What Is Place-Based Advertising? DefinitionDefined.
Place-based advertising is media placed inside specific physical venues, such as clinics, schools, bars and gas stations, where audiences naturally gather.
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Place-based advertising is media placed inside specific physical venues where target audiences naturally gather — clinics, schools, bars and restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, community centers, gyms, and dozens of other defined locations. It is a subset of out-of-home (OOH) advertising defined by where the audience is, rather than how the audience is traveling.
Unlike a highway billboard, which reaches an undefined mass audience in motion, place-based media reaches a defined audience during dwell time, in an environment whose context reinforces the message. A point-of-care ad in a doctor's office reaches patients thinking about their health; a bar ad reaches adults in a social setting; a high school ad reaches teenagers where peer behaviors form. The Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) tracks place-based media as one of the formal OOH formats, alongside billboards, transit, street furniture, and cinema.
Related terms:
Full guide: What is Place-Based Advertising?
Pair it with
Public health
Campaigns for health departments and nonprofits.
Explore public health →Point of care
Waiting rooms, exam rooms and HCP lounges.
Explore point of care →Pharmacies
Counter, shelf and screen, at pickup.
Explore pharmacies →Community centers
Rec centers, gyms and youth sports.
Explore community centers →DOOH
Digital screens across every venue type.
Explore DOOH →