How PODS and Tombras Created the World’s Smartest Billboard Using Google Gemini AI for Hyper-Local Real-Time Advertising

By: GoBeyond Team
July 27, 2025
3 min read
PODS moving truck with AI-powered LED billboard displaying neighborhood-specific ads in NYC

Quick Overview

PODS partnered with advertising agency Tombras to launch an AI-powered out-of-home (OOH) campaign using Google’s Gemini AI. They equipped PODS moving trucks with LED digital billboards that adapted messaging in real time based on GPS location, weather, traffic, and neighborhood-specific data across New York City. The campaign generated over 6,000 unique headlines covering 299 neighborhoods in just 29 hours, making every announcement hyper-local, personalized, and data-driven.

PODS
PODS
Company Size
Not publicly disclosed
Revenue Range
Not publicly disclosed
Primary Challenge
Modernizing traditional billboard advertising with real-time, hyper-local, personalized messaging
Key Metrics

- 6,000+ unique announcements
- Coverage of 299 NYC neighborhoods in 29 hours
- 60% increase in website sessions
- 33% increase in quote requests
- Biggest year-over-year lift in NYC for PODS in years

The Problem

Traditional static billboards lacked personalization and real-time relevance, limiting engagement

The Solution

Custom AI Creative Brief Builder and Google Cloud Vertex AI with Gemini 1.5 Pro to generate localized headlines; LED screens on trucks displaying dynamic ads based on real-time data

Results

- Massive engagement and brand awareness
- Significant lift in web traffic and leads
- New scalable model for personalized OOH advertising

“Our portable moving and storage containers have functioned as our billboards since PODS was founded. Now, with Google AI and Tombras, we bring that concept to life in a modernized, digitized way.”“The campaign’s same-day and same-week results shocked us.”

Calvin Fields, VP Brand and Media, PODSAvi Baliga, ECD, Tombras NY

Details

Industry
Professional Services & Consulting
Departments
Marketing & Content
Use Cases
Company Announcements
Tags
GenAI
NLP
Scalability
AI Tools Used
Gemini
Sources
https://cloud.google.com/transform/101-real-world-generative-ai-use-cases-from-industry-leadershttps://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-strategies/automation/tombras-ai-powered-ad-campaign/https://adage.com/article/special-report-cannes-lions/how-tombras-used-ai-create-6000-location-based-ads-pods/2566186https://tombras.com/campaign/pods-the-worlds-smartest-billboardhttps://roastbrief.us/tombras-partners-with-google-and-pods-to-create-an-impossibly-smart-billboard-using-gemini-ai/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=428Wj8VcoN8https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-S4g6285Ek

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