Creative Simulator software for out-of-home media owners and agencies
A creative simulator shows an ad creative where it will actually hang: in correct perspective, on real footage of a billboard, a City-Light poster or a digital screen. VirtualCampaign supplies the software for it – as a ready-made platform, in your branding, with API and video.
What a creative simulator has to deliver
A poster creative works differently on screen than it does on the street. Type that looks generous in the layout is no longer legible from twenty metres away. Colours that look rich on a monitor lose their depth on a glowing LED wall. That is exactly the gap a creative simulator closes: it puts the creative into a real environment and shows the effect before anything goes into production.
The difference from a mockup file comes down to three things. First, perspective: the surface sits at an angle in space, so the creative has to be fitted into it – not laid flat on top. Second, motion: digital surfaces run in a loop, and a still frame says nothing about that. Third, speed: anyone who wants to show a second variant in a client meeting does not have half an hour to build a new file.
VirtualCampaign is the platform behind simulators like this. Media owners and agencies use it to run a tool of their own – with their inventory, in their design, on their domain.
What the platform brings
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Correct perspective
The creative is not laid flat on the image but fitted into the surface – at the angle the real ad surface has in the footage.
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Creatives stay in the browser
The simulation runs client-side. For the preview, the creative file never leaves the machine – which matters as long as you are working with client artwork that has not been approved yet.
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Real surfaces, real surroundings
Everything is based on footage of real locations: billboard, City-Light poster, digital screen, station concourse, shopping centre.
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Photo and video
Still creatives as well as moving image. Export as MP4 or JPG in HD – ready to present and to send.
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White-Label and tenants
Your colours, your logo, separate tenants. Your clients see your tool, not ours.
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API and iframe
Query products through a public REST API, embed the simulator via iframe and control it remotely via postMessage.
Four steps to a preview
- 1
Pick a creative
Choose a poster or video creative in the browser – by Drag & Drop or from the media library.
- 2
Pick an ad surface
Select the surface from your inventory that the conversation is actually about.
- 3
Adjust in real time
Set the crop and fine-tune brightness, saturation and contrast live.
- 4
Present and share
Export as MP4 or JPG and drop it into a presentation, a proposal or an approval e-mail.
In-house build, mockup file or platform?
| Criterion | In-house build | Mockup file | VirtualCampaign |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perspective | feasible, but costly | static, often inaccurate | fitted into the surface |
| Moving image | needs its own render pipeline | not possible | MP4 export included |
| New variant | development effort | a new file per format | seconds in the browser |
| Maintaining inventory | your own pipeline | one file per surface | centrally in the platform |
| Your own branding | a given | not applicable | White-Label per tenant |
| Time to production | months | instant, but limited | weeks including onboarding |
Frequently asked questions about Creative Simulator software
What is a creative simulator?
Do we need image-editing software or an installation?
Does our creative leave the machine?
Can we add our own ad surfaces?
Can the simulator be embedded in our website?
How long does rollout take?
Read on
A Creative Simulator of your own?
We will show you the platform on your surfaces and your use cases – and tell you openly what makes sense in your case.