Bloomberg give London City Airport a Tech Makeover

May 8, 2014, 9:46 am

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Bloomberg has given London City Airport a major digital makeover, transforming the airport lounge into a tech hub.

The brand campaign is the brain-child of Bloomberg chief marketing officer Maureen McGuire. With the aim of revamping the space into a mini Bloomberg office, the airport now features a digital ticker display and a Bloomberg Hub consisting of a media panel, media ticker, lounge, media wall and Wi-Fi sponsorship.

The media wall will provide latest news and analysis, relevant data and promotional content which can be viewed whilst accessing tablets, PCs and international charging stations - free of charge. 

Apparently Bloomberg haven't ruled out the potential for other brands to collaborate with them on what is now premium outdoor ad space, but did hint at the launch that it's not in the company's pipeline quite just yet.

Whilst heavily Bloomberg-branded, the company insist that they see the concept as "practical information" and not advertising. 

However as an airport which sees 3.5 million passengers pass through its doors each year, this long-term campaign is one outdoor initiative that is certain to make an impact. 

For more information on digital or out of home advertising, visit Click Tap Media or Out of Home International. 

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Lenny Henry Billboard Makes Its Premier

May 12, 2014, 2:41 am

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A new billboard ad featuring Lenny Henry has gone viral.  The advert for Premier Inn shows the brand ambassador relaxing for a night’s sleep at a Premier Inn with the strapline ‘You Kip’.

The billboard has appeared just a week after a Ukip candidate suggested that Lenny Henry emigrate to a ‘black country’ after the comedian lamented the lack of black and ethnic minority people in the creative industries.

@thedrum.com

After approaching the travel company, The Drum magazine confirmed that the ad was not created by Premier Inn and is believed to have been photoshopped by @beaubodor.

Despite this, the timely appearance of the ad is a great example of the recent trend of real-time marketing.

Brands that can respond to current news and affairs quickly and creatively can take advantage of the most up-to-date conversations.

Many attempts at real-time advertising responses fall short of the mark, but this one hit the viral sweet spot.

Lenny Henry's role as ambassador for the company has been hugely successful over the past few years and has continued this year with their latest, 'A Great Night's Sleep Guaranteed' campaign.

Get more information on advertising out of home with billboards.

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Scientist and Poet Create Giant Pollution Absorbing Poster

May 15, 2014, 9:24 am

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The huge poster uses nanotechnology to eat up pollution. It was created by scientist Tony Ryan, and the poet, Simon Armitage.

The two are both professors at the University of Sheffield and their creation can absorb poisonous compounds from around 20 cars each day if placed by a busy road.

@bbc.co.uk

They came up with the idea to highlight one possible way to cut disease and save lives by taking poisonous compounds from the air in towns and cities.

How does it work exactly?

The 10m x 20m poster is covered with microscopic, pollution-eating nanoparticles of titanium dioxide. When the light hits them, they react with oxygen and wash the pollution out of the air.

It will eat up things called nitrogen oxides which are not visible but have been linked to breathing problems including asthma.

Professor Ryan said: "If every banner, flag or advertising poster in the country did this, we'd have much better air quality. It would add less than £100 to the cost of a poster and would turn advertisements into catalysts in more ways than one."

Simon Armitage, who is a professor of poetry at the university, has written a poem to go on the poster, titled, ‘In praise of air’.

The poster will be on display in Sheffield next year.

The poem for the poster, by Simon Armitage

I write in praise of air. I was six or five
when a conjurer opened my knotted fist
and I held in my palm the whole of the sky.
I've carried it with me ever since.
Let air be a major god, its being
and touch, its breast-milk always tilted
to the lips. Both dragonfly and Boeing
dangle in its see-through nothingness…
Among the jumbled bric-a-brac I keep
a padlocked treasure-chest of empty space
and on days when thoughts are fuddled with smog
or civilization crosses the street
with a white handkerchief over its mouth
and cars blow kisses to our lips from theirs
I turn the key, throw back the lid, breathe deep.
My first word, everyone's first word, was air.

Beck’s Playable Music Poster

May 29, 2014, 2:19 am

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Beck's Beer has released a music playing print campaign in New Zealand.

