Air Quality Campaign
Shocking new data on air pollution reveals that nearly 8 million (25%) addresses in the United Kingdom have air pollution levels above World Health Organization limits. The data comes from addresspollution.org, which has today rolled its London pilot out nationally. Air quality reports are now freely available for every UK address.

The initiative, by AMV BBDO and policy activist group Central Office of Public Interest (COPI), is also attempting to drive legal action to force the disclosure of air pollution ratings within the property industry. This would mean estate agents, property websites, surveyors and conveyancers are obliged to disclose air pollution, in the same way they have to disclose other deadly substances, such as asbestos. An explosive 20-page Queen’s Counsel legal opinion, released with the campaign, reveals a ‘strong legal argument’ estate agents will be negligent for not doing so.

Air Quality Campaign

Originally launched in 2019 as a London pilot, addresspollution.org received nearly one million visits at launch. Off the back of that success, funding was secured to commission 1.5 billion new data points from university Imperial College London.

addresspollution.org can now reveal the levels of three toxic pollutants anywhere in the UK in an easy to understand Air Quality Report (AQR). The health implications for living at the address are also given. People are then urged to sign a petition demanding that estate agents and property websites disclose air quality to buyers and renters.

Air Quality Campaign

The rating system, approved by experts at the Environmental Research Group at Imperial College London, needed to be simple. It combines information design, brand identity and graphic design to make an invisible killer visible.

Scott, Art Director at AMV BBDO, says: “We’re dealing with concentrations of pollutants measured in micrograms per cubic metre. On top of that, there are three different pollutants and they’re all invisible. We had to communicate complicated information quickly and efficiently, while nodding to the toxicity.”

 

Designer Director Mario Kerkstra adds, “Air pollution exists on a microscopic scale but its effect on lungs, the brain, heart and even the womb is profound. We needed a visceral way of expressing the different levels of air pollution in more than a coloured banded system. Spikes exist in nature as a warning sign, a sign of danger. They felt right for this.”

The agency has created a hard-hitting national campaign launching the system which visualizes the damage invisible air pollution causes. The campaign centres on geo-targeted animated digital ads featuring spiky typography which ‘breathes’ according to the air pollution at that location The ads are running across 651 digital out of home screens around the UK. The media sites were donated by Open Media, Foris Outdoor, City Outdoor, BlowUp!, JCDecaux, Clear Channel Outdoor, Alight Media and Global Outdoor.

Air Quality Campaign

A blitz on Instagram will also see a number of posts exposing the high levels of pollution in different sites in the UK. The strong, eye-catching social media pieces also feature different organs, such as breathing lungs covered with spikes. Funds to get the addresspollution.org pilot live were originally raised through a successful Crowdfunder campaign, making this a truly people-powered campaign.

Humphrey Milles, founder of the Central Office of Public Interest, said: “Air pollution affects everyone. It is a dangerous, invisible killer. With this national roll out, it would be shameful for the property industry to not start acting in an honest, transparent way. Lives depend on it. Everyone has a right to know what they’re breathing. And with the public finally able to see this invisible problem, the government will need to swiftly act to bring air pollution levels down.”

The data-driven approach breaks new ground for AMV BBDO. Copywriter Ben Polkinghorne says, “Back in 2019 we were asked to come up with an idea that tackles inaction on air pollution. Little did we know we’d end up spending our time developing a rating system with scientists and uncovering legal loopholes. We’ve literally been living and breathing the stuff for years, so it’s fantastic to get this next phase of the project out into the world.”

To get a free air quality report for your address and sign the petition, visit addresspollution.org.

Ad Club New York OOH Now 2019
Zevi Tilles, Account Director, shares his thoughts and feedback from last weeks Ad Club of New York’s annual Conference, OOH Now 2019.

Every year, I look forward to attending The AD Club of New York’s end of year conference. Getting to Pier 60 by the Hudson River on the west side of Manhattan in December is a cold trip. However, once inside I’m always reminded of why the event is worth travelling to.

This year was no exception, and it was better than ever. The agenda centered around how data, technology, creativity, and the experience of OOH specialist teams, are leading growth and expansion across the industry. The view presented at the event promoted more focus on digital OOH and how the medium should move to utilize real-time triggers from time of day or weather to dynamic creative optimization at a greater scale. We also heard from brands using ad tech solutions that are giving their planners the ability to find locations where their audience over indexes and that allows them to optimize their digital OOH plans and creative accordingly, to drive contextual relevance and impact by using real-time conditions. 

