Class in Session: Professor Happy on Standing Out During Back to School Season

Big Happy AdTech Prep

BTS 101: Standing Out During Back-to-School Season

Professor: Happy

Term: Q3 2026

Office Hours: By appointment, but we’re always happy to talk 3D.

Prerequisite: a willingness to stop playing it safe.

Course Description: An introductory blogpost of what it actually takes to get noticed during the most competitive shopping season of the summer. Attendees will learn the difference between creative that gets ignored and creative that gets remembered, with an emphasis on motion, depth, and not blending in with 1,000 other standard ads. 

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Take your seats, the bell’s about to ring.

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This time of year, the shopping is in full swing with discounts, supply lists, and promotions overwhelming students, parents and educators alike. According to the National Retail Federation, about one-third of back-to-school shoppers had already started browsing and buying by early June, the highest since 2018. 

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Thousands of brands circulate the shelves (both digitally and in-person) with an accelerated window to win over consumers before they show up. So how do you stand out?

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Lesson 1: Everyone Signed Up for the Same Easy Elective

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For years, back to school campaigns have been primarily focused on scale and delivery. 

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We all know the formula: More channels = more impressions. More impressions = more engagement. This cycle still operates today, but when every brand implements that strategy, that’s no longer going to be the strategy to stand out. Congratulations, you all get the same participation trophy!

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Now, many platforms operate with unlimited access to optimization tools, precise targeting, and never-before-seen measurement systems. As those standards increasingly become the norm, the focus shifts to creative: is what you’re putting out there enough to stop a consumer in their tracks throughout the whole season?

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An added challenge is that consumers aren’t experiencing brands through a single channel anymore, or acting right before school begins.

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As Katie Haniffy, VP of Media at Dick's Sporting Goods, explains, “Back-to-school has evolved from a single shopping occasion into a broader lifestyle moment. Today’s consumers are researching, comparing, and purchasing across multiple categories and channels simultaneously. As the journey becomes more fragmented, the opportunity for brands lies in creating cohesive experiences that connect the dots across touchpoints and help consumers navigate the season with confidence.”

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The brands that break through will be the ones that don’t just reach consumers at more moments, but create meaningful experiences that connect those moments together.

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Lesson 2: Creative Is the Pop Quiz You Cannot Cram For

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Creative is where that real influence  begins. It's historically one of the last things many brands build but the first thing consumers actually experience. If the creative doesn't hook them, the entire campaign behind it is working in service of something that never had a chance.

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This time of year, consumers are flooded with ads: on a busy parent’s phone, on street displays across college campuses, on billboards lining the highways of commuters stuck in traffic, and more. Most of it blurs together. The brands that cut through the noise don’t have more innovative tools or bigger budgets, but they have creative that consumers want to see!

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You in the back, stop doomscrolling…this is guaranteed to be on the quiz. 

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This isn’t to say measurement and targeting are not important. After all, mathematics and English are each significant parts of a full diploma; you need both to be well-rounded! In the same way, you can't obsess over targeting, then fail at creative and call it a campaign. One tells you who to reach. The other is the reason they'll remember you at all.

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Lesson 3: 3D Is the Curve Everyone Wishes They Knew About Sooner

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Here’s the crux of it: Brands still playing it safe are going to get lost in the shuffle. 

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Motion, depth, and complex animation automatically pulls the eyes in ways that 2D and static images can’t. On a large digital screen in the real world, it transforms a background fixture into something that actually pulls our eye on the way to work or school. And on a phone, a well-executed 3D ad interrupts the mindless scroll we’re so accustomed to. The creative becomes memorable, and therefore priceless.

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According to recent research, adding motion to digital out-of-home advertising increased ad recall by 33% and brand awareness by 50% compared to static ads. 3D creative specifically was 67% more effective at getting brands top of mind. 

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Alison Mayes, VP of Strategic Partnerships and Agency Development at Big Happy, shares, “As a working mom, I know firsthand that back-to-school is an incredibly exciting but utterly overwhelming blur of to-do lists. Standard, flat display ads just bleed into the background noise of a busy day. Brands need the stopping power of immersive 3D and CGI creative to genuinely grab our attention and simplify our shopping decisions.” 

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3D creative suits the back-to-school season perfectly because it's naturally fun and energetic. Blinged-out backpacks, school lunches with saturated packaging, eye-catching classroom decor, aesthetic dorm setups, the list goes on!

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These vibrant products add to the exciting feeling of a new year starting. They belong on an active display, not a flat banner ad templated from 1000 ads before it. 

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Lesson 4: The Group Project Nobody Complains About

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We know by now that consumers are never still. A shopper sees an ad on their commute to work, then sees it again that night, scrolling on their phone. That repetition isn't repetitive, it's reinforcement! 

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DOOH and mobile aren't separate channels, but two touchpoints on the same moment. Together, they stick in a way that one alone can't – it’s like studying with a buddy, there’s strength in numbers. At the end of the day, your creative needs to pass the test. When the moment hits, static ads just aren't going to cut it. 

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This back-to-school season, the brands that show up in big, 3D motion are the ones that will get remembered. 

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And there’s the bell! Class dismissed, go make something worth remembering.