Jumping out of the outdoor advertising box

“In 2012 we saw some great examples of outdoor advertising. Seeing the press coverage of EE’s launch of its 4G Network, at Battersea Power Station, reminded me of the power (excuse the pun) of advertising that breaks the mould to deliver a fantastic return on investment. EE, the mobile phone operator projected their logo onto Battersea power station. This was undoubtedly an expensive campaign but the venue created a grand sense of scale to launch a new brand “EE” and the new 4G Network.  The event created fantastic pictures and imagery of an iconic landmark transformed using footage delivered via EE’s 4G network, making a great story.   Of course, EE aren’t the only brand that has used the power of outdoor to promote a launch or rebrand. In 2010 and 2011 Insurance firm Aviva conducted their first global brand campaign; ‘You Are the Big Picture’; the campaign used landmark buildings (including the National Theatre in 2011) across 6 global cities (London, Paris, Warsaw, Singapore, Mumbai & Delhi) to project high impact images of some of its customers, employees, strategic partners and communities, telling their own personal stories. Aviva sought to communicate that they understood that their business was less about policies and more about people; it gave customers a chance to interact with the brand and gave Aviva great content about their customers,  against the backdrop of significant landmarks in key global cities. These events nudged my own subconscious and reminded me of a previous projection on one of London’s iconic landmarks.  It was a wet and windy 1995 when Lads mags were still found on the bottom shelf that FHM projected a naked Gail Porter onto the houses of parliament with a message to vote for FHM’s 100 sexiest women.  There were reported to be just a few witnesses of the stunt on that rainy Sunday evening but  it was  estimated that some 40 million people were reached by the time the media furore that followed had died down.  Life has certainly never been the same for Gail Porter.   (I am not sure Ipsos’s  exit poll projection on to Big Ben could quite compete). Outdoor ads  remain a popular way of gaining attention. The above are high profile examples of outdoor advertising that caught our attention, all were by no means spontaneous and had been carefully planned.  The campaigns amplified their return on investment (ROI) through a unique or novel creative idea, quickly generating free media space courtesy of the national media coverage and social media buzz With return on investment continuing to be more and more closely examined any execution within a media plan that can generate additional unpaid media airtime through amplification or re-transmission via word-of-mouth can really make a difference.   But as with all creative design,  relevance and fit are key.  And this is embodied no better than the feeling of standing at a cold and windy bus stop, thinking about what you are having for tea tonight… and hoping it could be chips.. Because sometimes only chips will do.  And that makes life just a little better.  And most of the time that’s what ads are hoping to do.  One nudge (hop, skip and a jump) at a time. Let’s see what 2013 brings to the quirky world of outdoor advertising.