This Concerns You... 2018 | Edition two

THE FUTURE OF OOH: 2018 | EDITION TWO

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ello, and welcome to the fifth edition of This Concerns You, our second edition of 2018.

This Concerns You is Kinetic’s opportunity to look at the broader themes that are shaping – or being shaped by – evolving consumer behaviours, and their subsequent impact on the marketing landscape.

While much of the recent focus has been on Digital OOH, there has also been a resurgence of interest in classic formats such as murals. We caught up with Geoff Gray, CEO of High Rise Murals (the brilliant team behind our cover mural) and a raft of creatives from across the industry, to get their perspective on what’s driven this renaissance and what inspires them about the medium.

Despite the pace of change in the marketing industry, there are some fundamental principles that continue to hold true, whatever the prevailing trends. In this issue we focus on one of these tenets, as we examine the power of marketing in the ‘real world’ - examining why consumers and brands continue to trust and respond to physical, tangible media like OOH, despite the ubiquity and huge reach of online.

Finally, I’d like to draw your attention to the update of our Hype Cycle, as applied to OOH and related technologies. It’s fair to say that not every emerging technology or OOH format ends up becoming an established part of the media landscape. But at Kinetic we continue to innovate, experiment, test and learn, with the aim of finding the best ways to engage and influence consumers ‘in real life’.

Perhaps the best demonstration of this is that everincreasing numbers of pureplay digital brands are investing in OOH. On page 10, the article From the Screen to the Street (and back again), examines how social networks and online retailers alike are using OOH to build – or rebuild – consumer trust, or to act as a physical store-front on the high street.

Thanks once again for all your support, I hope you enjoy the issue.

Stuart Taylor CEO UK, Kinetic Worldwide @sstuarttaylor #ThisConcernsYou

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Contents Zeitgeist 04

Stuff we love

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Why visibility in real life makes real impact Build trust and familiarity, and receive attention

Techn-OOH-logy 30

in return

Mass Appeal 10

From the screen to the street (and back again) What does OOH deliver for online brands, that digital can’t?

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In the public eye OOH leaders give their thoughts on OOH’s legacy, along with future plans to keep giving back

Influenc/r

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Battle of the influencers How does OOH stack up against the new kids on the block?

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Exposure The science behind optimum frequency

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The power of now: context driving creativity in DOOH If adding contextual triggers to your creative increases effectiveness, why aren’t we seeing more of it?

OOH Hype Cycle We’ve updated our version of the Hype Cycle and created a nifty pull-out to hang on your wall

IRL 36

Choose your own adventure Don’t underestimate the power of experience to drive engagement and there’s no better place than in OOH

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The art of creating a buzz The people behind activating creativity in the urban space share what inspires them

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The big, the bold and the bonkers Inspiration for transforming the urban space

From deceptively clever 3D graphics, to accessible travel via VR and new ways to capture and interpret the world around us, we’ve rounded up some of the most interesting and useful innovations from around the globe.

We also share why we believe real life is where brands need to be.

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STUFF WE LOVE

ZEITGEIST

From cleverly designed 3D OOH to posters that solve real-world issues, here’s a selection of our favourite innovations from inside and outside the world of OOH.

History brought to life: Hack the plaque, invites AR artists to bring London’s famous blue plaques to life, expanding the detail available on a notable person. hacktheplaque.com

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Stop, sit and recharge: With free phone charging and Wi-Fi, Strawberry Energy benches are rolling out across London, providing new opportunities for brands and convenient services for citizens.

Removing barriers to cultural access: To ensure cultural activities are available to all young people, regardless of their circumstances, France has launched The Culture Pass, a mobile app holding €500 worth of museum and gallery access for all 18 year olds.

www.senergy.rs

beta.gouv.fr/startup/pass-culture.html

Halting mosquito-borne viruses with posters: Habitat for Humanity Brazil created posters that respond to rain water by releasing an environmentally friendly insecticide that lasts up to 60 days, killing mosquitoes before they hatch.

Cleaner air and OOH combined: We love anything that cleans the air in our polluted cities, so keep your eye on Pluvo’s progress as they develop their pollution - busting product, designed with OOH in mind.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILa-n5RTUSY

pluvo.co.uk

Explore the world in 3D: Google Earth VR opens up the whole world for easy exploration without leaving your house. Walk, fly or just browse around at your leisure, it’s a beautiful, and practical, addition to the Earth product. vr.google.com/earth

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A smart city for everyone: This brilliant, inclusive plan for a co-existence village by NORD Architects views sickness as part of life and plans accordingly, preparing the neighbourhood to work for everyone, and keep the sick out of institutions. nordarchitects.dk/co-existence-village

3D on the Underground: Aphex Twin and Netflix’s Ozark both used a classic OOH creative trick in underground subway environments to tease their latest releases. Simple, but very effective! twitter.com/boilerroomtv/status/1023848199851790337 pbs.twimg.com/media/Dl8nBLIW0AE7zlG.jpg

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See, snap, discover: Newly available directly incamera apps on supported devices, Google Lens discovery opens up a new world of visual search.

Perfect for OOH. blog.google/products/google-lens/google-lens-real-time-answersquestions-about-world-around-you

Immersive art experiences for all: Using haptic gloves combined with VR, NeuroDigital has brought three artistic masterpieces to life for the visually impaired, providing an immersive experience that was not possible before. touchingmasterpieces.com

Through the looking glass: A combination of lightfield and volumetric tech brings 3D holographs to life without the need for any extra VR or AR kit. Magical! youtube.com/watch?v=CfHw8NA75Xc&feature=youtu.be

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ZEITGEIST

Last edition we dove into the world of creativity, arguing the business case for more investment in bold creative ideas.

This edition we take it a step deeper and look specifically at creativity in the real-world and why it’s more powerful at reaching consumers than ever. The Concerns You Editorial Director Christy Johnston explains why.

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t’ll come as no surprise that we love it when brands do interesting things in the out-of home space. But it’s more than just our bias. The science backs up the hypothesis that being present in the real world, when done well, delivers lasting impact for consumers.

You’ll find a lot of research that backs this up throughout this edition, but sitting at the foundation of everything is the simple fact that we take in information differently when we are out and about in a public space. Our senses heighten and our field of vision widens, meaning we actively seek and analyse stimuli, to help us understand what is around us and how best to navigate our way through. And not surprisingly, the bigger the stimulus, the bigger the impact.

Impactful size is something that OOH uniquely possesses.

It can stop people in their tracks and help make a small brand feel like a big brand. It’s why OOH is used by so many to build awareness. And this visibility in the public space also makes your brand feel more real to consumers, which in turn helps build a foundation of consumer trust, confidence and interest.

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Being present wherever people live, work and play also increases how relevant a brand feels to a consumer.

Being local sends the message ‘this is for me’; and even better ‘this is for me AND the people around me’. It is both a personal experience and a shared one. And shared experiences can be powerful. Think back to the World Cup this year, when England were progressing well. The refrain of ‘It’s coming home’ could be heard from more than just football fans, as public viewings in squares and pubs up and down the country heaved with the joy of everyone coming together as one, around a shared experience. It’s like magic if you can tap into something so powerful.

And OOH owns real-world engagement - it has physical, tangible presence in the real world and gives brands unrivalled creative opportunities to spread their story, product or service.

So, for the benefit of everyone, including your brand, get creative and use real-world locations to their full potential — build awareness, deliver enjoyment and ultimately make all your other communications work harder.

@ceeejae

Digital advertising plays its role in modern communication plans, but it’s no substitute for the power of speaking to lots of people at once to build a brand – it’s why all the big digital brands are investing heavily in OOH right now.

