Digital Connect December 18, 2025

Check out the December edition of DCW’s Connect+. The media landscape is heating up this winter with exciting new ad types (Holograms!), rumors about ChatGPT ads, dynamic radio tools, and increased digitation of OOH billboards.

Platform Updates:

The future is here. DCW is excited to offer advertisers OOH holograms through our partnership with HYPRVSN. These extremely vivid eye-catching placements can take on virtually any size or shape, with diverse placements that include indoors, outdoors, and on the road. These high-impact ads are perfect for any advertiser looking to create an unforgettable awareness spectacle. 3D creative types include floating objects, standalone animations, immersive walls, centerpieces, interactive experiences, AI avatars, streaming images, games, catalogs, and more. Engagement can go even further by pairing with digital geo-fencing ads delivered around the placements that drive website traffic. Interested in bringing your ads to the cutting edge? Reach out to DCW to discuss a custom strategy. 

ChatGPT ads are closer to becoming a reality. It was recently leaked that the popular AI platform is gearing up for search ad placements, including a search ad carousel. The potential for these ads cannot be overstated as the platform now has around 800 million weekly users worldwide, with almost 20 billion messages per week. Furthermore, targeting will take into account a user's expressed interests, behaviors, and preferences. OpenAI chief Sam Altman has back pedaled on the advertising initiatives, stating the platform needs to first focus on improvements such as better personalization as competitors like Google are looking to close the gap in AI competition. DCW will continue monitoring developments closely and is prepared to guide advertisers on how to show up on what may become one of the most influential platforms in the media ecosystem, when the time is right.

Traditional media is entering a period of change, bringing new capabilities that have a significant impact on delivery and local market performance. Broadcast radio is introducing dynamic creative tools that allow advertisers to rotate messages in near real time. Stations are activating ad-replacement systems that adjust copy based on time of day, weather, or local events, giving brands the ability to run commuter messaging, weekend pushes, or promotional alerts without rebuilding schedules. This evolution introduces greater situational relevance while maintaining radio’s reach and cost efficiency, pushing the medium closer to the responsiveness marketers expect from digital audio. DCW is actively incorporating these message-triggered rotations into client radio plans, enabling tighter control and stronger alignment with daypart behavior.

Out-of-home is advancing along a similar trajectory. Networks are expanding digital conversions across Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets, bringing addressable capabilities to regions that previously relied on static boards. These upgraded units enable shorter flights, flexible rotations, and audience targeting informed by mobile movement data. The result is a more adaptable OOH environment where regional advertisers, especially in retail, education, and healthcare, can deploy cost-effective focused creative with stronger geographic accuracy. DCW is already integrating this expanded digital OOH inventory into upcoming market plans, using enhanced targeting to deliver more precise regional reach, stronger proximity-based performance, and increased control across traditional media investments.