DOOH! Out of home advertising goes digital

Author: CIMCOM

Out of home (OOH) media was once just humble posters and billboards. The introduction of backlighting and moving fascia around 20 years ago meant advertising could be seen 24/7 and gave advertisers more flexibility. In recent years, this media has been transformed turning posters into dynamic, interactive media with digital out of home – DOOH!

According to industry body, Outsmart, almost a quarter of outdoor spend is now digital. Posterscope predicts that by the end of this year, one in every three pounds will be spent on digital. Certainly, this technical capability has provided brands with new opportunities to get creative. Digital ad executions are making an impact. Take inspiration from these brand’s digital posters.

Weather dependent posters for Disney’s film Inside Out

In Singapore, Walt Disney Studios took an engaging approach to promoting the release of its children’s animation, Inside Out. In partnership with media agency m/six and media owner Clear Channel it created a campaign where the executions change in response to the weather. Live weather feeds are pulled from the National Environment Agency.

See the video of the campaign: Walt Disney Inside Out (Rain) on Clear Channel Play

The film is based on characters that represent the different emotional states of a little girl as she moves house with her parents. The campaign tapped into Singaporean’s dislike of the weather which can be hot and hotter, wet and wetter. It shows the film characters emotional reactions to the weather such as getting caught in the rain or stepping into a dirty puddle. These real-time digital displays bring the film characters to life and provide added relevance.

Real time British Airways plane spotting

Whilst many airlines are having a conversation with their customers on price, British airways sought to build its brand based on the wonder of flying. Using surveillance technology, this British Airways ad created by Ogilvy Group UK is truly visually arresting. A video shows a toddler who gets up and accurately points to British Airways planes whenever they fly overhead. It’s an attention-grabbing example of interactive advertising. The billboards, in London’s Piccadilly Circus and Chiswick, convey the excitement that a small child feels when seeing an aeroplane flying through the sky. The ad gained over 33 million YouTube views and 17,000 Twitter mentions in a month. 

Watch the ad: British Airways - #lookup in Piccadilly Circus #DiscoverBA

Lynx astronaut that looks like me

Digital display isn’t totally new. Brands are great innovators. Back in 2013 Lynx launched Apollo, a global competition to win one of four places at a global space camp in Florida with one person winning a space shuttle flight. The campaign was planned by Mindshare and bought by Kinetic Fuel. CBS Outdoor and Grand Visual created a digital out of home campaign to build up the excitement prior to the competition launch. A 40 foot astronaut was installed at Westfield shopping centre in London with 100 digital screens around the shopping centre. People were able to upload their own image from their phones to become the face of the astronaut hero. Images could also be shared on social media. The campaign created a 19% year on year uplift in sales of Lynx Apollo.

Watch the video: Lynx Apollo transforms Westfield shoppers into a giant astronaut for new space themed fragrance