The company who have been turning beer into art since 1874 presented 'the world's first playable poster' to celebrate its dedication to music.

The posters use conductive ink hooked up to sensors in each poster that allows the music to play when it is touched.  It also incorporates flat-panel speakers to deliver the sound. 

The beer brand created the outdoor campaign as a way of promoting local bands and musicians with plans to deploy the posters to popular music street sites as well as Beck's venues.

Fans can even download a smartphone app to customise the audio output of the posters.

It has been created by New Zealand agency, Shine, who commissioned Novalia's capacitive touch technology to make the whole thing interactive.

The touch points on the posters allow the audience to choose and listen to tracks, and to create their own sound effects in time to the music with a selection of inbuilt touch.

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Effective Outdoor Advertising? It's all in the mind...

June 17, 2014, 5:15 am

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The Brain Tumour Charity caused quite a stir at London's Shepherd Bush Westfield shopping centre this week, when they challenged people to a game of mind ping-pong.

The 'headsmart' awareness campaign used digital outdoor advertising to communicate the work of the charity in a completely novel way.

Here's the techy bit:
The innovative idea used a digital screen, two headbands, and the power of the mind. Shoppers were invited to wear a simple Velcro headband, which used electroencephalography (!) technology to read brainwaves. Players were allowed to control an on-screen paddle simply by concentrating up, or relaxing down. 

The one day event asked players for a £1 donation to play, whilst the message of the campaign was further reinforced with on-site volunteers providing further information.

 Richard Malton, marketing director at media owner Ocean Outdoor, said: "This is a simple but relevant use of the power of the mind to communicate the work of a charity, harnessing the technical power of digital out-of-home. The connection between the action and the cause is strong – and what a novel way to have a go at a game of ping pong."

Intrigued? Give us a call to speak with one of our outdoor advertising specialists on how we can help you to get your brand noticed.

British Airways ‘Super Interactive’ Billboards Win Award

June 25, 2014, 6:28 am

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The 'Magic of Flying' campaign by OgilvyOne, London has won the Direct Grand Prix award at the Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity.

The billboards display a message showing the flight number and destination of any plane flying overhead. This was accompanied by creative that encourages people who pass by to look up at the planes.

The billboards feature children pointing at the planes as they pass above, but the true brilliance of the campaign is the complexity of the technology behind the scenes. 

Antennae were used with the billboards which picked up data from each British Airways aircraft within 200 kilometres. An application identified the flights and in turn, displayed a message.

Trigger zones determine when a plane should activate a message while data measuring the altitude of clouds clarified the visibility of the plane.

 

It was hailed by the panel of judges as 'extraordinary'. The reasons were that it requires no explanation, connects the billboards creative to its key objectives, and call to action.

The ad was surrounded with engaging features which meant it was widely shared, such as the 'lookup'-branded website that was promoted with, #lookup.

Until recently, out of home advertising media has maybe had to take a back seat with the rapid advancement of digital.

For an advertising format which was probably thought of as being ineffective and even obsolete, this weaving together of digital technology has opened up a world of possibilities for traditional media in the digital age.

Interested in using out of home and digital formats for your campaign?

Get in touch with us to discuss your business requirements. 

Getting on the Marketing Bike with Tour de France

July 3, 2014, 7:51 am

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We're only into the third day and already July is shaping up to be a fantastic month for the sporting and marketing worlds. 

The World Cup and Wimbledon have already presented themselves as fantastic opportunities for brands to jump on board the hype in real-time (Suarez and Snickers anyone?!), and this weekend sees another perfect marketing opportunity for many, when the Tour de France kicks off with the Yorkshire-based Grand Depart. 

Whilst not on the same scale as the World Cup, nearly a third (31 per cent) of all UK shoppers are interested in the Tour de France according to shopper marketing agency Savvy Marketing, while 77 per cent are set to follow it on TV. As such, brands have been planning well in advance to make the most of corresponding their marketing efforts with the race - notably McCain, Skoda and EBay.

Leading navigation brand Garmin have made sure they're leading the pack by using digital screens to project localised content across the country. Using an innovative outdoor campaign, 392 screens along the route will be encouraging people to join in the conversation by 'capturing the moment' and tweeting their pictures to @GarminUK. Tweet, and you're in with a chance of winning a state of the art Garmin system. 

