Let’s face it - pharma advertising has a trust problem.

For years, the industry has relied on glossy TV spots and polished digital campaigns - the kind that look perfect but don’t always feel genuine. Patients have grown skeptical, and healthcare professionals have tuned out. But lately, something interesting is happening: pharma brands are rediscovering credibility in the most unexpected place - outdoors.

Table of Contents

1. From Exposure to Engagement
   
2. The Rise of Programmatic Precision
   
3. OOH and the Human Factor
   
4. The Next Chapter for Pharma Marketing
   
5. Final Thoughts

Key Takeaways

• OOH is gaining ground: While still a smaller slice of pharma ad spend, OOH is among the fastest-growing channels in the mix.

• $10.1 billion total ad spend: Pharma companies spent over $10 billion on prescription drug advertising in 2024, with nearly half allocated to TV.
  

• OOH delivers trust and attention: Outdoor placements help pharma brands build credibility in real-world, high-intent environments.

• Programmatic precision is driving growth: Data-led targeting and pDOOH are making OOH smarter, more measurable, and more performance-driven.

• OOH complements digital: When combined with online and social, OOH strengthens reach, engagement, and recall through contextual, real-world storytelling.

• The future is integrated: As the industry evolves, OOH is becoming the connective layer between mass exposure and meaningful engagement.

According to recent data, the pharma industry spent more than $10.1 billion on prescription drug advertising across all channels in 2024. Nearly half of that total, about $5.15 billion went to television, where reach is high but engagement is often passive. The rest was split across digital, paid social, print, radio, and a growing, if smaller, contender: out-of-home (OOH) advertising.

While OOH still represents a fraction of overall ad spend, it’s one of the fastest-growing media investments in the pharma mix. Reports indicate that pharma’s OOH spend is rising faster than almost any other medium, driven by the rise of Programmatic Digital OOH (pDOOH) and the industry’s need to deliver relevant, high-trust messaging in real-world contexts.

1. From Exposure to Engagement

TV gets eyeballs. Digital gets clicks. But OOH gets something rarer, belief.

That’s what the pharma sector has been chasing for years - trust and attention that actually stick.

Here’s why that matters: unlike many digital formats, OOH sits in shared public spaces. It’s seen in hospitals, medical campuses, gyms, transit hubs, and neighborhoods where both healthcare professionals and patients live their daily lives. That’s what makes it powerful. When someone sees a message about migraine relief on their morning commute or outside a clinic, it lands differently because it meets them in the moment, not in a feed.

OOH placements also bypass some of the credibility issues facing online health ads, where misinformation and algorithmic clutter can dilute brand authority. In other words, it’s not just visibility, it’s validation. Today, when anyone can publish health advice online, a physical message feels grounded - visible, verifiable, and real. For a category where credibility equals conversion, that matters.

2. The Rise of Programmatic Precision

OOH’s transformation isn’t just about format - it’s about intelligence. The emergence of Programmatic Digital Out-of-Home has redefined how pharma marketers think about audience planning.

With programmatic tools, brands can now target highly specific audience segments based on geography, time of day, or even environmental triggers like weather or footfall data. Imagine this: a respiratory health campaign that automatically comes to life on days when air quality dips, or a diabetes awareness ad appearing near gyms just as people finish their morning workouts.

billups is helping make this kind of precision possible by bringing the data smarts of digital into the physical world. With tools like Attention Score and Creative Optimization, pharma marketers can finally see more than just impressions; they can understand how deeply their messages actually connect.

And here’s the real shift: that insight changes everything. It allows teams to adjust creative, placements, and budgets in real time, transforming Out-of-Home from a static awareness play into a living, performance-driven channel.

‍‍‍3. OOH and the Human Factor

Healthcare is personal, emotional, and rooted in real human experience. That’s why OOH feels so natural for pharma. It exists in the same spaces where people commute, care, recover, and connect by blending brand awareness with lived experience.

When done right, OOH doesn’t just inform - it reassures. It tells patients they’re seen, and tells providers that innovation is happening all around them. Think about it, when a cancer survivor sees a message of hope on a bus shelter outside the treatment center, it doesn’t feel like advertising - it feels like empathy.

Whether it’s a message of hope, a breakthrough treatment, or an awareness campaign, OOH delivers scale with sincerity - something that’s difficult to replicate through a screen.

4. The Future of Pharma Marketing

As pharma’s marketing mix evolves, the question isn’t whether OOH belongs - it’s how much further it can go. The industry is already moving toward a more connected approach - where Out-of-Home works alongside digital, social, and TV to create campaigns that actually feel cohesive and measurable.

And here’s the big picture - pharma has spent decades mastering exposure; now it’s learning connection. OOH is helping the industry move from mass reach to meaningful reach - the kind that builds familiarity, comfort, and trust. And as data, creativity, and measurement continue to evolve, OOH won’t just be a complementary channel - it’ll be the connective tissue that ties pharma’s storytelling together.

Because when it comes to health, attention isn’t just about who’s watching - it’s about who believes.

Final Thoughts

The pharma industry’s pivot toward OOH reflects a broader truth: in a world oversaturated with screens, what happens in the real world still feels most real.

With smarter targeting, integrated measurement, and data-led creativity, OOH is fast becoming a credible space for healthcare storytelling - one that balances precision with presence.

And if you’re a pharma brand lead wondering where to start - start by stepping outside.

See how your message feels in the places your audience actually lives, moves, and decides.

Because in healthcare, attention is more than a metric - it’s a matter of belief. And belief begins in the real world.

Ready to see how that belief could look for your brand? 

Get in touch with billups - let’s build something that not only gets seen, but is believed.