium built on the idea that someone sees your brand 7+ times before it sticks.

But if your AI is constantly shifting color palettes, fonts, taglines and tone... you’re not reinforcing anything. You’re just making noise. The last thing a growing business needs is to throw away your precious money while being forgettable.

3. The Creative Quality Risk

Let’s be honest: a lot of generative AI is still average. Sometimes it's fine. Sometimes it’s awful. It still can’t grasp cultural nuance, tone or irony the way a good human copywriter or designer can. And unless you have excellent guardrails and oversight, you’re trusting a machine with your audience’s perception of the brand.

That’s dangerous, especially when your brand is showing up on a 30-foot digital screen off the freeway. Imagine the sort of damage an offensive or poorly toned ad variation could have.

4. The Lack of Tracking

Don’t forget, we still don’t have the technology to track a user throughout this entire purchase journey. We are forced to draw massive jumps in our conclusions about whether or not these ads actually worked. Again, a small business simply doesn’t have the budget to gamble on tools we can’t accurately measure.

So, What Should Small Businesses Do?

Look - we’re not saying don’t try it (although we kind of are). We’re saying don’t blindly chase the shiny new thing.

If you’re a small business owner, here’s what we’d recommend:

• Don’t automate what you haven’t already mastered manually. If your billboard campaign isn’t delivering results now, AI won’t fix that.

• Test it—don’t bet the farm on it. Try a single AI-assisted campaign. See what happens. Pair it with human oversight.

• Keep brand consistency sacred. Your logo, tone, tagline, and aesthetic shouldn’t change on a whim. AI or not.

• Work with a strategist or creative team who can build the right parameters. AI is only as good as the guardrails you set.

There’s opportunity here. But also a lot of noise. And if you’re not careful, your message might get lost in the algorithm’s attempt to be clever.

Final Thought

We love smart tools. We love new tech. But we also know that tools don’t build brands - people do. AI is at its best when it supports human strategy, not when it replaces it.

So if you’re eyeing the billboard of the future, make sure the future still includes you, particularly your judgment, story and brand.

Not just the machine’s.

At White Hound Co, we help businesses grow by connecting your message to your bottom line - without the buzzwords. Whether that means a smarter awareness campaign or learning how to make yoru brand stand out with or without AI, we’re here to help.

Curious about what that looks like? Let’s talk!