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MASS APPEAL

WHY DIGITAL-ONLY BRANDS ARE EMBRACING OOH According to Nielsen data, the amount spent on OOH by online retailers doubled between 2016 and 2017, and current indications are that further growth will be seen by the end of this year. So what does OOH offer digital brands that they can’t get online? Kinetic’s Steve Payne takes a look.

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he sophistication of the online retail market is welldocumented. The purely digital nature of these businesses gives them an unrivalled understanding of the consumer purchase journey: tracking audiences across the web, hitting potential customers with precisely placed, tightly targeted advertising messages and attributing every purchase to a particular execution.

is also true when looking at adults under 35, who are still the most valuable target audience for the majority of advertisers. More OOH is consumed per day than commercial TV, online display or social media, so if a brand wants to rapidly grow awareness, OOH represents the most obvious route.

By comparison, broadcast media like TV, OOH and print – even with the advancements that have been made in targeting and measurement – can only offer a fraction of the specificity that digital media can deliver. So, what is OOH doing for these brands that pure-play digital channels can’t? Some recent examples to consider:

by the rapidly expanding ‘fast-fashion’ retail category.

In recent years, led by ASOS, a plethora of completely new, online-only entrants have come into the market, but they’re up against established retailers with stores on every high street and in every mall up and down the UK. For these brands, OOH acts not only as their brand awareness driver, but also as their shop-front – so whilst there’s no physical shop to step into, they can drive an immediate response, or direct sale, through mobile.

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When Facebook came under scrutiny for its role in the propagation of ‘fake news’, which channels did it turn to in order to counter an increasingly negative narrative in the media?

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Which media did Google use when they wanted to encourage users to adopt the voice recognition tool within their search functionality?

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For Netflix to drive subscriptions in the hypercompetitive entertainment sector, which channels is it increasingly turning to in order to generate awareness and fame for its exclusive shows?

The answer to all of the above, obviously, is OOH – in some cases augmented by other traditional media such as print or TV. Whilst at first it may seem counter-intuitive for these native digital brands, rich in first-party data and analytics tools, to use traditional broadcast media, the arguments for doing so are actually very strong.

“MORE OOH IS CONSUMED PER DAY THAN COMMERCIAL TV”

This is an approach that has been successfully applied

The relationship between OOH and mobile is crucial – a recent Kinetic study showed that consumers are 39% more likely to look on their mobile device after seeing OOH advertising than any other channel, whilst 64% agreed that they “often search for products or services on their mobiles after seeing posters and billboards”. For digital retailers especially, steeped as they are in the disciplines of click-rates and attribution modelling, the ability for a consumer to see an OOH ad and immediately take some sort of action is crucial to understanding the impact of their advertising.

Heavy travellers, such as commuters, are far more likely to respond to OOH advertising on their mobile – a recent study from KBH On-Train Media showed that 73% of commuters had browsed for products on their mobile while commuting, and 26% had made a purchase while on their journey, again reiterating the ability of OOH to act as the store-front for online brands.

Let’s start with the most obvious – reach. Touchpoints data shows that OOH has the highest reach and total consumption of all media in the UK, digital included. This

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“THE POWER OF OOH TO GENERATE TRUST IS ALSO A CRUCIAL TOOL FOR ONLINE-ONLY BRANDS” And as basic as it may seem, scrapbooking – taking photos of posters on a mobile device to use as a reminder for a later action – is still ‘a thing’. In fact, a Kinetic study showed that 57% of respondents agreed that they would take a picture of an advert in order to help make a purchase decision at a later time.

The power of OOH to generate trust is also a crucial tool for online-only brands. Although for many people, online shopping is an accepted and frequent behaviour, there are still audiences for whom this is something of a step into the unknown. Concerns over data breaches and online fraud are still prevalent, so the reassuring familiarity and scale of a poster is a great way to assuage those fears.

OOH is a highly credible and trusted channel – the oldest advertising medium there is, let us not forget – and its scale and ubiquity are crucial factors in adding authenticity to a brand message. Outsmart’s study on the brand-building power of OOH had ‘trustworthiness’ as the #1 attribute ascribed to a brand that advertised on the medium – the old adage that nobody would tell a lie on something that size clearly still rings true with consumers. So, for an online brand such as Facebook, that wanted to reassure its users that their data was safe, and they were taking every step to ensure that content on the platform was legitimate, OOH represented a supremely logical part of the media plan.

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As penetration of DOOH continues to grow, so the opportunity to combine these traditional strengths with digital techniques to enhance targeting, message relevance and measurement grows with it. But whether using digital or traditional formats, OOH should always be first-and-foremost about its core strengths – giving advertisers the biggest possible canvas on which to raise awareness, trust and consideration.

For online companies with no physical presence – no high street store, no human sales team – OOH often represents the only tangible way for a consumer to see and experience those brands ‘in real life’, which is reflected in the ongoing importance of the medium to their marketing activities.

So, as consumers become increasingly adept at researching and purchasing on the move – taking what we at Kinetic term an ‘active journey’, OOH continues to help build consumer trust in online brands – and that’s definitely not fake news.

@paynOOHtron

IN THE PUBLIC EYE MASS APPEAL

The public nature of OOH and its influence on the visual identity of our cities means the responsibility to deliver quality creative work is high. But beyond the ads themselves, OOH also has a big impact on the ability of local organisations to fund quality infrastructure while helping improve the environment around us. OOH leaders give their thoughts on the medium’s legacy along with future plans to keep giving back.

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DAVID MCEVOY MARKETING DIRECTOR JCDECAUX UK

How would you describe OOH’s influence on the urban space?

OOH is part of the urban landscape, providing street furniture and services that benefit the public, designed by the world’s leading architects – from Zaha Hadid to Lord Norman Foster. The OOH companies are good citizens, providing rental revenue streams to local authorities and transport partners that are reinvested back into public services.

What do you think has been OOH’s biggest impact on public spaces?

OOH is a force for good — providing services free of charge to cities across the world, paid for by advertising. Today it’s a business model that encompasses the design, installation and maintenance of services from street furniture and billboards, to bike schemes, litter bins, signage and public information. It’s a highly flexible model, able to respond to the changing needs of cities, whether that’s digital clocks in

SUSI CASTLE

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER PRIMESIGHT

What’s your favourite example of OOH contributing positively to urban spaces?

As cities get busier and traffic flows increase, The Body Shop’s campaign at bus shelters showed how Airlabs’ air cleaning filters could be used to remove pollutants from city air. This campaign promoted The Body Shop’s commitment to sustainability, highlighted the role technology and OOH can play in improving city life – and got everyone talking.

Is there anything you think the OOH industry should do more of to improve our cities?

OOH is a powerful platform when it comes to championing important issues – and as an industry we provide valuable support to the charity Missing People. The annual Portrait of Britain photography exhibition is a fantastic example of showcasing the diversity of the UK and celebrates the vibrancy of our cities up and down the country. As digital screens become more of the norm we should be looking to provide an urban voice and be part of the conversation of the city.

What’s your favourite example of OOH contributing positively to urban spaces?

At its best, outdoor advertising delights, surprises or shocks the passer-by; OOH’s biggest influence on the urban space is in breaking us out of what can at times be the monotony of our day-to-day surroundings.

Most of us are aware our urban spaces are home to high levels of air pollution. One of the most exciting developments I’ve seen is from scientists at the University of Sheffield who developed a titanium dioxide coating that can be added to a billboard to absorb the equivalent of 20 cars’ worth of air pollution every day. It’s too expensive to be added on as standard for now, but seeing the industry take innovations like that forward and include them at scale could contribute to quality of life in urban spaces.

What do you think has been OOH’s biggest impact on public spaces?

Is there anything you think the OOH industry should do more of to improve our cities?