As usual with these events, if you're planning on hitching a ride on the social media and marketing wave, it's important to make sure you're in the moment to ensure you don't get left behind - something which Garmin seems set to tap into perfectly.

Need some help with your marketing? Contact Media Agency Group to find out how we can get your campaign up and running. 

Digital Billboards Jump On To Your Mobile

July 23, 2014, 8:38 am

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Technology that connects out-of-home adverts with smartphones is picking up speed and could soon bounce into action at a bus stand or billboard near you.

The software being used can turn mall kiosks and airport signs into digital interfaces that passersby can activate through mobile location sensors.



The platform is called Connect and looks set to solve the marketer’s problem of reaching audiences where it matters most: on their phones.

The technology has been introduced in Europe and is set to be rolled-out in the States. Companies already making use of the technology include McDonalds, Levi’s and Google.

Disney has also promoted its new film, “Maleficent” in France, running interactive displays on roughly 600 digital shopping mall kiosks.

This year already we have seen a music playing poster by beer company, Beck’s, the super interactive billboard from British Airways that reads flight-paths and a pollution absorbing poster from a poet and a scientist.

Out-of-home advertising has been pulling out all the stops to stay ahead of the game. It has managed to adopt digital in a variety of ways in order to stay relevant. 

And to think that out-of-home advertising wasn’t trying. It’s clearly pulling out all the stops.

At first, the platform will serve ads to consumers that willingly engage with the displays. For example, an ad for a clothing company at a bus stop could ask the consumer to swipe for more information, and then send them to a mobile website or an app.

At the moment, the platform taps into smartphones with QR codes and near field communication technology but the company is looking at different ways to use location-based tools

PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates the out-of-home advertising market will exceed $40 billion by 2018, with the share of revenues going to digital growing at a faster rate.

Find out more about promoting your campaign with out-of-home advertising.

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Out of Home adspend to pass £1 billion in 2014

July 29, 2014, 7:28 am

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The traditional media format looks set to grow throughout the year and into 2015.

According to data released by Advertising Association/ Warc Expenditure Report, a prediction of annual growth of 2.7% in 2014 means a total of £1,017 billion. This is the first time the sector will have broken the £1bn mark.

The report reveals further that the Out of Home sector has grown in all except four of the last 31 years. These dips happened following economic recessions and the dotcom crash in 2001. 

The London Olympics in 2012 meant there was a noticeable lift to OOH adverts with spend rising to 25.4% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2012.

One reason for the sector’s recent success is due to its adoption of digital technology.

Digital is clearly the driving force of this surge in revenue for outdoor media.

Audience measurement research by the Outdoor Media Centre, states that roadside panels accounted for 28.4% of all out of home panels monitored in March this year. This is a huge 372,818 panels. The biggest formats after this were carriage interiors at 24.4% and bus panels at 18.1%.

Mike Baker, CEO at the Outdoor Media Centre, said:

"In 2013, outdoor beat expectations, growing 2% over the spectacular Olympic year. What's behind the continued growth? Digital is the main driver, with consistent investment by media owners into high profile sites such as Clear Channel's Storm panels on Cromwell Road and Outdoor Plus' Vauxhall Cross.

"Importantly, the footprint of digital has expanded geographically, including JCDecaux's Trinity Leeds, Mediaco's Citylive sites in Manchester, as well as new sites in Newcastle (Ocean), Birmingham (Signature) and Glasgow (Forrest) and Cardiff (blowUP).

"Advertisers continue to find a place for outdoor on their schedules, and the number of million-pound clients now stands at 159. Route, our audience measurement system, now covers just about all the environments."

Find out more information about out of home advertising.

Revolutionary Billboards

August 7, 2014, 9:10 am

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Multi-action billboards that do more than just advertise ...

These modern billboards that have appeared in the States recently are taking outdoor advertising to the next level.

And it doesn’t necessarily involve anything digital for once, either.

Nope, these advertising spaces are all about community spirit and reaching out to those less fortunate with some simple, but inspired, design features.

@trendhunter.com

An initiative by DesignDevelop who deal with issues of homelessness have started an initiative called, The Gregory Project.