There was an amazing session on THE CREATIVE CANVAS led by Dan Brill, Group Creative Director, Spotify, Travis Sterner, Director of Media, United Artists Releasing, Robin Tilotta, Director of Consumer Marketing, Twitter and Paul Woolmington, CEO, Canvas Worldwide. It was moderated by, Ed Herty, National Creative Director, Outfront Media. The panel was in agreement, creative storytelling is now informing the buy. Advertisers are looking to make DOOH interactive, contextual, and they want to personalize their messages to specific audiences based on time of day and in the moments that matter to the viewer. This was exactly the sentiment I was hoping for and it was coming directly from the brands! This is the type of ambition that will lead our channel to new heights in 2020.

The MEDIA BUYER SPOTLIGHT featuring: Andrew Weinstein, Manager, Rapport Worldwide, Fatima Winfrey, Group Director, OOH, Horizon Media, led me to believe that the agencies were coming to the same conclusions. Better creative and smarter standards drive superior outcomes.

Throughout the day, a recurring theme was discussed by the speakers. The sentiment being, OOH faces challenges as it moves towards a programmatic future, and how we collectively handle them will have an important impact in our industry. Particularly as omnichannel platforms are moving into digital OOH. It was highlighted that we need to make sure there is consistency in how impressions are reported. For digital OOH there needs to be independent third-party verification of campaign playout, including interactions and other campaign-specific metrics. We must provide advertisers with a level of transparency and accountability, to realize the full potential of programmatic digital OOH. 

Furthermore, advertisers and agencies need better workflow tools for the management and trafficking of digital OOH campaigns. These tools should be dedicated to quality assurance, distribution, and auditing of digital OOH creative. This will, in turn, accelerate the path from creative producers to media owners simplifying the management and delivery of DOOH creative across networks and platforms. 

In conclusion, a digital-first OOH mindset and added experiences through touch, gesture, recognition, mobile, social and experiential have marketers and brands excited! They are spending more time, measuring the outcomes, and investing more budget into the channel. 

I can’t wait to see what happens as we transition to the next decade for OOH in 2020!

 

IG London Commuters DOOH
Today, IG, the leading UK-based financial trading company, has launched a digital Out of Home (DOOH) branding channel to bring breaking news to commuters in the city.

A DOOH media first for the financial sector, this long-term initiative is booked to run on JCDecaux’s Motion@TheCity network until 27th April 2020 inclusive.

Produced by Grand Visual, IG’s financial news channel will stream breaking news stories and images from the company’s website alongside branding pieces to large-format screens in the heart of the city’s financial district including Fenchurch Street, Liverpool Street, Cannon Street, London Blackfriars, and City Thameslink.

The targeted DOOH activity was planned and booked by JAA Media and Talon and supports a broader OOH campaign including ECN’s workplace network. Campaign management and dynamic delivery is handled via OpenLoop, the Dynamic Creative Optimisation platform from ad tech specialist QDOT. The OOH drive is part of a wider campaign planned and booked by JAA Media.

Elaine Bramall, UK Senior Marketing Manager at IG, said: “DOOH is the perfect channel for IG to bring targeted news to the heart of London’s financial district. Dynamic updates keep content fresh and engaging so it remains relevant throughout the campaign duration.”

 

Ric Albert, Creative Director at Grand Visual, said: “DOOH is the perfect medium for IG to deliver up-to-date news and insight direct to commuters in London’s financial district. The DOOH activity is intelligent, dynamic, and seamlessly integrated with the broader campaign.”

 

James Sibree, Account Director, JAA Media, said: “This campaign is the result of a close collaborative team of agencies and the outcome is a fully integrated digital Out of Home campaign that emulates the content and display partnerships IG have across key press titles in a campaign that reaches audiences at home, at work, and on the go.”

Grand Visual Awards Wins The Wires Digital OOH Awards
To cap off a huge year, we were incredibly proud to find ourselves the recipients of three awards, from three different awards programs, across two continents, on one evening.