Using advertising to fund public good. That’s at the heart of our newest offering, ‘InLinkUK from BT’. With the InLinks we provide free screen space to local councils, and advertising pays for a range of free services, including ultrafast Wi-Fi (20x average broadband speeds), calls to UK mobiles and landlines and wayfinding services. 75% of consumers feel more positively about brands that sponsor services and it’s clear from the results to date (148k Wi-Fi subscribers, 1.1 million calls) that advertisers are funding services that the public want.

I’d like to see us all getting smarter in thinking about multiple uses for our sites and see the industry ‘closing the loop’ so that we limit their environmental impact – InLinks, for example, are powered by 100% renewable carbonfree energy.

How would you describe OOH’s influence on the urban space?

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Sao Paulo, solar-powered shelters in Paris or a bespoke news channel across screens in Edinburgh.

We’re also in the early stages of looking at how the InLinks monitor localised air quality, so there’s the possibility that in future we’ll be to use this data to inform where pollutioncombatting initiatives could have the most impact.

SARAH PRISEMAN

DIRECTOR OF MARKETING & PLANNING UBIQUITOUS

What’s your favourite example of OOH contributing positively to urban spaces?

OOH’s urban influence goes far beyond the space in which it sits: OOH has the power to reflect urban thinking at national and local levels; it can hold a mirror to the hopes, fears and joys of the urban population; it has the power to motivate, educate and entertain communities too.

If we think of OOH as having the power to improve the urban landscape as well as educate and motivate at a local level, then Corona’s ‘This is Living’ campaign stands out. The brand brought beautiful vistas of deep blue oceans to Old Street, instantly improving the urban view; but in a clever move that raised awareness of oceanic plight, as part of World Oceans Day they blighted the beautiful scenes with plastic. A great example of OOH influencing urban thinking through eye-opening use of urban space.

What do you think has been OOH’s biggest impact on public spaces?

Is there anything you think the OOH industry should do more of to improve our cities?

Undeniably DOOH’s upgrading of site quality; not the large ‘premium’ sites — rather those that have greatly improved ugly street furniture, such as bus shelters and phone boxes; sites that bring dynamic creativity to local communities, coupled with free Wi-Fi and mobile power. Even the iconic black cab is getting in on this act. The new electric taxi not only delivers free passenger Wi-Fi and charging, but is an OOH opportunity that comprises an average of 3,500 green miles a month in London, improving urban air quality.

Invest outside of London. The UK’s city centres are magnets for the types of audiences that are most attractive to brands; these communities will value the infrastructure improvements that media owners can bring; and via networks, OOH has the potential to deliver relevant, localised copy — not just for the benefit of brands, but for the benefit of communities too.

How would you describe OOH’s influence on the urban space?

WILL RAMAGE

PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR CLEAR CHANNEL How would you describe OOH’s influence on the urban space?

Our industry’s influence on our streets is outstandingly positive. From providing bus shelters, phone kiosks and urban trees, to giving a public communications channel to organisations that are making positive change to our world – we’re proud to be part of the DNA of urban spaces and making the communities you find us in better.

What’s your favourite example of OOH contributing positively to urban spaces?

OOH is not only making positive changes to city streets but also to the environment in which they’re located. We’re a big fan of trees. Through New World Payphones and our partnership with Trees For Cities, we’ve already planted 330 trees across the UK – £1m worth.

The humble tree improves air quality, enhances the aesthetics of our streets and provides valuable green space.

Planting season is just about to start again, and we’re looking forward to bringing more communities together through new trees.

What do you think has been OOH’s biggest impact on public spaces?

Is there anything you think the OOH industry should do more of to improve our cities?

Beyond the tangible structures that we own and maintain, I’d like to think that the revenue we return to local authorities has had the biggest impact on public spaces. Of course we play an important part, but that revenue is being invested in the wellbeing of the public through the likes of community projects, parks, schools and shared spaces to enjoy.

We’re continually asking ourselves “What if?” and “What now?”

What if every shelter, panel and billboard could actively improve air quality, generate electricity or filter rain water?

What can we do now so that every OOH site can have a positive environmental impact?

We are creating an OOH industry that’s working for good.

Watch this space.

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HELEN HAINES HEAD OF MARKETING OCEAN OUTDOOR

How would you describe OOH’s influence on the urban space?

Premium city screens are designed to sublimely integrate with places and people. Interactive digital OOH serves many different purposes — to entertain, inform, educate and support local communities and citizens on many different and positive levels.

What do you think has been OOH’s biggest impact on public spaces?

The free and fast connectivity it gives people on the move.

And the ability for clever, full motion, responsive screens to connect with audiences on a deeper, emotional level.

Oh, and the chance to celebrate local and national British events like the Royal Wedding, Pride, Grand National, Wimbledon and London Fashion Week at scale, and in superb resolution.

What’s your favourite example of OOH contributing positively to urban spaces?

an AR bee, pedometer and integration with Ocean’s Manchester screens. To date it has generated nearly 1m bee unlocks, which offer players the chance to earn rewards around an art trail.

The app helps people find super-sized bees painted by artists and little bees created by children and young people.

The AR Bee Buzzi can be seen flying to its “hive” on St Peter’s Square by looking through the camera on mobile devices and players can see themselves on our screens if they upload their photos through the app. It’s transformed Manchester into a fun, free, family-friendly art gallery. The net profits from the trail, are being donated to the Lord Mayor of Manchester’s We Love MCR Charity.

Is there anything you think the OOH industry should do more of to improve our cities?

Ensure that every single OOH installation is sympathetic and in keeping with local street and city architecture.

What we don’t need is street clutter. Use technology that is as energy efficient as possible and doesn’t pollute. And lead by example by using our assets to effect proper and meaningful social change for all.

Wild in Art, MediaWorks and Factory have created the Bee in the City app (17,000 downloads so far). The app includes

JASON COTTERRELL

GROUP CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER & MANAGING DIRECTOR – UK EXTERION MEDIA How would you describe OOH’s influence on the urban space?

Can you imagine what cities would look like without OOH? It would be like stepping into a dystopian world — bleak, bland and lifeless. OOH dresses cities and makes them smarter. It brings colour, brands, vibrancy, movement, utility and, importantly, commerciality. OOH in cities implores us to search out new experiences, it’s exciting and evolving.

What do you think has been OOH’s biggest impact on public spaces?

OOH looks great and we know through our award-winning Engagement Zone study that it’s welcomed. But let’s face it, without OOH local authorities and governments would rely on the likes of tax payer funded art schemes and initiatives to brighten up our great city centres. OOH is an enabler. It generates vital revenue that in the main gets invested back into transport networks and infrastructure. Win-win.

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What’s your favourite example of OOH contributing positively to urban spaces?

There are so many great examples… Take street furniture — it’s evolving and moving with the times, offering cities revenue-driving infrastructure that provides utility and connectivity for its citizens. In fact, who doesn’t value street furniture – from pop up toilets at 1am on Saturday (after 10 pints!), bus shelters on a rainy day, to charging points and Wi-Fi at moments when you or your loved ones need to stay connected?

Is there anything you think the OOH industry should do more of to improve our cities?

We need to collaborate more with cities, authorities and local governments to understand their needs and requirements. We also need to educate cities on what can be economically achieved. For example, at the design phase for the eagerly awaited Elizabeth line we worked with TfL to ensure that the advertising was strategically placed throughout the stations in order to deliver the best experience for passengers and ROI for advertisers and TfL.

You need to be seen in order to influence. We prove why OOH is still a powerful way to get your message across, while also uncovering the secret to optimum frequency and why you need to know it.

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INFLUENC/R

HOW DOES OOH STACK UP AGAINST THE NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK?