Billboards cost huge sums of money to maintain. And equally, the people who use them for advertising, make a shed load of money too. 

This project aims to utilise the space around billboards as somewhere more than just a space for advertising products.

DesignDevelop has proposed to add shelters on to billboards, with money going from the paid advertisements to the upkeep of these spaces. This would give homeless people somewhere to find sheltered space around different urban areas.

Providing light on each of these media formats is also expensive, but The Gregory Project would provide light for the person staying inside the sheltered area.

This inspired venture by DesignDevelop is sure to influence a similarly humanitarian outreach project in the UK; if it hasn’t done so already.

So next time you decide to use billboards and out of home advertising for your media campaign, consider what your marketing decisions could be bringing to the local community and the people in it.

Make it interactive, get creative and see how you can do more than just branded messaging and provide purchase opportunities.

Because of course, it’s all about standing out from the competition. And any brand or business seen to be aligning itself with a project such as this is sure to gain positive brand equity, whatever it's in the business of doing.

Find out more information on out of home advertising.

Outdoor Advertising Grows To £260 Million

August 21, 2014, 8:59 am

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According to the Outdoor Media Centre the second quarter of 2014 saw the outdoor advertising spend increase 6.4% to £258.8 million.

Digital revenue in the sector was at £68.3 million, up 30% year-on-year to account for 26% of total revenue in the outdoor sector. The greatest quarterly digital revenue recorded for the sector.

Nielsen stated that 96 of the top 100 UK advertisers are finding room for outdoor in their brand campaigns. This further highlights the performance at this year’s Cannes Outdoor Lions where the UK’s poster industry won an impressive 18 awards.

And while research states that the number of billboards across the UK has depleted from some 35,000 roadside spaces to 20,000, this cut in outdoor ad space has driven the old maxim of quality over quantity.

According to Nielsen, categories which spent much more in the quarter on outdoor than last year include media, government, property, retail and travel and transport.

The top 10 advertisers were: Asda, Sky, EE, Heineken, KFC, Molson Coors, TalkTalk, Unilever, Warner Bros and William Morrison.

Mike Baker, CEO of Outdoor Media Centre said:

"Digital growth is on the march again, reflecting the continued confident investment by media owners into new plant.

"And advertisers are increasingly viewing the active space of outdoor as an indispensable part of their marketing mix. Outdoor brings them the three virtues of a large quality audience, powerful visual branding, and a choice of relevant contexts. Retail growth has been particularly strong, with two supermarkets in the top ten spenders for the first time."

Find out more information about out of home and outdoor advertising.

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Art Everywhere U.S to bring art to the streets of the USA

August 28, 2014, 8:08 am

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Five prestigious American museums have teamed up to produce the project, Art Everywhere U.S.

The project has been called the 'biggest art exhibition in history' and involves 58 great American works of art being placed across 50,000 locations throughout the States for the month of August.

The chosen art works will be produced between the years 1778 and 2008, and it means the people of America will have the chance to see a Rothko on a bus shelter, or a Warhol on the wall of a subway station.

The projects aim is to transform public space into a massive outdoor gallery to get people interested in museums.

The project will also prompt a fresh discussion about the role of art in our daily lives, and obviously promote the institutions involved, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Along with the Outdoor Advertising Association of America, a trade group for out-of-home advertisers and an Art Everywhere U.S. collaborator, the hope is that the campaign will get more people looking at, and acknowledging their surroundings, rather than being absorbed in, and looking down at their mobiles.

The idea of using what is traditionally advertising space for the works of art, has been the subject of much debate. As the lines of distinction become even more blurred between art and advertising, it seems that Art Everywhere aims to capitalise with this huge and national art exhibition.

Senior editor at New York-based publication Hyperallergic, Jillian Steinhauer said:

"Advertising can only be subtle up until a point because there’s a need to get a message across, whereas art—good art—may have a point, but it will also hopefully complicate that point, question it, raise it tentatively or in a way that seems weird or takes you forever to get… increasingly, I think advertising wants to be like art, but it can never open up that space for questioning and confusion the way that good art does because then it would be bad advertising.

Find out more information on out of home advertising.