To be recognised for all the hard work and effort that goes into delivering a successful campaign is incredibly rewarding. And without further ado, the winners are… 

Our evening began at ExchangeWire’s “The Wires” ceremony in London. Picking up the gong for “Best DOOH Campaign” was Hiscox with Cyber Live. Since its initial run in February 2018, this clever campaign has picked up an incredible eight awards, with The Wires bringing the total up to nine.

What makes Cyber Live a winner is it’s unique and intelligent creative. By using real-life hackers to power the campaign, Hiscox brought to life a threat that often goes unseen but can have a major impact on small businesses. In just one week the honeypot servers were attacked over 195,000 times, highlighting the very real threat and bringing to the forefront the need for cyber insurance. 

In a nearby corner of London, The Drum “Creative OOH Awards” were also taking place. Nominated for the “International Campaign” award, our global collaboration with Spotify for their annual “Wrapped” campaign saw their first real-time DOOH activation, come out on top!

The largest multi-market, dynamic execution ever for digital OOH, the campaign brought the brand’s end of the year wrap up to life. Taking advantage of DOOH’s dynamic capabilities, 2018 Wrapped gave Spotify users the chance to be featured on an iconic billboard in their closest city, alongside some of the world’s biggest stars.

Our evening ends over 5,000 miles away in Los Angeles, at the “CLIO” awards, a prestigious ceremony for the entertainment industry. It was an honour to win bronze in the “Entertainment Digital Outdoor” category for our collaboration with Amazon Prime for Good Omens. The Times Square take-over picked up its second award this month, having just won an ABBI award for Best Local Execution.

Using augmented reality to bring the apocalypse to life, the audience was plunged into Armageddon scenarios, with fish raining down from the sky, UFOs and even a Kraken. Based on the novel of the same name, the campaign was loved and shared online by one of the authors, successfully bringing the pages of the book to life.

What makes these campaigns award-winning, is having a strong understanding of the target audience. For Hiscox, it was highlighting the need for small business owners to protect themselves from cyber-criminals. Spotify rewarded its listeners with their own moment in the spotlight and Good Omens provided an immersive experience for potential viewers of the new series. And all three of these campaigns used the digital OOH medium in different ways, showcasing the full storytelling potential of digital OOH.

Dan Dawson, CCO Grand Visual said: 

“It’s absolutely amazing to be recognised with multiple awards and in multiple countries for our work – that it was all on one night makes it that little bit more exciting. Not only do these awards recognise the team at Grand Visual, who work so hard to fulfil our client’s vision, but to see these campaigns showcased as best in class examples of DOOH is something to be really proud of. As the medium continues to grow and change, it’s great to see brands being rewarded for their creative vision. Creativity is at the heart of everything that we do and storytelling is our ethos. It’s where we win.”

If you want to talk to us about any of your upcoming digital OOH campaigns, then don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Pepsi Max interactive digital OOH
OOH on its own is an incredibly strong advertising medium, however, when used in conjunction with other channels it’s been proven to extend the reach and effectiveness of a campaign.

Consumers today spend 70% of their time outside of their homes making out-of-home (OOH) advertising a prime channel for reaching your target audience. With a low CPM and high ROI, what’s not to love about the traditional channel?

OOH & Online Ads

You might think of these two advertising mediums as occupying two completely different worlds – one physical and one in cyberspace. But with 27% of our year spent online, both mediums actually do a pretty similar job of catching us in our everyday lives.

When OOH is combined with online ads, brands can elevate the effectiveness of their overall campaign by 31% and increase the overall reach by 68%. Used together as part of the marketing mix, these two channels thrive.

OOH & Mobile

Did you know there are more mobile phones in the world than there are people? We’re clearly obsessed with our handsets. So what happens when a relatively new channel like mobile is combined with a traditional channel like OOH?

According to recent studies, when OOH is combined with mobile it can increase a mobile campaign’s reach by 316%.

McDOnald's Waze Mobile and OOH Geofencing

A great example of OOH working well with mobile comes from McDonald’s in the US. They utilised mobile geofencing to retarget audiences through Waze (a GPS navigation software app). Displaying the same billboard creative within the app, as they were in close proximity to an outdoor ad. This approach saw McDonald’s earn 6.4 million mobile impressions and 1.9 million unique consumers in 8 weeks.

