Experience Centre Video
Retail · Case Study
The retail real estate landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. As e-commerce continues to reshape consumer shopping habits, physical shopping malls are no longer just places to buy goods; they must evolve into vibrant, experiential destinations. Mall operators and Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) media owners face a dual challenge: they must attract and retain foot traffic while simultaneously offering highly engaging, premium advertising inventory to brands. Traditional static billboards and standard flat-panel digital screens are increasingly suffering from “banner blindness,” failing to capture the attention of a highly stimulated, digitally native audience. The industry is actively searching for the next major evolution in mall advertising — a disruptive technology that stops shoppers in their tracks and commands premium ad rates
Simon Property Group, the largest shopping mall operator in the United States, recognised this shifting dynamic and the urgent need to innovate their DOOH offerings. With a vast portfolio of premium retail properties, they realised they needed a powerful, network-wide centrepiece that would do much more than just display rotating video ads. They required a dynamic, interactive digital advertising platform that could deliver high-fidelity, 3D brand experiences in a visually stunning manner. The overarching goal was to create a futuristic, engaging mall environment that seamlessly blended physical retail with cutting-edge digital advertising, encouraging shoppers to stop, look, and interact, while simultaneously driving measurable, bottom-line advertising revenue.
To achieve this ambitious vision, Simon Property Group made the bold decision to deploy a scalable network of life-size hologram advertising displays across 30 of their premier mall locations. This deployment represented a significant strategic departure from the standard DOOH industry norm. This wasn’t a fleeting, temporary pop-up or a short-lived gimmick for a single mall; it was a fully integrated, always-on holographic advertising network designed from the ground up to serve as a core, permanent component of their media infrastructure. The objective was crystal clear: utilise cutting-edge volumetric technology to drive massive shopper engagement, offer brands an unparalleled 3D advertising medium, and directly facilitate a new, high-margin revenue stream. By adopting this advanced technology, Simon Property Group successfully set a new benchmark for mall advertising, definitively proving that holograms can move far beyond mere novelty and become powerful, reliable engines for DOOH commerce.
The successful, scalable implementation of hologram advertising in malls requires a seamless, meticulously orchestrated integration of enterprise-grade hardware, robust cloud software, and exceptionally high-fidelity 3D content. At the absolute core of the Simon Property Group installation is a fleet of life-size, volumetric display units that have been specifically designed and engineered for the demanding rigours of high-traffic public environments. This sophisticated hardware utilises advanced light-field technology combined with high-density, ultra-high-brightness LED arrays to project three-dimensional, photorealistic images that appear to float magically inside the transparent glass enclosure. Crucially for a mall setting, the displays are engineered to be exceptionally bright, allowing them to compete effortlessly with standard, often harsh, overhead mall lighting and natural sunlight spilling in from massive skylights. This critical engineering feature ensures the holograms remain crisp, vibrant, and highly visible from across the entire concourse, acting as a powerful, undeniable visual magnet for passing foot traffic.
The underlying content strategy driving the network is equally critical to its long-term success and ROI. Simon Property Group’s media division works closely with brand advertisers to develop highly detailed, 4K-resolution 3D models of their products — ranging from luxury fashion items and automotive models to upcoming movie characters. These digital assets are not simple, static images or basic video loops; they are fully rigged, dynamic animated models loaded into the network’s secure, enterprise-grade cloud-based content management system (CMS). The CMS serves as the operational brain of the entire 30-mall installation. It empowers the central media operations team to push instant updates, change the featured advertisements based on time of day or specific mall demographics, and schedule different holographic animations remotely, across all 30 locations simultaneously. A shopper walking through the mall might first see a 3D sports car slowly rotating to highlight its design, followed immediately by a dramatic, educational “exploded view” animation showing the internal engine components, all rendered in stunning, lifelike 3D detail.
What truly elevates this installation from a mere passive visual spectacle to a powerful, premium advertising tool is its deep, intuitive interactivity and data-capture capabilities. The holographic displays are seamlessly integrated with responsive touch-screen interfaces and dynamic, real-time QR code generation systems. Shoppers are not treated as just passive observers; they are actively invited to step up and interact with the display to select different product models, cycle through available colours, and view highly detailed specifications. Once a shopper finds an advertised product they like, the experience smoothly transitions from the physical mall environment to their personal digital device. They can simply scan a unique, campaign-specific QR code generated on the display’s interface to instantly transfer the offer, coupon, or product page directly to their smartphone’s web browser. This elegant handoff seamlessly bridges the gap between the immersive, high-impact holographic discovery phase and the frictionless digital conversion flow, allowing the brand to capture leads and drive immediate sales.