When it comes to influencing, don’t get caught up in the new and shiny.

OOH remains a powerful and far-reaching tool for influencing consumers, driving awareness, interest and ultimately action. Kinetic’s Sarah Harding dives into the stats.

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uda Kattan, Cameron Dallas, Zack King and friends may be the new and trendy (as well as some of the biggest) influencers on the block, but OOH was here first.

75%1 of advertisers in the US used influencers in 2017 and it’s expected this will be a huge growth area for brands in the UK as well. Marketers use influencers because they believe they are a credible means to reach a sizeable, but targeted (and in particular, young) audience in order to build a brand’s awareness levels. However, OOH has been doing this at its core for years, and has built a reputation on successfully delivering against these objectives time and again.

“OOH LENDS CREDIBILITY TO BRANDS BY SIGNALLING SCALE, TRUSTWORTHINESS AND PERMANENCY” Instagram, with its focus on visual content and an estimated 41%2 of the UK accessing the platform, is emerging as the place for influencers. But OOH is still the home of reach - reaching close to 100%3 of the UK population, with DOOH’s reach now at 63%4.

footfall to their stores saw a 47% increase as a result of OOH

97%

OOH reaches over 97% of 18-34s every week

With OOH being the world’s oldest medium, you could be forgiven for thinking it doesn’t have youth on its side – but OOH excels at delivery against a young audience, reaching over 97%5 of 18-34s every week.

Not surprising given they spend over 3 hrs6 every day in OOH environments, be it on their commute to university or work or whilst they are down the pub or out shopping.

And now, with the incorporation of smart data sets like CACI, Route, Telefonica, YouGov and clients’ own data, to name but a few, OOH can also be sophisticated in terms of who it reaches, when and where – delivering both on a broadcast and on targeted basis — especially when combined with the flexibility of DOOH, which makes daypart, day of week and contextual messaging possible.

“THOSE OF US WHO ARE OUT AND ABOUT THE MOST, WHO ARE THE MOST HEAVILY EXPOSED TO OOH, ARE 36% MORE LIKELY TO BE A CONVERSATION CATALYST” Influencers are famed for their ability to drive awareness and are often used to help launch new brands for this reason. OOH is frequently the first medium on the

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plan when awareness is the main goal – Facebook, Google and Netflix have all looked to OOH to help raise awareness and build trust. Salience, how quickly and easily a brand comes to mind, increases by 14%5 when OOH is used. A fact that established brands like Tesco, Apple and Coca-Cola use to their advantage by having an ‘always on’ strategy in OOH to ensure they dominate in the consumer’s psyche.

Salience increases by 14% when OOH is used

Influencers can help give credibility to brands – it’s still advertising, but by people who we trust and inspire us.

OOH also does exactly that. Through large, impactful sites and by decorating our high streets, OOH lends credibility to brands by signalling scale, trustworthiness and permanency. Quality can be implied and framed by using DOOH and large formats in upmarket locations, a brand for everyday can be implied by frequency of exposure. OOH also inspires action; an Outsmart study found that brands that used OOH saw a 17%6 uplift in

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search activity. For one recent Kinetic client, footfall to their stores saw a 47%8 increase as a result of OOH. Analysis of the IPA’s databank of case studies tells us that campaigns are 37%8 more likely to see an increase in sales when they include OOH.

63%

OOH reaches close to 100% of the UK, with DOOH’s reach alone now at 63%

Social media and influencers are often used for their ability to drive word of mouth, to enable the message to spread wide and far from the original post. OOH naturally reaches an audience of conversation catalysts — those who have a large social network who regularly give recommendations in multiple product categories.

Those of us who are out and about more in public spaces socialising, travelling or shopping, are naturally more likely to have a wider social circle, and are often in those places with friends or family. In fact, those of us who are out and about the most, who are the most heavily exposed to OOH, are 36%3 more likely to be a conversation catalyst.

campaigns are 37% more likely to see an increase in sales when they include OOH

Brands turn to influencers for their ability to deliver a mass, young audience through a trusted voice which adds context and credibility to the messaging. For all these reasons OOH is a great complement to influencers with its ability to also deliver and amplify these objectives.

brands that used OOH saw a 17% uplift in search activity

OOH may be the great grandparent when compared to digital influencers, but it should not be overlooked in favour of these - it was the first, the original, and still is a hugely powerful influencer.

Sources: 1 Warc, Budgets increase for influencer marketing | 2 https://www.avocadosocial.com/the-latest-uk-social-media-statisticsfor-2018/ | 3 Touchpoints 2017 | 4 Route | 5 The Brand Building Power of OOH, Kinetic research | 6 Outsmart, Outperform study| 7 Kinetic research, beauty client | 8 IPA databank case studies

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INFLUENC/R

DELIVERING OPTIMUM LEVELS OF FREQUENCY FOR PEAK CREATIVE IMPACT Looking to understand how many times a consumer needs to see an OOH ad in order to deliver optimum positive emotional response, we pulled together a team from across the industry to test a hypothesis using the psychological phenomenon the Mere Exposure Effect. Here’s what we found…

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D

ecades of research in the behavioural sciences now make one thing quite clear: that the more we look at something, the more we like it.

As the scientists say, “exposure to novel stimulus elicits a fear or avoidance response by all organisms”. It’s the ‘all organisms’ which gives us a clue to how far back in our evolution we learnt this rule of thumb.

Evolutionary psychologists explain this phenomenon in terms of Darwinian selection. Those of us who didn’t develop a slight fear or avoidance response to new potentially dangerous stuff died out, those of us who took time to warm up are ones that survived (that’s us!).

So, people tend to develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them. Hence this can enhance consumers’ preference towards more familiar brands. To put this in simple terms, with all other things being equal, if a consumer sees product A next to product B on a supermarket shelf they will be more likely to pick the one they are familiar with. The experiment below demonstrates this. We asked 1,000 people, “imagine you have decided to see your finance manager about investing in stocks. They tell you to choose from six stocks that all have the same probability of being successful. Choose three stocks from the below options.”

In a modern-day context, we see ourselves in the mirror every day and have become accustomed to how we look based on this mirror image (fringe to the right, for example). But others see our face the other way around (fringe to the left).

Studies repeatedly show that we prefer photos of ourselves that are flipped around to be the mirror-image we see, because that’s the view of ourselves we see the most. Whereas other people prefer photos of us that aren’t flipped, as that’s the view of us they see most.

What’s more, this effect works subconsciously and people don’t notice their images have been manipulated. In fact, they often produce a range of reasons for their preference such as “better lighting”, “a less wonky smile”, “or a smaller forehead” when it’s actually just because it’s what they’re used to seeing.

The likelihood, all things being equal, of any combination being picked is 5%. However, the bottom three stocks were chosen by 26% of respondents. This is because these three stocks (BELL, FAM, ODEO) have letter

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combinations that are more common in the English language (The other letter combinations [RJO, QYA, KCIM] are rare and unfamiliar). Respondents picked the combinations we are more familiar with — half of respondents picked two of either BELL, FAM or ODEO. This is what’s called the Mere Exposure Effect in action. From an evolutionary perspective this makes sense — if something is familiar it’s not dangerous. When something that is new and unusual (i.e. food) we don’t know enough to know whether it is safe, so are more likely to avoid it.

“THE MERE EXPOSURE EFFECT SHOWS THAT PEOPLE’S EMOTIONAL RESPONSE TO SOMETHING INCREASES TO A PEAK, THEN DECREASES” However, the relationship between exposure and likeability is not linear. Think of a song that you’ve loved.

Think of the obsession of wanting to hear it again and again. And then at some point you tire of the tune, and the more you hear it the less enamoured you are with it.

