“When it gets dark earlier, it becomes… more attention-grabbing”

How CityBreeze & climAD create visibility during the pre-Christmas season – and why DOOH is particularly effective in the dark.

The pre-Christmas season is a unique phase for cities: more journeys, more encounters, more light – urban spaces are pulsating. For us at Green City Solutions, it is also a moment where the impact of our urban projects becomes clearly visible – as a green innovation (even in winter) and, through climAD, as an eco-friendly DOOH stele.

Whether it is CityBreeze locations in high-traffic environments or campaigns via climAD: winter, in particular, often produces wonderful impressions – and at the same time, provides very clear insights for brands, operators, and municipalities, as highlighted by planus media GmbH.

Photo: GCS

Why outdoor advertising is often more powerful in winter

One might assume: less daylight equals poorer conditions. However, a recent article by Martin Himmels for planus media GmbH flips this perspective: During the dark season, campaigns benefit from lighting, contrast, and extended visibility windows. ““When it gets dark as early as 4:00 PM, outdoor advertising unfolds its attention-grabbing luminosity earlier than in summer. The visual impact of DOOH screens […] kicks in significantly sooner and lasts throughout the evening hours”. This earlier onset of the luminous effect of (D)OOH formats thus offers “an extended, highly effective advertising window without the need for additional budget”. A clear visual presence is created, particularly in “low-light environments.”

Pre-Christmas season = Peak frequency: When urban space and POS converge

Winter does not mean a standstill – on the contrary. City centers and retail environments remain highly frequented. Planus media refers, among other things, to the hystreet-Index and the described increase in footfall during the Advent season.

For us, this is a crucial context because most of our fresh-air filters operate exactly where paths converge: city routes, proximity to public transport, shopping environments, entrances, and lounge zones.

Photos: GCS

Advent in and around shopping destinations: more brilliance, more green, more impact

“The combination of out-of-store and in-store screens is particularly effective in winter”. The CityBreeze, in turn, combines attention-grabbing advertising space with an enhanced quality of stay – and integrates seamlessly into existing settings. Our four CityBreeze locations featured here in the blog serve as prime examples:

Kiez meets climate hero in 2025: At the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Passage, CityBreeze becomes a building block for enhanced dwell time, digital visibility, and sustainable development.
Oliver Hegedüsch of VICUS Asset GmbH commented on the partnership: “Our goal is not only to provide visitors with strong local convenience retail, but also to noticeably upgrade the surrounding environment. With CityBreeze, we are opting for a forward-looking solution that helps improve the quality of stay while also paving the way for the Passage’s sustainable and digital evolution — right in the heart of the neighborhood, right in the middle of everyday life.”

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Since 2024, HANSA CARRÉ Bremen have combined natural air filtration and cooling with digital communication — “fresh-air oases and advertising with added value.”

“The CityBreeze delivers on many of our needs at once. It enables the businesses located here to communicate content to visitors in a sustainable and distinctive way, and it invites people to stroll and linger […]”, said Petra Geistlich, Center Manager at HANSA Carré, at the time of installation.

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In 2025, the first digital display was installed at Melchendorfer Markt – a green one! The goal of this innovative combination of urban greening, integrated air-quality technology, and a digital information surface: to sustainably enhance the quality of stay, create the center’s first digital display and add more greenery in high-footfall areas.

Centermanager Jens Fritsche describes the added value as a combination of impact and communication: The CityBreeze “improves the microclimate, brings additional greenery into our center, stands out through appealing lighting effects, and — with the center’s first digital display — creates new opportunities for service and information”.

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Mossdisplays for Marktplatz Galerie : Since2025, Hamburg-Bramfeld has been taking new steps in terms of air quality and visitor comfort. Two innovative CityBreeze units improve the microclimate, purify the air, and simultaneously provide a digital platform for information and advertising.

“Since we can’t plant trees inside our center, we had to come up with something else”, says Dennis Hartung-Mallon, Center Manager of Marktplatz Galerie and authorized officer at Bruhn Living Places Management GmbH, which operates the center.

[read more]

Photos: GCS

Advent, Advent: The screen that glows – and the air that is purified

What connects all four locations: high frequency, real-world paths, real decisions – exactly where DOOH plays to its strengths. Green DOOH at the POS ensures visibility and brings added value(s). In our article “DOOH am POS” , we demonstrate how DOOH works at the point of sale – and why the combination with green infrastructure makes a real difference for modern, future-proof shopping destinations.

With our moss-filter advertising pillars, Green DOOH ensures eco-friendly advertising in a dual sense: the CityBreeze combines air purification, cooling, and digitalization in one product. Through innovative moss-filter technology, fine dust and pollutants are filtered from the air, and the surrounding area is noticeably cooled.

The integrated mosses enjoy several advantages over other plants, even in autumn and winter. While trees lose their leaves and reduce their activity, mosses remain green and active all year round. In autumn and winter, they benefit from increased humidity and often provide a “green carpet,” even when trees have already shed their leaves. Read more about this in our blog post “The Moss is Greening”.

… and while mosses in nature require about four years to grow into a dense, lush green surface, this time has been reduced to under 12 weeks at our moss farm through specialized cultivation and ideal supply conditions: These “super plants” now grow approximately 16 times faster under controlled, optimal conditions than they do in the wild.

Photo: GCS

Thank you, 2025 – welcome, 2026.

Thank you to everyone involved for the trust, the collaboration, and the many small moments that can be seen in photos but, above all, felt in everyday life.

We are taking these pre-Christmas impressions as a tailwind: for new projects, new partnerships, and a common goal – more livable, greener urban spaces. For 2026, we wish for more fresh air, more green meeting places – and communication that takes place where people actually are, creating genuine added value right there.