OUTSHOUT
A collection of opinions from some of the biggest names in the advertising industry as well as some thoughts on campaigns spotted out and about by OOH lovers
Break the Mould - blowUP Bans Media Lunches
Simon Russell, Sales Director of blowUP Media | 2018-01-30
Break the mould – “Put an end to a restrictive pattern of events or behaviour by doing things in a markedly different way”.
I’ve worked in media a long time, and have come to learn there are several traditions which go hand-in-hand with our industry. If there’s one more established than any of the others, it’s the trusty old media lunch. Client entertainment at its finest, where you sit down at a restaurant that has been recently featured in in Time Out, sink several bottles of wine, three courses and ‘oh go on then we’ll have a post-dinner cocktail’. Everyone leaves feeling full, satisfied, possibly a little tipsy and the rest of the afternoon passes a bit quicker.
It’s a long-standing and noble tradition, a great way to celebrate a successful project or properly introduce yourself to someone new, and long may it reign. Plus, in the world of the digital conversation, it’s nice to get out from behind the emails every once in a while and talk to a human being in real life. But the question is, is the media lunch the only option for client entertainment? Have we come so far along a line of tradition that we’re unable to break the mould, shake things up a bit and possibly even … start a new one?
There is a certain amount of weight behind the argument ‘if it ain’t broke’, but let’s look at a few facts:
- It’s the New Year. We’ve all overindulged on turkey, chocolate Santa’s and that cheeseboard that only emerges from the fridge when everyone is already full to bursting point
- London life is busy. We have long commutes, longer days and never-ending to do lists and before we know it a whole week has gone by without ticking anything off except ‘go to work’
- It’s a big world out there. We are fortunate to work in one of the greatest cities in the world. A buzzing metropolis of things to see, do, discover … and eat of course. We should be making the most of our precious time in the Capital and not getting stuck in the same old routines
Compelling stuff, right? That is why, here at blowUP we are going to do something a bit different. For Q1 2018 we have thrown down the gauntlet to our team and tried to break the media lunch tradition. Instead, our sales team are opening up the activity list to give our clients the opportunity to be even more entertained than ever before.
Whether it’s a cookery class, a yoga session or a trip to that pop-up event you’ve really wanted to go to but haven’t had time, now is the chance to think outside the box and pick an alternative setting for a media lunch. It’s going to be a great way to dust off the January blues and we’ll be documenting the whole project on social media using #blowupbanslunch.
We’ve got some ideas of our own, but it’s definitely not finished … and we’re excited to open up to suggestions from the floor. The media lunch will return to blowUP HQ, but for the next couple of months we’re going to venture into unchartered territory, and we can’t wait!
"DOOH offers deeper engagement than other media, more of a story and feedback"
"In advertising, we have the power to change minds, change beliefs and change the world"
"Media isn’t about the number of impressions you make. Media is about the power of the impression you make."
"For a brand to live, it needs to appeal not only to the people who buy it, but also to the people who know about it "
"Super premium digital Out of Home is one of the quickest ways to get into the conversation and make your brand famous"
"London is the most valuable city for OOH advertising... and among the most important in the world "
"Using data to plan OOH enhances campaign performance by up to 200%"
"OOH engages hard to reach audiences on the move with inspiring and innovative communications"
"I would advise marketers using OOH not to see a poster as a Wikipedia entry, think of it as a piece of art"
"Posters are the purest and most effective form of communication"
"Reaching people in the right place, at the right time is still Out of Home’s biggest strength"
"Out of Home is an accountable, measurable and effective media for advertisers"
"The combination of classic and DOOH should be an intoxicating mix for any marketing director"
"Immediacy, targeting and excitement are what DOOH can offer that other media can't - its just very very cool.The opportunities are endless"
"Poster sites really are the last true broadcast medium capable of near universal reach"
"Smarter brands are contextualising their ad messaging, reaching a target audience when it matters most and can change behaviour"
"OOH may be the oldest medium, yet it has shown remarkable resilience in reinventing itself"
"OOH remains the flexible canvas for which a guaranteed audience is never too far away"
"It makes sense for the most welcomed and least intrusive media to deliver presence for brands interacting through the media"
"Central London will undergo a transformation and cities like Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds will get even brighter and more connected"
"Digital OOH networks are multi-sensory and with the development of touch technology things are moving fast. Stimulating the senses more creatively generates social shares, great PR and awards."
