Today, Age UK is launching a geo-targeted DOOH campaign to raise awareness about the plight of loneliness amongst older people over the festive period and, indeed, at other times of the year too. The activity will see the charity take its “No one should have no one at Christmas” message nationwide in a geo-targeted and contextually relevant campaign spanning roadside digital billboards until the 4th December, 2016.

The DOOH campaign draws on the charity’s ground-breaking ‘loneliness heat maps’ which show the risk of loneliness among older people in every neighbourhood in England. Grand Visual produced the campaign from repurposed poster artwork and each execution referenced locally relevant figures with subtle motion techniques added for those sites that permit it, like Signature’s CityVision, Holloway Head billboard in Birmingham, which announced ‘There are 41,000 lonely older people in the West Midlands’ alongside the strapline “No one should have no one” and call to action to visit www.ageuk.org.uk.

The nationwide DOOH campaign was planned and booked by Talon and runs across Primesight, Signature and Clear Channel roadside D48 networks. The DOOH activity supports a larger outdoor push and is part of a fully integrated campaign spanning direct response and social media. The campaign aims to drive donations, encourage people to volunteer and take action locally, and raise public awareness of the issue more broadly.

Beverley Sullivan at Age UK, commented:

“It is important to highlight this issue at Christmas, a time of year when many older people may feel especially lonely and ‘left out’ of the festivities. DOOH gives us the opportunity to reach a national audience with locally relevant messaging which we hope will really resonate with people and encourage them to help Age UK to combat loneliness at Christmas and throughout the year.”

Dan Dawson, Chief Creative Technology Officer at Grand Visual, commented:

“Digital Out of Home is the ideal medium for reaching a broadcast audience with locally relevant messages. Contextual relevance provides a deeper level of emotional engagement and provides a great impetus to get involved and go online to find out more.”

The weekend of the 19th–20th September saw forty cyclists, including Grand Visual’s Founder Neil Morris, take part in Kinetic’s annual charity fundraising cycle ride. This year’s challenge was a two-day ride through the mountains of Lombardy which resulted in over £70,000 being raised for the Alzheimer’s Society.

The gluttons for punishment were led by Kinetic’s Chief Executive, Stuart Taylor, and included representatives of Kinetic, Clear Channel, MSIX, JCDecaux, MEC, Primesight, Mindshare, Maxus, the7stars, and Grand Visual.

The title “Kinetic Tour of Lombardy” belies the punishing nature of the ride — also known as “The Climber’s Classic” the route took the riders up some seriously steep inclines in damp and foggy conditions (as can be seen from the photos shown here). It was not going to be an easy weekend — in the words of our boss, “it was brutal” — but the team was committed to completing the tough mountain route for a worthy cause.

And their gruelling two days in the saddle were well-rewarded, because by the following week it was revealed that they had raised over £72,365 for the charity. Congratulations to all who participated, and to all those who helped the riders on their way.