For the DOOH media sales team, the introduction of hologram advertising in malls represents a fundamental paradigm shift in how premium inventory is pitched and sold. Historically, selling digital mall signage meant competing on CPMs (Cost Per Mille) against hundreds of other flat screens. Now, the team can offer brands an exclusive, high-impact 3D medium that guarantees attention and engagement. This digital-first, volumetric approach allows the sales team to command premium advertising rates, significantly increasing the revenue yield per square foot of mall space. Furthermore, it allows for dynamic, hyper-targeted ad sales; a luxury brand can buy out the holographic network during high-income weekend shopping hours, while an entertainment company can take over the network for a movie premiere on a Friday night, all managed from a central dashboard.
Mall operations and facilities management teams benefit immensely from the centralised, cloud-managed nature of the interactive display network. In a busy retail environment, managing physical ad installations across 30 properties is a logistical nightmare. The holographic network acts as an always-available, highly reliable digital infrastructure. It eliminates the need for physical printed banners, manual installation crews, and the associated downtime. The permanent installations are designed for durability, requiring minimal daily maintenance and operating reliably as a core component of the mall’s architecture, rather than a fragile piece of temporary event tech. The centralised CMS ensures that all units are monitored remotely, with automated alerts for any hardware or connectivity issues.
The mall marketing department and the brand advertisers gain unprecedented, granular insights into shopper behaviour that were previously impossible to capture with static billboards or standard digital screens. The interactive holographic units act as data collection hubs. They track exactly which 3D advertisements are viewed most frequently, how long shoppers engage with specific holographic animations, and, crucially, the conversion rates driven via the QR code scans. This wealth of data allows marketers to continuously optimise their 3D content, prove the exact Return on Investment (ROI) of the holographic ad spend to their brand clients, and move far beyond the traditional guesswork and generic foot-traffic estimates of legacy DOOH analytics.
Deploying a scalable network of hologram advertising in malls is not merely an exercise in aesthetic modernisation; it delivers measurable, high-impact financial results that clearly justify the initial capital expenditure for property owners. In an era where traditional printed displays and flat digital screens suffer from severe “banner blindness,” holographic technology consistently cuts through the noise, driving massive increases in both initial shopper attention and sustained engagement dwell time. Mall operators utilising this advanced volumetric technology report significant, verifiable boosts in media sales revenue, which directly and predictably translate to higher overall property profitability.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for enterprise-grade mall holographic networks include:
+40%
Increased Ad Revenue Yield
When positioned strategically in high-traffic concourses, holographic displays command premium CPM rates. Data indicates these installations can increase DOOH revenue yield per unit by up to 40% compared to standard flat-panel digital kiosks.
+45%
Extended Shopper Dwell Time
Engagement is the precursor to ad recall and conversion. Shoppers spend an average of 45% longer interacting with volumetric 3D advertisements compared to traditional static or 2D video signage, giving brands more time to communicate their message.
20–25%
Higher Campaign Conversion Rates
The seamless integration of dynamic QR codes and interactive product exploration bridges the physical-to-digital divide. This frictionless journey can boost conversion rates by 15–20% for the specific items featured in the holographic display.
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Reduced Operational Logistics Costs
By transitioning to a 100% cloud-managed 3D content network, mall operators eliminate the recurring, heavy costs associated with printing physical banners, coordinating nationwide shipping logistics, and hiring manual labour for overnight installation of seasonal ad campaigns across 30 properties.
The successful Simon Property Group deployment across 30 premier locations serves as a definitive proof point that holographic technology has matured into a highly scalable, enterprise-ready media platform. It is no longer a fragile novelty reserved for high-budget, single-location PR stunts; it is a robust, permanent infrastructure for the future of Digital Out-Of-Home advertising. Hologram advertising in malls effectively bridges the widening gap between physical retail environments and high-impact digital brand storytelling. It offers the tactile, immediate presence of a traditional billboard combined with the infinite creativity, dynamic scheduling, and data-rich environment of modern digital media.
As brand expectations for immersive, tech-forward advertising formats continue to rise, mall operators and DOOH media owners who proactively invest in interactive, volumetric display networks will secure a significant and sustainable competitive advantage. By transforming passive mall walkers into active, engaged brand participants, forward-thinking property managers can dramatically drive shopper engagement, significantly extend concourse dwell time, and create deeply memorable advertising interactions. These interactions do not just build brand equity for the advertisers; they translate directly into increased premium media sales, higher property valuations, and long-term tenant loyalty. The future of mall advertising is undeniably three-dimensional, and the property groups that embrace this shift today will define the DOOH landscape of tomorrow.
Beyond mall holograms, Metaverse 911 runs a dedicated Experience Centre where prospective clients can see our immersive solutions in action, from volumetric HoloBox displays to mixed reality, AR printables and interactive AI agents.
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