The Mere Exposure Effect shows that people’s emotional

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response to something increases to a peak then decreases as the number of times they are exposed to it increases. The reason that the positive emotion builds is a consequence of our brain rewarding us for paying attention to something that we need to understand better. Once it has been sufficiently understood, our emotional response decreases, indicating any more attention will tell us nothing new.

Marketers can optimise their communications and find that peak of enjoyment by understanding optimum frequency levels. Kinetic, Clear Channel, Primesight and blowUP media joined forces to understand the optimum number of times people should see an OOH ad. We wanted to confirm the theory from the Mere Exposure Effect that ads ‘wear in’ and ‘wear out’. What our clients really wanted to know was how long it would take for OOH ads to reach peak effectiveness.

To do this, we worked with research partner Gorilla in the Room and used a measure from cognitive science derived from the Mere Exposure Effect. Through a VR headset we gave 380 people in the UK varying levels of exposure to four OOH ads from established global brands. This was designed to mimic a naturalistic pattern of exposures. We did not tell respondents the research was about advertising, and they were told only to look around each of the street scenes. By doing this, we

created ad exposures that were incidental, mimicking how they would be naturally. In other words, the ads were seen in context of natural street life, with all the things going on around that they would commonly have to compete with for attention.

After respondents had viewed their allocated number of exposures, we used a Mere Exposure Effect measure to assess emotional response to the creative they had seen as well as the three others they had not. This

meant comparative scores could be made between emotional response to the ads at different exposure rates, compared with a base line response. The results showed the expected ‘wear in’ and ‘wear out’ / mere exposure curve. From this, we have made some exciting discoveries, and can use these insights into the optimum levels of frequency to deploy our clients’ OOH plans more effectively. We plan to conduct more experiments next year to refine our understanding in this area.

Difference in “feel” score by number of exposures (Exposed score – not exposed score all ads)

0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 No exposures

1 to 4 exposures

5 to 8 exposures

9 to 12 exposures

13 to 16 exposures

Project team: Jennie Roper, Head of Insight, Kinetic; Dr Alistair Goode, Gorilla in the Room; Lindsay Rapacchi, Head of Research & Insight, Clear Channel, Steve Bernard, Research & Insight Manager, Primesight, Victoria Hirst, Senior International Marketing Manager, blowUP media

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INFLUENC/R

THE POWER OF NOW

CONTEXT DRIVING CREATIVITY IN DOOH

Digital OOH has the ability to deliver smart, contextual content in real time. But we still don’t see nearly enough campaigns take advantage. DOOH.com’s Jeremy Taylor explains why you need to be adding contextual triggers to your communications and how powerful they can be in driving consumer action.

B

ack in the sixties, a time often referred to as “the golden age of advertising”, it was all about finding ways to deliver happiness. In today’s world though, marketing is all about attention, or specifically, finding ways to capture it.

In fact, it’s fair to say that any time before the smartphone revolution was a ‘good time’ for advertising, back when consumers had ‘downtime’. Those quiet periods in the day when travelling, waiting, relaxing… and basically just being alone with our thoughts. For most of us, such times in the day no longer exist, and it was during these moments that advertising found us, and perhaps more importantly, we used to welcome it.

Now that we all have pocket computers tethering us to a relentless world of social and curated content, the window for traditional ads to get through has shrunk dramatically. As a result, advertising has been forced to evolve and be more tactical, using a combination of science, insight and data to deliver that ‘click of the fingers’ to get our attention. Or in other words, context.

Context isn’t a new thing though. It’s been part of the bedrock of advertising since humans drew on walls of

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caves. It’s how context can be applied that’s changed dramatically. Pre-digital age, context was about how a product narrative related to ‘the consumer’ as a collective. Now it’s about how a message relates to a specific time, location and to you as an individual, and it’s this shift in personalised advertising that has empowered the big digital and social platforms to dominate marketing as they now do.

It’s not just the Facebooks and Googles of this world that have benefitted from the digitisation of marketing though. The surge in context-based marketing has served to drive a rapid evolution within OOH too; chiefly via the huge and continuous growth in digital OOH.

“A CONSUMER WILL CARE ABOUT AN AD IF THEY HAVE AN EMOTIONAL REACTION TO IT, A COMPULSION TO FEEL OR ACT” No other media channel can offer both the flexibility that digital advertising provides and the physical scale

(both in terms of format size and coverage) traditionally delivered by OOH. It’s this potent combination, combined with ad avoidance issues facing other channels, that’s making digital OOH arguably the most exciting area for brands to be operating in.

Most of the ad industry is now aware that, in spite of their appearance and positioning, digital OOH screens are closer in their DNA to web pages than posters. Serving a fixed, static ad to a website to remain unchanged for the duration of a campaign seems ludicrous to anyone with even the most basic knowledge of digital advertising. Yet still the majority of ad content served to digital OOH acts as nothing more than a poster on a screen.

that audience dwell time fluctuates dramatically with large format roadside screens. So much so that some motorists have 2-3 seconds to take in an advert while an hour or two later the same screen will have drivers looking at it for several minutes. So why serve the same ad to both audiences? Our DRIVE product enables brands to alternate through different versions of their ad in direct accordance with the speed of traffic passing each screen. These versions could include a short sharp ad with just a strap-line, or a slightly longer version, right through to a copy heavy narrative — all changing per screen in real-time.

“CONTEXT AND DATA ARE ONLY AS POWERFUL AS THE OVERALL CREATIVE NARRATIVE THEY ARE SERVING” Digital OOH shares the same capabilities as ‘traditional’ digital platforms in its ability to present ads to consumers that directly reference real-time factors including location, time of day / day of week, weather, gender, mood… and so on. And what’s more, a wide variety of studies and research all confirm what seems blindingly obvious anyway; that context makes adverts work harder. One recent study* showed a 20% increase in VISUAL attention, 32% increase in ENGAGEMENT, 17% increase in MEMORY and average 9% uplift in SALES from just the application of locational context alone.

Similarly, our LOCATION product, as utilised in recent Tesco campaigns, is demystifying how to turn a single piece of creative into hundreds or even thousands of individual ads by dynamically inserting directional info to the nearest retailer from each screen.

At DOOH.com, we’ve been creating methodologies to simplify the enhancement of digital OOH campaigns through appropriate context. For example, we know * adshel Live research 2016

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Context is a powerful tool when used correctly, but being complex doesn’t mean a message will land with the consumer. An ad can be brimming with smarts yet be completely missed if your audience only has 2-3 seconds to absorb the message. Which is why simply stating the day of week or referencing the weather will often prove more effective in driving sales, ad recall or brand awareness.

Ultimately though, regardless of approach, context and data are only as powerful as the overall creative

Not exactly mind-blowing as far as the untrained consumer eye is concerned, but if the campaign objective is simply to tempt a consumer into store or highlight a particular benefit to a product, then the old adage usually applies: keep it simple.

But not always. There are plenty of occasions when the opportunity to do something ground-breaking comes along. Harnessing multiple APIs to integrate live data into digital OOH ads can be truly amazing when it serves the overall narrative of what’s on screen. Our campaign for Heathrow Express combined five individual data sources to inform travellers of live journey costs and travel times from Heathrow into London via taxi, while comparing these with the (lower) costs and (quicker) journey times for the Heathrow Express train; and all delivered to individual baggage carousel screens in the specific language of the flight’s origin.

narrative they are serving, and it’s vital that one hand washes the other. A consumer will care about an ad if they have an emotional reaction to it, a compulsion to feel or act. Twitter proved this last year with their Cannes Lions winning hashtag campaign. While they could, and indeed did, run a dynamic digital OOH campaign utilising the real-time nature of both their own platform and digital OOH itself, they were also smart enough to recognise the potency of a single image when presented properly, perfectly demonstrating that context doesn’t have to mean complex.