OOH & Social Media

With 45% of the total world population using social media, social is one of the most effective channels for targeting audiences. In its simplest form, the combination of OOH with Social Media could just be a hashtag on a billboard, however, there is a multitude of ways that these channels can work to complement each other.

In 2014, Pepsi Max launched “Unbelievable,” a campaign that beautifully combined digital OOH (DOOH) with Social Media. Featuring an Augmented Reality DOOH stunt, the brand earned over 50 million views online, as well as news coverage and countless awards.

When OOH is combined with Social Media, it amplifies and extends the reach of a campaign from a physical to a digital level. Results from Talon’s 4th space research saw a 48% increase in consumer action when digital OOH was added to a social plan.

OOH is a great amplifier, and when added to your marketing mix as part of a comprehensive strategy, increases campaign performance.

Zevi Tilles Account Director Grand Visual. Winning an ABBI award for Good Omens 2019
Our US Account Director, Zevi Tilles, shares the awesome year he has had so far since joining the team at Grand Visual.

Zevi Tilles Account Director Grand Visual. Winning an ABBI award for Good Omens 2019

Every year starts with a clean slate. In business, our clean slate is a (relatively) empty spreadsheet, ready to be filled in with activity and results. For me personally, 2019 turned out to be a very special year for a handful of reasons.

Joining the talented and supportive team at Grand Visual and reconnecting with the fast-paced OOH industry has been especially fulfilling. For OOH, 2019 has been a time of explosive growth and evolution. Reports from the OAAA showed that spending in OOH increased by 7.7% year-on-year in Q2 2019, representing the highest rate of quarterly growth since 2007. I believe this is solely down to the affordable and unskippable nature of the medium and its brilliant canvas for creativity.

Before I knew it, it was May and I was jetting out to Las Vegas to attend the OAAA and Geopath’s National Convention & Expo with our CCO Dan Dawson and COO Ben Putland. The conference was buzzing with excitement and anticipation as the industry came together to celebrate the medium. The renaissance and reinvigoration that comes with bigger investment and a greater of total advertising spend was a hot topic of conversation.

Also in May and easily winning my favourite day of the year, was the campaign we did for Amazon’s Good Omens launch. Who else can say that they brought Armageddon to Times Square, one of the industry’s most iconic locations where a staggering 380,000 people pass through each day? 

As the end of the world unfolded in the square, there was magic and excitement in the air. Mother nature was also on our side and even supplied a brief thunderstorm! From this four hour execution, we managed to own a huge 5% of all social conversations during the show’s launch week.

My next highlight for the year came in August when we worked on an awesome project for jetBlue. What a whirlwind of a project, we went from initial briefing to getting the campaign live in just 9 weeks – not bad for a project of this size with huge creative ambition. It was an extremely rewarding project to get across the line. Working with Rapport and Mullenlowe, we produced “Escape the Cape,” a dynamic digital OOH campaign, targeting vacationers stuck in Cape Cod traffic.

The campaign used real-time API’s and JetBlue’s flight schedule to compare Cape Cod driving times to flight times for alternative destinations. The campaign even ran on the side of a mobile billboard on a truck – an industry first!

Zevi Tilles Grand Visual Ben Putland MediaPost Digital OOH Awards

The final highlight of my year has been attending and winning at the OBIEs, ABBIs and MediaPost Awards. It has been great to be recognised by these awards programs for our awesome work on Spider-VerseGoogle Explore and Good Omens. There’s nothing better than being rewarded for the hard work that goes into each digital OOH campaign.

I can honestly say that I always have a smile on my face as I go to work every day and help to entertain consumers during their day-to-day lives, whether it be during the commute or on a shopping trip. I’m proud to work for a company like Grand Visual, who is constantly raising the bar for creativity and globally supporting the growth of digital OOH.

I can confidently predict that 2020 will be a year of impressive creativity and technology.

If you’re looking to craft some stories for digital OOH or you’d just like to find out more about the medium, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

Air quality sensor for digital OOH. Grand Visual.
When considering dynamic DOOH campaigns that use data, the mind automatically jumps to weather data such as temperature, precipitation and wind… however, there are a wealth of other data types available, from pollen counts to traffic jams. What we wanted to explore was the possibility of collecting hyper-localised air quality data, that could be used to update each piece of DOOH creative.