Outdoor Ads as memorable as TV and Online

August 29, 2014, 8:00 am

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Can you visualise that billboard ad you see every day on your way to work? Thought so. According to a new study, outdoor advertising is on par with TV and Online for ad recall.

As a leading outdoor operator, APN Outdoor conducted the ‘Attention Economy’ study to determine recall across different formats.

The study uncovered some interesting results, and has given evidence that traditional ad formats are still performing as well as digital. According to the Attention Economy research, people spend more than 17 hours outdoors per week. Despite being less than the 27 hours spent watching TV and the 20 hours spent online, in terms of ad recall, outdoor was one of the best performers. An impressive 72 per cent of respondents could recall outdoor ads. This is more than the 64 percent recall rate for online, and only just under the 77 percent recall rate for TV.

People don’t only remember outdoor ads; they also quite like them! The Attention Economy study revealed that outdoor is one of the mediums that people have the most positive attitude towards. This converts to higher attention levels and lower levels of ad avoidance. Music to an outdoor advertiser’s ears.

Janine Wood, General Manager for Marketing at APN Outdooor explains why the survey was conducted, and what the results mean for the industry:

“We devised the Attention Economy study to assist our clients when planning their media campaigns. With this in mind, we ensured that the study wasn’t limited to just outdoor, but instead put outdoor in context to all other mediums. Though not surprised, we are very pleased with the results the Attention Economy delivered because they validate our industry’s claim that outdoor is right up there with TV and online in terms of performance. We are really excited to be taking our findings to market and look forward to building on the Attention Economy as it is set to become an ongoing component of our research and insights.”

For more information on getting your ads outdoors, visit Out of Home International.

Mr Kipling and the giant cake billboard

September 4, 2014, 8:02 am

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Brands are constantly looking out for innovative ways to advertise, but a billboard made out of cake? Surely that’s just taking the biscuit? (Sorry, we couldn’t resist).

In a rather tasty looking marketing campaign for Mr Kipling, the creative minds at JWT London have mixed print with experiential advertising to create a giant edible poster which has been constructed from 13,000 of Mr Kipling’s finest cakes. 

Skoda edible car advert spring to mind, anyone?

The poster was erected outside Westfield Shepherd’s Bush earlier this week. The public were then invited to eat it. (We’d quite like to know where our invitation went).

Lisa-Jo Harvey, senior brand manager of Premier Foods, said:

 “We can’t think of a better way to show people that life is better with cake than to create an edible poster made out of thousands of our exceedingly good cakes.”

We’re not entirely convinced that all that effort was worth it, considering the campaign’s exceedingly short shelf-life. But then again, we’ve never heard of anyone being able to eat a billboard either, so hats off to them. It also goes to show that with a little bit of outdoor advertising imagination, you really can do almost anything.

How Netflix are using the power of GIFs to charm France

November 5, 2014, 2:40 am

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Netfilx’s opening slide to its video on its outdoor advertising initiative reads: ‘When Netflix makes outdoor, it’s entertaining.’ And we have to agree.

For its entry into France, the entertainment giant has partnered with Ogilvy Paris to install a series of GIF digital posters in public places across the country. 

Netflix are hoping that the charming GIFs will help them break into France; something they have found previously difficult to do. If we were in France, we’re pretty sure we’d be charmed.

 Over 100 digital screens are being used by Netflix to display reactive GIF files that portray iconic scenes from movies and TV shows. But they’re not any old GIFs – they actually react to the environment. Sun shining in France? Then Walter White will don his sunglasses. If it’s raining, King Leonidas from 300 shelters beneath his shield in the rain. Pretty smart. 

Netflix hasn’t stopped there. With the ability to respond to events within two hours, if France win a football match, then pretty soon the screens will be showing an exuberant dance seen from popular American series Orange is the New Black. If they’re defeated, the screens will feature the scowling police officer from Fargo. You get the idea.

With Netflix a global phenomenon that made $3.37 billion dollars last year, some might wonder at its need for advertising. But as the examples show, this isn’t any old advertising. This is entertaining, interesting, on point advertising that we think perfectly reflects the brand. 

