Mission Support: How Out of Home Made an Impact IRL for Wake for Warriors

September 25, 2025

At OUTFRONT, we’re true believers in the ability of advertising to do good in the world.

That’s why when Wake for Warriors wanted to get its message of healing and empowerment out to the whole country, we knew we had to get involved.

Wake for Warriors is a 501(c)3, all-volunteer non-profit dedicated to assisting veterans and their families. What separates Wake for Warriors from other charities is its focus on peer-to-peer healing – after all, it was founded by combat veterans – and its methodology of using the thrill of water sports to promote physical and emotional healing.

 
For the veterans and active-duty military the organization serves, wakeboarding and wake surfing mean more than just a nice day on the water and an adrenaline rush. For these heroes, this represents connection with fellow fighters and to organizational support. It represents the challenge of pushing yourself to new limits. It represents the camaraderie that’s central to peer-to-peer recovery. And it represents celebration as these heroes rediscover their love of life on the water.

Over the summer, we amplified Wake for Warriors’ messaging by donating a two-week flight of digital advertising across 1,200 premium screens nationwide. When they told us about the impact that they were able to achieve through the visibility and engagement the campaign generated, we were so encouraged that we doubled down on it for another two weeks. In total, the four weeks of exposure totaled 5 million impressions delivered to over 2.5 million unique individuals (SOURCE: Wake for Warriors).

“Seeing our mission spread across the country tells veterans: you are not alone,” said Wake for Warriors Founder Dave Deep. “It tells them that healing is possible and it’s happening on the water. Each new supporter strengthens that message and for that we are deeply grateful.”

“This incredible exposure gave our cause a level of visibility we simply could not have achieved otherwise,” said Mauricio Sabogal, CEO, SAB Marketing Connections, who worked with Wake for Warriors and us to execute the campaign.


But the story doesn’t end with visibility. It rarely does with out of home, where its in-real-life presence drives more digital activation of all kinds than any other medium on a dollar-for-dollar basis. For website visitation, every dollar spent on OOH drives about 4.9x the activity (SOURCE: Comscore).

And in this case, we helped the Wake for Warriors website achieve its busiest day of all time, with a 5x spike in visits, unique visitors, and page views. Overall, the campaign increased website visitation by 72%, unique visitors by 110%, page views by 23%, and donor transactions by 5% (SOURCE: Wake for Warriors).

The charity also reported improved search performance, with an 8.29% CTR delivering a 17% lift in search click volume. No surprise there since OOH drives search 5.3x more effectively than other channels (SOURCE: Comscore).

The campaign helped drive donations totaling $4,340, with an average gift of $188.69.

Ultimately, the campaign delivered visibility and leveraged it into deep on-site engagement, with the strong response from the highest-priority markets indicating that people were connecting with Wake for Warriors’ mission.

“Together, you have helped us turn strong metrics into meaningful impact,” added Mauricio, “and for that I am truly grateful.”

Meaningful impact is kind of our thing. And you can make one too. Visit wakeforwarriors.org to give a donation – or apply to volunteer!

Author: Jay Fenster, Marketing Manager @ OUTFRONT

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