Projection Advertising: Everything You Need to Know About Projection Advertising in 2024

Shakespeare once declared that “all the world’s a stage,” but we’d counter that with a 2024 twist—these days, all the world’s a stage for advertising. One of the most flexible, attention-grabbing and on-the-rise types of outdoor advertising is projection advertising. Projection allows you to create bold, informative messages without being constrained by a certain size or location for a campaign. The great flexibility and portability of projection advertising help it stand out from other out of home options.
Its popularity has risen over the past decade, and projection advertising remains on an upward trajectory. Global Market Insights notes that spending on projection mapping, which includes all instances of projection advertising used in outdoor, event promotion and experiential campaigns, hit $3.5 billion in 2023. It forecasts that from 2024 to 2032, the medium will see a 23% compound annual growth rate, noting, “The ability to project onto various surfaces and structures enables creative and impactful advertising that stands out in crowded media landscapes.”
We’ve pulled together a comprehensive guide to projection advertising in 2024, including what it is, the benefits of using it, the cost of a campaign, and great examples we’ve seen over the past few years. You can use this guide to better understand projection advertising and decide if it’s right for your next campaign.

What Is Projection Advertising?

Projection advertising describes a form of marketing that employs digital projectors to splash images or videos on solid surfaces such as buildings, sidewalks, streets, landmarks and other locations. Brands may choose whether to use a static image, animation or any other type of dynamic action.
Projection advertising makes a statement and demands attention. It is impossible to ignore when you walk down the street and see, for instance, small animations lighting up an old church or bright colors snaking up the bottom of a bridge.
One of the best aspects of projection advertising is how it encourages creativity. Almost anything you imagine can become a reality. Brainstorm big at the start, then see what your budget allows. Clients often come to us with a vision that they’re not sure we can execute — and we surprise them with a campaign that delivers that vision every time.

How Long Does a Projection Advertising Campaign Take?

Projection advertising has an element of the guerrilla approach in its boldness, but it is also more disciplined and technical. It can take weeks or sometimes months to lock in place all the elements of a campaign, from coming up with the visual approach to locking in the right location to generating the creative to finally launching.

Who Should Use Projection Advertising?

Most brands use projection advertising to promote a product or event. For instance, you could use it to hype a new type of mascara or shampoo. But projection advertising also works for nonprofits and brands that desire a more artistic, less mainstream approach.
This medium is a fantastic way to draw media attention, so many brands use it to launch something new. They try to gain a secondary group of eyes from getting an article published about the projection or people sharing it on social media. We’ve also found it makes a great place to deliver a message-centered campaign, such as for a nonprofit that wants to draw people to action.

What Are the Benefits of Projection Advertising?

Projection advertising has many benefits, including:

• Cutting-edge technology: Projection advertising is a relatively new way to reach people. When your brand uses it, you send a message to your customers about how hip and savvy you are. It also lets them know you have the budget and professional acumen to handle a large advertising undertaking, which speaks to your brand’s stability.

• Large reach: Most projection advertising campaigns take place in big cities. You will connect with a huge audience there, bringing your advertisement to a bigger crowd than some other traditional forms of media.

• Second life on social: Since projection advertising remains so fresh and exciting, many people share images of the projections on social media. Your campaign taking place in New York City may reach people on the West Coast and around the world when it goes viral on Instagram.

• It’s fun: In advertising, it’s not always the most expensive or most research-heavy campaigns that draw the most attention. It’s often the ones that are the most fun. The people you want to reach can tell when a brand is enjoying itself, and they’ll respond in kind. Projection advertising is kind of like a childhood fantasy of putting animation all around you — it’s impossible not to have a good time with that.

Projection Advertising Cost

Projection advertising costs less than you might imagine. While it is probably out of reach for small businesses, it costs a lot less than a billboard in bigger cities. Of course, the cost for projection advertising includes one or two nights, while billboards stay up for four weeks or longer.
How much does projection advertising cost? In our experience, a two-night activation in a top-10 market prices at about $7,000 to $10,000. For a single night, the cost is $5,000 to $6,000. The pricetag covers a roughly eight-hour activation hopping around a handful of locations.
It costs more, usually an additional $1,000, for projection advertising in secondary markets. That covers the expense of housing teams from primary markets to do the activation — these specialists are only available in bigger cities.

Projection Advertising Examples

We have seen many outstanding projection advertising campaigns over the years (and worked on a few ourselves). Here are five recent standouts that reflect the high level of creativity this medium can deliver:

1 – United Nations-FIFA: To celebrate the kickoff of the 2022 World Cup, FIFA used projection to illuminate the United Nations buildings with flags of the participating nations.

2 – Vegas Strip-Super Bowl: Leading up to the 2024 Super Bowl in Las Vegas, a nightly projection show took place on the side of Augustus Tower at Caesar’s Place.

3 – Empire State Building-Star Wars: A fun campaign in 2024 lit up the Empire State Building with Star Wars imagery.

4 – NYC museums-Beyonce: When Beyonce released a new country album in 2024, NYC museums including the Guggenheim displayed a projection related to the album—though there was some controversy over the authorization.

5 – NYC-Holocaust survivors: To commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day, landmarks around New York City showed images and quotes from Holocaust survivors.

Begin Your Projection Advertising Campaign

As those examples show, projection advertising can work for all types of brands and messages. Contact us today to discuss how we can help you with your own campaign.