So, no matter how much technology seeps into the lifeblood of advertising: creativity, craft and storytelling will always be the voices that actually talk to the consumer. Context is just what enables those voices to be heard amongst all the noise.

@jezzasaultaylor

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We created the OOH hype cycle in 2016, to investigate the potential of the new tech and innovations coming our way. How much has the landscape changed? What has the industry fallen in love with and adopted, and what’s been given the cold shoulder? Pull it out, and hang it on your wall!

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TECHN OOH LOGY

Taking inspiration from Gartner’s famous Hype Cycle, Kinetic Active’s Rosh Singh designed Kinetic’s OOH hype cycle that maps the emerging tech that will impact the OOH industry in the near and far future. If you want to know more, give our tech and creative experts in Kinetic Active a buzz.

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Voice: Home assistants and smart speakers have well and truly ushered in the era of Voice - it’s estimated across the world we make 1 billion voice searches per month. The shift from visual to conversational interfaces will permeate our use of mobile devices, smart-speakers, vehicles and ultimately find its way to OOH. Clearly there are some behavioural barriers involved in talking to a poster, but soon enough we may be more inclined to ask a 6-sheet for directions to the nearest library.

Green Tech: From solar-powered smart benches to air purifying digital screens, there are numerous technologies that provide a platform for advertising, CSR and genuine positive environmental impact, ensuring OOH is additive, rather than destructive to the environment and communities around it.

Contactless Payments: The growth in trust and confidence when using contactless payment tech could prove to be a great opportunity to integrate payment systems into OOH advertising, allowing for instant shop-able micro-payments via OOH or frictionless charity donations.

Mixed Reality: The eventual (disappointing) launch of Magic Leap’s head-mounted MR device proves we are a long, long way from MR becoming the successor to the smart-phone. But a world where digital information is constantly augmenting our experiences poses some interesting questions for OOH. Will poster sites become placeholders for dynamically placed and hyper-targeted messaging? Will OOH creative become shop-able and interactive by default? Will the realworld be subject to a freemium model whereby you can pay to have all adverts removed from our lives?

Street Art +: By combining street art with emerging technologies such as projection mapping or Augmented Reality, static murals can be brought to life in engaging and interactive ways.

The recent Gucci campaign serves as a perfect example of what can be achieved when digital mastery and analogue craftsmanship combine.

Blockchain: As the bluster behind crypto-currencies dies down, focus can now shift to the myriad of applications. In the short-term, blockchain is poised to become the system by which privacy,

Out of Home Virtual Reality: Despite constant improvements to VR hardware, headset sales have slowed and Augmented Reality has taken over as the poster-child of the immersive reality revolution. One area that is seeing strong growth however, is location-based or Out of Home VR experience. Experiences like The Void’s Storm Trooper, Somnai’s immersive theatre and Voyager VR prove that combining virtual worlds with our physical senses can create truly stunning and memorable experiences - the real world is the perfect setting for virtual immersion.

GREEN TECH PROGRAMMATIC OOH VOICE

OOH HYPE CYCLE

LIGHTVERT

CONTACTLESS PAYMENTS

IRL ACTIVATION CONSUMER VR

STREET ART +

OUT OF HOME VR HOLOGRAPHIC TECH

HAPTICS

SEARCH IRL BLOCKCHAIN

AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

INNOVATION TRIGGER

IRL Activation: OOH delivers creativity at a scale unrivalled by other channels - the perfect way to earn the fragmented attention span of the modern consumer.

Whether it be a special build, a giant sculpture hanging from the roof of a mall, or a beautiful hand-painted mural woven into the fabric of the city, OOH offers a hugely impactful analogue alternative in an increasingly digitised world.

DYNAMIC DOOH MIXED REALITY

measurement and reconciliation is handled by the media industries, offering a system of transparency while maintaining confidentiality for all parties. Rather than governments and banks confirming our identity or the contents of our bank accounts, this information could be held centrally on the blockchain allowing us to slip effortless and securely between the real, online and virtual worlds.

Autonomous Vehicles: Just over half of all OOH impacts are delivered from inside a vehicle, the car is undoubtedly an OOH environment.

Understanding the change in human behaviour as we transition through the five stages of autonomous vehicles is vital to ensuring that OOH is able to remain relevant in the age of the driverless car.

AUGMENTED REALITY

Augmented Reality: The hype machine continues to push AR into the mainstream, fuelled by Apple and Google announcing AR Kit and AR Core respectively.

But despite these developments giving AR apps access to our device’s enhanced features, one fact still remains - they are still delivered via natively installed apps. Any experience that requires a user to download an app will suffer from a serious lack of scale and given the high production costs involved in pulling together AR experiences, it currently doesn’t represent a viable option for OOH. Only once the functionality reaches the mobile browser (as being currently trialled by Google), will mobile AR OOH experiences have the scale needed to deliver successful campaigns.

BEACONS Holographic Tech: Once the folly of science fiction, holographic displays are becoming a scientific reality. Recent innovations towards a ‘rotational persistence of vision’ display allows for cheaper, quicker and more robust holographic displays. The world’s first holographic billboard is in sight.

CONNECTED HOMES

PEAK OF INFLATED EXPECTATIONS

TROUGH OF DISSILLUSIONMENT

SLOPE OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Search IRL: Fuelled by advancements in AI object recognition, visual search is beginning to emerge as a more efficient way of sifting through online information and contextualising the world around us - Google Lens, Pinterest Lens and Amazon are leading the charge.

As human-to-computer interaction more closely resembles the way we view and process the world around us, the path to purchase shrinks greatly. Combined with advancements in AR, blockchain enabled mobile wallets and on-demand fulfilment, OOH can become a more interactive, informative and shop-able channel with instant-gratification and a measurable return path.

Plateau will be reached in: Less than 2 years

2-5 years

PLATEAU OF PRODUCTIVITY

5-10 years

More than 10 years

PULL THIS OUT AND HANG IT ON YOUR WALL

Things can move both fast and slow in this space, and often in unpredictable ways. Here is a comparison between our first and most recent analysis. We’ve definitely seen dynamic DOOH evolve in the last 2.5 years, but at a slower pace than expected. Beacons have not been adopted widely, and wont for some time, despite early promise and while haptics represent an amazing opportunity for OOH, they will take longer to come to fruition than first predicted.

2016 CONNECTED HOME AI

HAPTICS

OOH PROGRAMMATIC

DRONES

MOBILE PAYMENTS

EMOTION RECOGNITION

AUTONOMOUS CARS

VIRTUAL REALITY

BEACONS

DYNAMIC DOOH

GESTURE

MULTI SENSORY 3D VOLUMETRIC

IoT PLATFORM

AUGMENTED REALITY

NFC

2018 AUGMENTED REALITY GREEN TECH VOICE PAYMENT

PROGRAMMATIC OOH LIGHTVERT

DYNAMIC DOOH MIXED REALITY STREET ART +

CONSUMER VR HAPTICS

BLOCKCHAIN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

OUT OF HOME VR

IRL ACTIVATION

HOLOGRAPHIC TECH SEARCH IRL BEACONS

CONNECTED HOMES

Plateau will be reached in: Less than 2 years

2-5 years

5-10 years

More than 10 years 33

We’ve shamelessly stolen the building blocks of the hype cycle to demonstrate what we think are the most relevant and exciting new tech coming your way from the world of OOH. Here’s what each phase of the cycle means:

No.

Phase

Description

1

Technology Trigger

A potential technology breakthrough kicks things off. Early proof-ofconcept stories and media interest trigger significant publicity. Often no usable products exist and commercial viability is unproven.