The posters are also being supported with adverts on YouTube and the Netflix website.
Take a look at the video below to see how Netflix explain things. (Keep your eye out for the shopping sale GIF, that’s one of our particular favourites)…

For more information on outdoor advertising, contact our specialists at Out of Home International

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What economic growth means for OOH advertising

December 4, 2014, 3:01 am

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Marketing and advertising research is forecast to keep growing over the next few years, with a study by Falmouth University predicting that by 2018 gross value added in the industry will reach around £13.1 billion. This is an increase of approximately 26% from 2014. As the UK economy continues to grow companies are increasing the amount of money allocated to marketing, recognising the higher spending power of consumers.

An area which is profiting from the digital revolution is Out of Home advertising. As more digital screens are installed around urban areas the reach of digital adverts spreads, with a study by FEPE International finding that of the 72% of consumers who take action after seeing an OOH ad, 62% did so after seeing a digital OOH advert. The study also reports that the majority of respondents are most swayed by adverts which are tailored to certain times of day or location. With more money pouring into marketing campaigns, companies are able to exploit the freedom digital adverts offer and differentiate their campaigns to appeal to a broader range of customers. One company who is utilizing the OOH digital opportunities is very.co.uk, who has launched a two week Christmas campaign featuring a new deal each day.

But the OOH interest isn’t limited to digital – studies show that adverts in the underground and railway stations are the most effective way to promote products and services to people in an ‘entertainment seeking’ mind set. This is great news for smaller companies who may not have the budget to launch a digital OOH campaign and want to communicate with a wide range of people.

OOH adverts are offering companies a unique and exciting way to communicate with specific groups in society, and are becoming a necessity for successful wide reaching advertising campaigns. Let us know on Twitter which digital OOH advert you love @OOHint

Billboard blunders from political parties

January 6, 2015, 7:00 am

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Last week saw the Conservatives unveil their first billboard poster campaign of the New Year, with Cameron’s party opting to use the slogan ‘let’s stay on the road to a stronger economy,’ with a backdrop of a tranquil road and a scenic view of England’s ‘green and pleasant land.’ 

The Tories latest campaign billboard...

...starring a digitally touched-up image of a German road

What the Conservatives didn’t realise, though, is just how eagle-eyed and ruthless the internet can be, with rumours on Twitter circling about the actual location of the featured road. It turns out it’s not a British road at all, it’s actually located somewhere near Weimar, Germany, and has been touched up digitally - presumably in the hope that no one would notice.

People weren’t fooled, though, and it’s not the first time there’s been a negative backlash against a Conservative campaign poster. 2010’s posters and billboards were famously subject to graffiti attacks, as well as being mocked in countless internet memes.

It’s not just the Conservatives who have recently struggled to produce successful billboard campaigns, though. Last April saw UKIP cause a stir when the star of their billboard – a bereft, jobless, British worker – turned out to be Irish.

UKIP's 'British workers' billboard starred an Irish actor

It seems more and more difficult for any political party to produce a billboard campaign in recent years, without it resulting in heavy scrutiny and a public backlash. Social media in particular means that people are quicker than ever to jump on the mistakes of the would-be rulers of the country. This Twitter user below was quick to find fault with Labour’s 2014 poster, which mocked David Cameron and Nick Clegg for an increase in VAT to shopping bills - by comparing them to food which is VAT-free.

Social media makes it easy to pick holes in political posters

New Porsche billboard picks out customers from the crowd

January 13, 2015, 1:37 am

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As new technology develops and digital services continue to grow, there are more and more ways to make your out of home advertisements unique and innovative. Billboard advertising is one of the best ways to reach a large and varied audience, but one German car manufacturer has gone a step further – using cameras and digital software to tailor their advertisements to the type of car people drive.

The new digital Porsche billboard is situated not far from Melbourne Airport above a major motorway, and uses camera tracking technology – similar to that of speed cameras – to pick out Porsche vehicles from the oncoming traffic.

While the majority of road users simply see a billboard advertising the Porsche 911 Turbo, the cameras are able to track Porsche drivers from 300 metres away which triggers the digital advert to transform into a simple message – ‘It’s so easy to pick you out in a crowd.’

So, as if driving around a scorching hot Australian city in a slick German sports car wasn’t enough, Porsche have gone that extra mile to make sure that they’re existing customers are made to feel even more special.       

