Old Media is Dead! Long Live Old Media!

Nicole Granese is CSO of Omnicom for AT&T and Matt Miller is CEO/CCO WEST BBDO and CCO of Omnicom for AT&T

For years, marketers and industry pundits have been declaring the death of “old media”. In a world obsessed with TikTok, Instagram, and algorithm-driven feeds, who, they ask, has the patience for a billboard or a cinema ad? The answer, as it turns out, is surprising: the most connected generation of all— Zillennials (Gen Z and Millennials)—are breathing new life into the very formats we were told were obsolete.

It’s easy to see why the myth persists. The last two decades have been a digital gold rush, with brands pouring resources into online video, social, and influencer content. Meanwhile, “legacy” channels like out-of-home (OOH) and cinema advertising were written off as relics of a bygone era. But dig deeper, and a different story emerges—one confirmed by recent learnings from the AAF Student Competition and a wave of industry research.

What Zillennials Want: Real-World Brand Discovery
​The AAF National Student Advertising Competition is a bellwether for what tomorrow’s ad stars think works. This year’s insight was clear in presentation after presentation we saw: Zillennials prefer and were making use of traditional ad formats over digital ones.
The biggest reason why, is high rates of digital ad fatigue. In a quantitative study conducted by WEST BBDO in August 2025, 89% of Zillennials reported they had digital ad fatigue. That research also showed that 18–24-year-olds are significantly more likely to be annoyed by digital ad formats. Online video and social media ads were the most annoying, with 30% and 23% reporting so, while OOH ads were seen as annoying by only 2%.

Like many of us, Zillennials find digital advertising to be interruptive, which is likely why GWI found 71% enjoy discovering brands in the real world. Harris Poll research further supports this saying that today “the pendulum is swinging back toward three-dimensional touch, as younger consumers — specifically Gen Zers and Millennials — show even higher demand for tangible, touchable brand experiences than older generations.”

So Why Is Old Media Working Harder Now?
High Memorability
Why do “old” formats resonate with the most digital generation ever? Simple: attention. OOH and cinema ads are largely unskippable, uncluttered, and impossible to scroll away from. They command focus in a way few digital ads ever could. 2023 Nielsen research revealed 79% of young moviegoers say cinema ads are more memorable than anything they see on a phone, and our recent BBDO study confirmed the same.

Greater Trust
Real world placements also make brands feel more credible to younger audiences. In fact, Kantar’s 2023 Media Reactions report found trust in OOH and cinema/film ads stands at 49% and 54%, respectively, while only 19% of young adults trust social media ads.

Strong Actionability
A potential downside of ‘old media’ could be that its harder for audiences to take immediate action based on what they’re seeing. But in fact, 65% of Zillennials are more likely to share a brand film they saw in a public or communal space (cinema, OOH) than a digital ad they saw alone. And 66% of 18–34-year-olds report taking some action on their phone after seeing an OOH ad—searching, sharing, or visiting a website.

The Path Forward: Rethinking the Media Mix
Marketers, it’s time to challenge the narrative. Old media isn’t dead; it’s evolving—and working harder than ever. New tech makes measuring ROI in OOH and cinema easier and more precise. At BBDO we believe there are “no small mediums, only small ideas”, and we’re starting to use these channels to make our Big Ideas even Bigger. Bringing more OOH and cinemas to our campaigns is helping us to spark more conversation, create shared moments, and bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds.

If you want to win with younger generations, don’t just chase them online. Meet them where they are—in the real world, in the theatre, at the bus stop, and on the street. The opportunities are bigger, bolder, and more powerful than ever. And Brands doing so are already seeing results. Spotify’s OOH “Wrapped” billboard campaign drove a 25% bump in app engagement among Gen Z, outperforming digital-only campaigns. Nike’s “Dream Crazy” film generated 30% higher brand favourability among Zillennials when extended to cinema and OOH, compared to digital-only versions.

Long Live the Old Media
The story of media is not one of extinction, but adaptation. Based on our experiences at the AAF National Student Advertising Competition, the so-called “dead” channels are alive and well, reinvented by the very generation we thought had left them behind. For brands ready to listen, OOH and cinema may just be a new frontier—again.