PML Group has revealed the winners of its 2025 IMPACT Awards, recognising exceptional Out of Home (OOH) campaigns across a wide range of product categories. In 2024, these brands capitalised on the attention OOH marketing offers, delivering powerful and effective campaigns.
The OOH agency’s IMPACT research programme tracks crucial campaign metrics, with the IMPACT Awards recognising the best in class at capturing audience attention through a combination of media and creative tactics.
The winners are the highest scoring by category among over a thousand OOH campaigns independently researched for PML Group by Ipsos B&A.
Retail was the largest spender on OOH in 2024, and the awards recognise both Supermarket and other Retail campaigns. Dunnes Stores, planned by Carat, claims the top spot in the Supermarket category, while IKEA, through Dentsu X, leads the way in the broader Retail category.
It’s a case of Doubles all round as McDonald’s Double Big Mac win out in the Dining category for the second year running, which doubled Zenith’s IMPACT award haul for 2025, having also won in the Media category for the Disney+ Christmas campaign. TBWA Ireland supplied the creative for the campaign featuring much loved Christmas content such as Home Alone.
One common factor among all this year’s winning campaigns is their use of multiple formats, and all included classic OOH elements such as billboards and bus shelters. This is the case for the vibrant Pepsi MAX campaign, planned by OMD, which wins in the Soft Drink category for its brand relaunch last spring. Guinness 0.0 once again proves that powerful brand presence on Outdoor drives recall and relevance. The 2024 campaign came with a new brand platform that revived the vintage Toucan design, blending nostalgia with modern inclusivity for the 00 consumer and winning its category alongside media agency PHD.
Simplicity in messaging plays a crucial role in creative excellence on OOH. Years of IMPACT research have shown that clear, direct messages resonate, and this was evident with both An Post and Cadbury Creme Egg last year. An Post’s straightforward call to action to do your banking at the post office proved effective, securing a win in the Finance category for An Post, Starcom, and Boys & Girls. Meanwhile, Creme Egg’s concise question, “How do you eat yours?” helped them win the Confectionery category for Mondeléz and Spark Foundry.
Cars made a strong impact on OOH in 2024, with Jeep’s use of large format billboards standing out in the category and securing a win for Gowan Auto, Wavemaker, and Fourum. Its “Built for the Real World” message highlighted a key product benefit, a theme also seen in the campaigns of Virgin Media and Avonmore among this year’s winners. Virgin Media wins the Telecoms category with a campaign promoting infinite entertainment through streaming TV, planned and created by OMD and Publicis. Meanwhile, Avonmore’s campaign emphasised the added Vitamin D that Super Milk provides—something 90% of people need. Carat and Goosebump take home the honours for that one.
The inaugural Best Innovation award honours campaigns that push the limits of Out of Home, using special builds and creative executions to make a lasting impression. In 2024, Rockshore Apple Cider’s Golden Square special build on Aungier Street truly stood out, “taking a bite” out of the competition. Respondents recognised this campaign, by PHD and The Tenth Man, as the top OOH Special Build of the year.
Colum Harmon, marketing director, PML Group:
“In today’s fragmented media landscape, attention is a prized commodity, and OOH stands out for its ability to engage audiences in the real world. IMPACT reflects our commitment to OOH measurement and accountability, and we’re excited to recognize and celebrate the campaigns that have been independently assessed as outstanding. The learnings are clear – a multi-format approach with a clear message resonates best on OOH. Congratulations to the winning brands and agencies behind them.”
The 2025 IMPACT Award Winners:
Best OOH Campaign – Finance
An Post Money
Media: Starcom
Creative: Boys & Girls
OOH Agency: Source OOH
Best OOH Campaign – Food
Avonmore Super Milk
Media: Carat
Creative: Goosebump
OOH Agency: PML
Best OOH Campaign – Confectionery & Snacking
Cadbury Creme Egg
Media: Spark Foundry
Creative: VCCP
OOH Agency: PML
Best OOH Campaign – Media & Entertainment
Disney+
Media: Zenith
Creative: TBWA Ireland
OOH Agency: Source OOH
Best OOH Campaign – Supermarkets
Dunnes Stores
Media: Carat
OOH Agency: PML
Best OOH Campaign – Alcohol, No & Low
Guinness 0.0
Media: PHD
Creative: Forsman & Bodenfors
OOH Agency: Source OOH
Best OOH Campaign – Retail
IKEA
Media: Dentsu X
Creative: Mother
OOH Agency: PML
Best OOH Campaign – Motors
Jeep Avenger
Media: Wavemaker
Creative: Fourum
OOH Agency: PML
Best OOH Campaign – Dining
McDonald’s
Media: Zenith
Creative: Leo Burnett
OOH Agency: Source OOH
Best OOH Campaign – Soft Drinks
Pepsi MAX
Media: OMD
Creative: eg+
OOH Agency: Source OOH
Best OOH Campaign – Innovation
Rockshore Cider
Media: PHD
Creative: The Tenth Man
OOH Agency: Source OOH
Best OOH Campaign – Telecoms
Virgin Media
Media: OMD
Creative: Publicis
OOH Agency: PML