2

Peak of Inflated Expectations

Early publicity produces a number of success stories, often accompanied by scores of failures. Some companies take action; most don't.

Trough of Disillusionment

Interest wanes as experiments and implementations fail to deliver.

Producers of the technology shake out or fail. Investments continue only if the surviving providers improve their products to the satisfaction of early adopters.

4

Slope of Enlightenment

More instances of how the technology can benefit the enterprise start to crystallise and become more widely understood. Second and third generation products appear from technology providers. More enterprises fund pilots; conservative companies remain cautious.

5

Plateau of Productivity

Mainstream adoption starts to take off. Criteria for assessing provider viability are more clearly defined. The technology’s broad market applicability and relevance are clearly paying off.

3

*Gartner are the original creators of the Hype Cycle and its process

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There’s no substitute for saying you were there. And given our obsession with capturing everything and anything on our phones for social bragging rights shows no signs of slowing, the opportunity for brands to turn consumers into advocates is bigger and better than ever.

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IRL

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE Experiential is everywhere & people love it

From projection to gesture, lighting, sound and costume, the possibilities for immersive branded experiences has never been greater. Neither has consumers’ desire to participate. It’s time to think how experiential could help you get closer to your customers — Kinetic Active’s Dominic Murray delves into the creative world of experience.

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A quiet patch of farmland on the outskirts of Toronto made international headlines this summer when police were called to manage crowds accused of trespassing

Psychologist say we are inclined to lie about our weekend adventures to appear high-status and interesting. We are conditioned by media to feel

and damaging crops. Bogle Seeds, a sixth-generation family-owned Sunflower farm, had opened their gates to the public, inviting people to view their crops for $7.50 a day. The owners had misjudged the potential popularity of their invitation and were ill-prepared for the 7,000 cars that descended on their land, filled with people set on snapping selfies with sunflowers.

‘life is to be experienced’, that experiences are enriching, and time spent on ordinary tasks is boring or wasted. However, we are built to seek out new things.

Biologically, we are attracted to and rewarded by novelty and new experiences. Our brains react positively to new stimulus and the social aspects of experience make us happier and healthier.

“OUR BRAINS REACT POSITIVELY TO NEW STIMULUS AND THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF EXPERIENCE MAKE US HAPPIER AND HEALTHIER” These stories, of which there are many examples, play well across the media as they perpetuate the narrative that millennials are selfie-obsessed sheep feeding the social media machine. That may be true for elite social media influencers, but for the majority of visitors to Bogle Seeds, it was meant to be a nice day out in the country and a souvenir snap.

While there is no doubt that the invention of social media Stories has created a new way for young people to feel inadequate by setting unrealistic standards of beauty and lifestyle, the pressure to portray a cool version of ourselves or our social life is not exclusive to users of Instagram and Snapchat. A third of British adults admit to lying about their weekend to appear more interesting to their colleagues.

We will all be familiar with the term ‘Experience Economy’, the idea that we no longer covet possessions but prefer to spend our money and time on experiences.

It is easy to assume that it was triggered by social media, but the term was coined in 1998 by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore, well before we all had FOMO! Pine and Gilmore suggested that as services, like goods before them, became commoditised, businesses would need to build experiences to differentiate and create value. Experiences could be sorted into four categories: Entertainment, Educational, Escapist and Esthetic, with each experience offering different levels of participation (passive or active) and connection (absorption and immersion). Pine and Gilmore stated that the most successful experiences had elements of all four. The importance of a positive experience is high as the experience and a consumer’s memory of it would come to define your business. Similar to the theory that brands are combinations of perceptions and experiences which we collect over a lifetime.

Physical branded experiences meet the need of consumers who are happy to trade their time and attention with brands that they trust to provide an experience of value. Consumers seek an experience

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Images: HBO

that is relevant to their interests and authentic to the brand. Experiential events can create emotional connections and motivate consumers by enabling them to stand out from the crowd, experience pleasure, excitement and fun, feel an affiliation and sense of belonging.

“THERE IS A VAST SPECTRUM OF INGREDIENTS AND TOOLS THAT CAN BE COMBINED TO CREATE WOW MOMENTS FOR YOUR CONSUMER�

A well-crafted, physical brand experience has the power to boost the perception of value of a good or service.

They are a medium through which brands can convince consumers of their purpose by showing and doing.

Businesses can share a point of view and introduce a personality, benefits can be demonstrated and proven.

Territories can be forged and cemented. Associations can be deepened.

Consumers themselves can become part of your story, recruited as advocates. Stories can be told, memories created and hearts won.

Many modern experiential designs incorporate elements of theatre, technology and personalisation to earn attention. In the world of experiential marketing there is a vast spectrum of ingredients and tools that can be

38

combined to create wow moments for your consumer.

Theatrical elements such as staging, light displays, binaural soundscapes and costume can create deeply immersive or entertaining experiences. Technologies like projections can augment environments. Tech enables interaction with touch or gesture and can create magic when hidden from sight. Senses can be stimulated to tell a story or trigger emotion. Feelings of personalisation can be achieved through a well-crafted experience or relevant, timely utility that communicates an understanding of personal need. Experience can be tailored in real time through emotion recognition or the use of live contextual data.

Some of the best experiential works of recent years have combined elements of theatre, tech and personalisation. So, how could you bring your brand to life in the real world and delight your customers?

Images: Nike

HBO/Westworld, Texas The hit TV show recreated the famous futuristic theme park on the outskirts of Austin, Texas during this year’s SXSW. Participants were deeply immersed in a detailed, full-scale, Wild West setting populated by actors in costume pretending to be artificially intelligent robots.

Visitors could interact with the robots and witnessed shoot-outs and bar brawls. For fans of the TV show, the opportunity to experience life inside the theme park from the perspective of a guest was a dream come true.

Aperol Spritz Sundial Social, London A sundial installed on the banks of the Thames was orientated to signal the beginning of Apertivo hour and the opening of an Aperol Bar experience. Consumers queued to gain entry to the area which included a bar serving Aperol Spritz and other related activities such as music, branded foosball and photo-opportunities on orange Vespas. The experience encapsulated the brand heritage and lifestyle projected by the brand.

Nike Unlimited Stadium, Singapore Nike installed a high-tech 200m running track in Manila that mimicked the dimensions of a Nike Lunar running shoe. LED screens lined the track allowing runners to race against themselves. After setting a lap time, an RFID sensor on the runners tracked their progress against a digital avatar. This installation is a perfect representation of Nike’s ethos of challenging yourself.

@dominic_murray0

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IRL

From those who plan, to those who paint, we speak to the lucky people who get to bring brilliant and unique creative work to life in the real world. Where do they seek inspiration and what would their dream project look like?

GEOFF GRAY

CEO HIGH RISE MURALS

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What inspires you? Where do you seek inspiration?

We are all inspired at High Rise by the constantly evolving contemporary and street art world. It contains such breadth and depth of untapped talent across the globe. There is so much more that brands could do to harness this talent, it’s a genuinely symbiotic relationship, as the support of brands keeps artists able to work in their studios and creating new work and ideas.

What is your favourite piece of work from the last year or so?

I have many this year, but the Amex work was great.

It illustrates the new categories recognising the power of murals, the work was unique, done in collaboration with a fine artist and their agency partners to reinforce the marketing but also evolve it, and they were smart at leveraging the creative to make other assets to activate and draw attention to the piece.

How have client briefs changed over the last few years?

We are seeing a broader array of brands and sectors tapping into Street Art, a move away from thinking of it as Graffiti (which it isn’t), and increasingly brands working more collaboratively to create unique pieces and ideas with artists as oppose to just painting an advert. While that can work brilliantly, spending a bit of time creating something unique to the medium, the area or underlining the core creative idea can be exponentially powerful.

