Big Tree takes adland out-of-office and onto the big screen

Big Tree is putting agency professionals inside the ads they typically plan, taking them across Kuala Lumpur for an interactive out-of-home (OOH) experience designed to showcase how digital technology, personalisation and audience participation can be used across the medium.

Dubbed the "Big Tree OOH City Tour 2026", the initiative was held under the theme "What If the City Could Hear You?" and tagline "Don't Just Plan OOH. Become Part of It." Rather than showcasing its advertising formats through a traditional media presentation, Big Tree turned locations across Kuala Lumpur into an interactive showcase of its digital out-of-home (DOOH) network.

Speaking to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, a Big Tree spokesperson said the company wanted to move beyond the typical approach of introducing OOH through sales kits and presentations of available formats. Instead, it took media strategists outdoors to experience the medium in the environments where consumers encounter it every day.

"Through the rain, the heat and Kuala Lumpur traffic, they experienced OOH in its natural environment, where its presence is unmissable and part of the city's everyday movement," the spokesperson said.

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Beyond demonstrating its network, Big Tree wanted participants to consider how the physical characteristics of different OOH environments could influence creative thinking. According to the spokesperson, large digital screens, transit environments and unexpected urban touchpoints each present different creative opportunities for brands.

The tour began at Big Tree's Cosmic Towers, a dual-screen DOOH installation with sound located at the entrance of NU Sentral. Participants were greeted with personalised sequences featuring their faces across the digital screens, turning them from viewers into part of the creative.

From there, participants travelled by LRT to experience Big Tree's DOOH network across transit environments, before exploring pedestrian connections around KLCC. The locations were used to demonstrate how OOH can reach audiences at different points as they move between transport hubs, workplaces and shopping destinations.

The experience then moved onto a double-decker bus, taking participants past several of Big Tree's DOOH sites around Kuala Lumpur. As they travelled through the city, their faces appeared on screens along the route.

Participants were also invited to submit a selfie alongside a personal message they wanted to share with the public. The submissions culminated at CuBig @ KLCC Junction, Big Tree's largest DOOH screen in Malaysia, where AI was used to bring the selfies to life through anamorphic effects alongside their messages.

The personalised elements were intended to demonstrate how OOH can retain its ability to reach mass audiences while creating experiences that feel relevant to individuals, the spokesperson explained.

"Participants were not just looking at a screen; they became part of the content, with their own faces and messages brought to life in a public space," the spokesperson said, adding that technology could help move OOH beyond one-way communication by inviting audiences to participate.

For advertisers, Big Tree sees this as an opportunity to pair the scale and visibility of OOH with individual moments that audiences may relate to, remember and share.

"Ultimately, deeper engagement begins with relevance. When people see something that resonates with them personally, the message has the potential to become more than just another advertisement," the spokesperson added.

The tour also highlighted the need to make OOH more accessible and experiential for media strategists who may be relatively new to the medium, according to Big Tree. By taking participants into the actual environments, the company aimed to demonstrate both the breadth of its network and creative possibilities that may be harder to communicate through a presentation alone.

Looking ahead, Big Tree said it plans to continue developing its OOH and DOOH offerings around creativity, technology and audience participation, while ensuring new capabilities remain tied to advertisers' brand stories and objectives.

"We want to keep pushing the boundaries of what advertisers can achieve with OOH and DOOH, while ensuring that innovation always serves the brand's story and objectives," the spokesperson said.

The initiative follows another recent effort by Big Tree to use its DOOH network as a platform for public participation. Last month, it launched "Santuari kita" ('Our sanctuary'), inviting Malaysians to submit messages of hope that contribute to an interactive digital garden.

Running from 10 October to 8 November in support of World Mental Health Day, the initiative sits under Media Prima's "Ruang rehat" ('Room of rest') mental wellbeing initiative. Each submitted message causes a flower to bloom in the digital garden, while selected messages appear through interactive butterflies.

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