See the innovative advertisement in action below:

Stand out from the crowd with 3D billboards

January 20, 2015, 2:31 am

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Choosing to advertise on billboards is a great way to get your brand or product in the public eye, but with the sheer amount of competition for advertising space, it’s a good idea to make your billboards stand out – sometimes even literally.

Here’s a selection of some of the most impressive 3D billboards in recent years from companies who have gone the extra mile to stand out from the crowd.

Heineken tempt Amsterdam with a beer

This creative effort from Heineken was located in Amsterdam, and creates a 3D illusion of a hand bursting from behind the billboard to grab a bottle of the refreshing Dutch lager. It’s accompanied by a single word of text – ‘biertje?’ meaning ‘beer?’ in English – making it brilliantly simple and effective.

Kill Bill campaign brings gore to the streets

This gory billboard in Auckland, New Zealand was used to promote the screening of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill movie on television. The ad saw blood (probably red paint – or maybe ketchup) spurt from Uma Thurman’s sword and drench what were, hopefully, two hire cars…

Imodium roll out 3D billboard

For a brand such as Imodium – an American diarrhoea treatment medicine – it must be pretty difficult to devise a billboard that doesn’t make its viewers feel a bit nauseous. Imodium decided to go for a more humorous approach to their advertising campaign, with this billboard featuring a large, 3D empty toilet roll. Lovely.

Mammoth Mountain campaign highlights hangtime

This effort is from Mammoth Mountain, a ski and snowboarding resort in Northern California. The curved, plain billboard which represents a snowy ski slope would be reasonably effective on its own, but with the addition of a snowboarder ‘catching air’ above the ad, it transforms the billboard into an innovative piece of 3D advertising. 

Adidas 'save' their best effort for the World Cup

It’s no secret that football advertising is big business, and in 2006 sports manufacturer Adidas launched a huge outdoor campaign in the lead up to the FIFA World Cup in Germany. Located near Munich Airport, the advert featured the then-Germany and Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn stretching across a bridge over the Autobahn to make a save. You could maybe say that Adidas went a step too far with this campaign – given that advertising on Germany’s Autobahn is actually against the law…

Outdoor advertising? It's out of this world...

January 26, 2015, 4:44 am

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2015 is the year which Back to the Future Part II made some bold predictions for back in 1989, and although we don't quite yet have self-tying shoes, hoverboards and flying cars, 2015 is still looking like it could be a year of serious innovation.

Out of Home advertising has continued to grow over the past few years, with new technologies creating new opportunities for advertisers to promote their product or brand. Interactive and digital billboards have become commonplace in recent years, but 2015 could be the year that sees advertisements prepare to move not just out of home, but out of the atmosphere.

'SpaceBillboard' will orbit the Earth 15 times per day

A group of Belgian researchers have announced the project 'SpaceBillboard' - and the name speaks for itself. Although not scheduled for launch until early 2016, the team at KU Leuven University are offering companies the chance to purchase advertising space on the first ever billboard to be located in space. With ad space selling for €2,500 per square, a number of companies have already invested in the project - most noticeably Microsoft.

The idea of advertising in space certainly seems questionable at best. Who will actually see the messages? With the billboard set to orbit the Earth at 27,400km/h at an altitude of 500km, it of course won't be visible from our planet's surface, and we very much doubt that any nearby extra-terrestrials will be interested in the new Windows 10 operating system.

Well, SpaceBillboard developers claim that rather than offer actual advertising impact, the project mostly allows companies to show their support for space research and generate more funding for future initiatives. Additionally, all messages transmitted in space will be simultaneously shown on the SpaceBillboard website, meaning that companies are at least getting some exposure for their expense. The billboard will orbit for approximately 10 years, before burning up on its return into the Earth's atmosphere, ensuring that no debris will be left behind.

Pocari Sweat announced plans to send a can of their drink to the moon

The news of SpaceBillboard comes just a matter of months since Japanese soft drink Pocari Sweat announced its intentions to land an advertisement on the surface of the moon in October 2015, becoming the first commerical product delivered to another planet for marketing purposes. The ad will be a replica can filled with a powdered version of the sports drink, as well as the messages of schoolchildren from across Asia in the hope of inspiring future generations to become astronauts and re-read their own messages some years later.