If you could do anything, what would your dream project be?

A national mural campaign would be great, across the UK or a city, that tailored the message to each location in collaboration with artists. Having said that we have a lot of other things we’d like to do to, we have a lot of fresh ideas waiting for the right brand to come along.

SAM O’CONNELL

HEAD OF PROJECTS & OPERATIONS KINETIC ACTIVE What inspires you? Where do you seek creative inspiration?

The environment I live and work in with all its colour, noise and varied landscape. I also enjoy museums and exhibitions -—looking and understanding the extraordinary, the emotive and the innovative is always a fuel for inspiration.

My 4-year-old son also inspires me — he challenges me

to dominate the local area of Tottenham and, with Nike and our partners, hand picked brand-new locations in the heart of the community, transforming them using iconic imagery and innovative production techniques. These included photo realistic murals, special builds on scaffolding sites and hoarding dominations.

every day to behave and think differently, on a younger and more vibrant level where imagination is everything.

If you could do anything creatively in the urban space, what would your dream project be?

The opportunity to alter the landscape for the benefit of the local community – working with a brand that wants to raise awareness but also give back to the public. So, through sponsorship and innovative branding we could add colour, interaction and improve the landscape for all to come together and enjoy.

What do you love about being able to activate creative work in urban spaces?

I love that our OOH campaigns can alter the landscape temporarily and enhance it with colour and intrigue.

Engaging the public with a stand-out mural that makes them stop and stare, or a bespoke, fun interactive build that lifts someone’s day and gets them talking and smiling.

What is your favourite piece of real-world brand work from the last year or so?

The ‘watch us rise’ work we did for Nike in the summer of 2017 for the THFC kit launch. We were given the opportunity

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STEVE RAY

PLANNING PARTNER MINDSHARE What inspires you? Where do you seek creative inspiration?

It sounds trite, but inspiration comes from what’s around me. I’m a huge believer in the influence of our surroundings in fuelling creativity. That’s why we actively encourage our planners to go out and experience different things to stimulate their curiosity, such as new exhibitions or events. I also find getting up from your desk and walking around the building is a good kick-starter for creative blocks!

What do you love about being able to activate creative work in urban spaces?

I’ve always been a bit of a failed architect, it’s an unfulfilled ambition from childhood. I’m fascinated by the design and structure of buildings and spaces, and what inspired them.

That’s probably why out-of-home is my favourite medium.

It allows me to play in that physical world, and create real things that people can see and even touch. And pretend to be an architect every now and again!

I think simple always wins out; not forcing people to think about what you’re trying to communicate. You immediately get it and think “oh, that’s clever”. We often talk about ‘the medium being the message’ and O2 nailed this.

If you could do anything creatively in the urban space, what would your dream project be?

There’s a group of fans at Crystal Palace called the Holmesdale Fanatics. They sit behind the goal, leading the singing, organising immense, fan-led displays and crucially creating an atmosphere at Selhurst Park that is the envy of many. That it comes directly from the fans reflects strongly on the importance of the club to the people of South London. The dream brief would be to extend the energy and connection experienced inside the stadium out into the local community. Murals, statues, regenerated football pitches, lining the routes to the ground. Think Jay-Z / Bing’s Decoded but focused on Croydon!

What is your favourite piece of real-world brand work from the last year or so?

O2’s broken billboards to promote their screen replacement offer stand out as an exceptional piece of creative media planning. There’s an inherent simplicity in that idea, and

DANIELLA MURPHY CREATIVE LEAD WAVEMAKER

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What inspires you? Where do you seek creative inspiration?

Dark, deep internet holes. Going for a walk. Zadie Smith.

Sally Rooney. Sharmadean Reid. Cheap theatre tickets.

Neat hair. Astrology. Listening to Prince on repeat. When Grayson Perry took over the RA. Private Eye. The pub. Other people. Always other people.

What is your favourite piece of real-world brand work from the last year or so Without a doubt, the 84 suicide statues that CALM placed on top of ITV’s Southbank building earlier this year. What a powerful way to tell a truth - that 84 men take their own life every week in the UK. A screen wouldn’t have cut it.

What do you love about being able to activate creative work in urban spaces?

Cities around the world have banned outdoor advertising for good reason. But as long as we keep ourselves in check, making sure we’re creating something useful, entertaining, or beautiful — rather than contributing to visual pollution — then I think there is potential. Can we help make our cities better places to live? That excites me.

If you could do anything creatively in the urban space, what would your dream project be?

I’m quite interested in street psychology. With the exception of Neave Brown (pioneer of high-quality social housing) architects are only recently realising how much urban spaces can affect our moods. I’d love to be involved in any project that looked at this, and be able to design with people’s mental and emotional health in mind. Anyone up for that?

IRL

How can you leverage the space around you in a creative way to grab attention, tell a story, create an experience that delights consumers and convinces them to share your work with others? Here are some of our favourite and unusual installations and activations for inspiration.

The always brilliant TeamLab from Japan have opened a 10,000 sq m wonderland of 3D digital art, Borderless. 520 computers and 470 projectors combine to bring pieces and people together in an utterly immersive experience. borderless.teamlab.art 43

Nike has a history of turning disused places into unique sporting venues and its latest effort is no exception. Taking over The Church of the Epiphany in Chicago’s West Side, the Just Do It HQ at The Church is now a high-spec, and completely unique, training facility for local schools. nike.com/us/en_us/e/cities/chicago/risechicago

Projections are a brilliant way to transform any space. To celebrate the start of LA Philharmonic’s new season, the Walt Disney Concert Hall was turned into a canvas for a mesmerising projection display by Refik Anadol Studio. laphil.com 44

The amount of plastic we discard is still growing at an alarming, and damaging, rate. Over the last year we’ve seen numerous organisations tap into the power of public sculpture to raise awareness of this issue. Here’s one in Bruges by StudioKCA. instagram.com/studiokca 45

Sonos showcased the power of their new Playbase product by combining it with striking animation in a recent Ray of Sound installation. Experiencing music synced with mind blowing visuals (by superNature) enhances the consumer experience of the product by giving them something very unique and therefore memorable. vimeo.com/264564942

Ice cream; a favourite of so many for so long, finally got the recognition it deserves via the made-for-Instagram Museum of Ice Cream. An insanely coloured interactive art exhibit with a maze of interactive installations. Pure joy for ice cream lovers. instagram.com/museumoficecream 46

Artist Arthur-Louis IgnorĂŠ (ALI) uses existing urban features including tiles, cobblestones & sporting areas to create detailed graphic installations that bring beauty and design to the starker areas of urban spaces. instagram.com/arthur_louis_ignore

Murals are having a moment in OOH, with diverse brands leveraging their ability to capture the attention and camera lenses of passers-by. From banking to booze to high-end fashion, murals are transforming our urban spaces with bold pieces of art.

Kinetic Active & High Rise Murals 47

About Kinetic Worldwide Kinetic uses intelligence, technology and creativity to help brands communicate with valuable audiences on the move. As the world’s largest planner and digital innovator in Out-of-Home advertising, we understand the customer’s physical journey better than anyone. Through the application of dynamic data and tech, we turn that journey into an Active Journey, driving people to take action in context.

For more information about us, please go to www.kineticww.com/uk or follow us on Twitter @kineticwwUK.

Editorial Director Christy Johnston christy.johnston@kineticww.com CEO Stuart Taylor Staff Writers Sarah Harding Dominic Murray Steve Payne Jennie Roper Rosh Singh Sam O’Connell Editorial Assistant Sophie Horan Designer James Stone Cover image Painted by High Rise Murals @robinsigns Printed by The Color Company

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