"London’s very large public transport network carries a great deal of OOH advertising. As a result, London alone has 170,000 advertising sites, more than 40 per cent of the national total. This makes London the most valuable city for OOH advertising in Europe and among the most important in the world."
"Show me any brief, for any client and any campaign and I guarantee that OOH will be able to have a justifiable role to play as part of the media solution. That role maybe big or small; local or national, classic, digital or both, large format, small format or anything in between... but it will be justifiable and worthwhile. There isn’t any other medium that can replicate that claim, or indeed come anywhere near doing so."
"DOOH is a really interesting storytelling medium, beyond advertising. It allows you to touch and feel and interact in a way no other medium does. That's the real beauty of it, and usually overlooked"
"OOH inhabits a wonderful space in which we benefit from a rich heritage of memorable, iconic campaigns and a truly exciting future unfolding before us. A broadcast medium that just keeps getting better."
"By its very nature, Out of Home’s remoteness from the consumer living room, from the office, and from the home computer, has made it a natural bedfellow of mobile marketing."
"As DOOH becomes more “digital,” it becomes more agile, richer, and better able to play its part in a big idea. As a plugged in medium, DOOH can be the active element in a multi-layered campaign. It can create buzz, break news, invite interaction, and help to drive content and discussions online. Great DOOH campaigns are ones that sit comfortably within the wider brand strategy and capture the imagination."
"I love OOH because the diversity of opportunities makes it a realistic option for almost any client. Add to this the ever growing possibilities for new innovation and it’s a media channel that is truly exciting to both agencies and clients alike."
"Speed of change is all around us and no more so than in the rate at which advertising investment in traditional posters is being transitioned to include a far more flexible Out of Home canvas; the digital poster."
"Posters decorate the world "
"Out of Home is booming right now: OOH is the most ubiquitous media – you can’t turn the page, change the channel or switch it off, and Out of Home continues to integrate itself brilliantly with other new and innovative technologies."
"The Out of Home sector has been tremendously resilient throughout the recessionary years, showing consistent growth driven by its fundamental benefits. In an ever-fragmenting media landscape, you can still reach pretty much the entire population, all at the same time."
"Media changes, driven by digitisation, have left consumers facing a tyranny of choice—yet OOH is a channel that can still deliver huge audiences, and can increasingly do so in creative and engaging ways."
"OOH is constantly evolving, and its ability to integrate so brilliantly with new technology is one of its main strengths."
"The beauty of OOH is that it can double as a TV screen, a social feed, a camera, a vending machine, a download site, or a purchase point."
"We've chosen to use digital to make everything more efficient...but we've forgotten how to explore and discover. It's a loss of serendipity and we've lost a lot of the humanity. We're becoming very reliant upon digital and the internet to make us incredibly efficient and we're losing out."
"Out of Home is the oldest medium of all There’s still huge power in the public message – the power of the public comment. It’s a big thing – it’s why people get married in front of an audience of 150; it gives a public sense of commitment."
"And then there’s advertising’s past. The intrusive, inflexibile and mute billboards. They feel like throwbacks to the old way of doing things. A flat image with an unyielding rule that the consumer can take in no more than eight words (unless they’re Economist readers). How boring. How old school. Until you remember 2015's ‘Shot on iPhone 6’ campaign. Simple, traditional and utterly un-missable pieces of art in the urban landscape."
"Advertising isn’t supposed to be private. It’s supposed to be overheard, shared, stumbled across and discovered."
"As an industry, I believe, we have forgotten the power of repetition. Effective communication isn't small. It isn't cheap. It isn't once."