There are a plethora of different sensors available on the market that can detect gas levels. The sensor that we settled on was the MQ135 (catchy, right?) which can detect gases such as NH3, NOx, alcohol, Benzene, smoke, and CO2. Getting the readings of these substances in the air would give us a good indication of the current air quality.

By connecting the sensor to an Arduino and an LED strip, we were able to get a visual representation of the readings. Luckily, it seemed that the quality of air in our office was good, so we introduced some other pollutants to test.

Air Quality sensor for digital OOH.

The sensor we had displayed its readings on the screen in ppm (parts per million). The higher the number the more pollutants in the air.

This was the scale used to categorise the ppm ranges.

Results from air quality tests using an air quality sensor. Grand Visual.

With the demo working successfully the next step was to take it outside. So to make the kit portable, we set ourselves up with a 3D printed box to house the sensor along with a USB battery.

Then we headed out to get some measurements.

Results from air quality tests using an air quality sensor. Grand Visual.

Are you surprised by the readings? All 3 locations fell well within the “good” range, we definitely expected much higher readings in Piccadilly Circus compared to St James’s Park, but it was reassuring to see there was a difference.

For this example, we used an air quality sensor but there are sensors that can provide data local to a particular installation such as temperature, lightning strikes, rain detection and sound decibel levels.

We’re no strangers to dynamic campaigns that rely on specific data triggers, take for example this campaign for Elizabeth Arden which used location-specific pollution readings. Imagine how much more effective this could have been with hyper-localised, real-time readings. It’s still in the early stages, but we’re keen to keep looking into new and more creative data sources to power DOOH.

Missing People Digital OOH. Missing Man Tim Beardsley.
The out-of-home campaign for charity Missing People is returning to cities across the UK from today (Monday), with a series of regionally targeted weekly appeals.

This first appeared in Campaign UK on 16th September 2019.

Missing People Digital OOH

The executions, which will run across transit, city centre and roadside locations, feature the name, age and photo of a missing person, along with the date and location they went missing, plus the free number to call or text for sightings – 116 000.

Missing People DIgital OOH

The push is organised by adtech group QDOT and supported by media owners including JCDecaux, Maxx Media, Limited Space and Perfect Fit Media. It makes use of OpenLoop, QDOT’s dynamic creative optimisation ad server, and its measurement platform PlayTrack, which will provide independent third-party verification for the campaign.

Ross Miller, director of fundraising and communications at Missing People, said: “OOH visibility is so important in our search to find useful information that helps families reconnect with loved ones. OpenLoop allows us to run regionally targeted searches that we can update in a moment and PlayTrack provides full feedback, so we can understand exactly what presence we had across all inventory.

“Digital billboards have proven to be an immensely powerful tool in the search for missing people and we are enormously grateful to the outdoor media owners involved for their incredible support.”

The campaign first launched in 2012 and was conceived by the Outdoor Media Centre (now Outsmart). It last ran about 18 months ago.

Escape the cape roadside DOOH News
Welcome back to our DOOH News for September 2019. This month we’ve been exploring Gen Z’s feelings on OOH, we produced a fantastic dynamic campaign for jetBlue and we went behind the scenes of digital OOH production. Enjoy!
This month… we ‘Escaped the Cape’ with jetBlue! ✈️

jetBlue airlines targeted vacationers driving to Cape Cod with this roadside digital OOH campaign. The dynamic campaign encouraged vacationers to explore different vacation destinations with similar travel times.

In other news…

Gen Z Digital OOH Hyundai BTS DOOH News

Grand Visual’s very own Gen Z’er Charlotte, explores the power of Gen Z and digital OOH. 

 

Google Pixel 3 Retail DOOH News

The busiest quarter of the year is just getting started! Here are our top tips on how to prepare your digital OOH for the busiest period in retail.

DOOH News Adam Stephenson Production

Ever wanted to see behind the scenes at Grand Visual? Adam our producer gives us a peek into the life of digital OOH production.

With our latest promo for Google, we highlighted the data triggers used to ‘Make the Most of Summer!’

DOOH news OreoEclipse

For this month’s insights, we discussed how food & beverage brands can connect with consumers through digital OOH.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our DOOH News for September 2019. If you would like to start receiving our monthly DOOH Newsletters in your mailbox, then please sign up here.

You may be reading this whilst relaxing on your Summer holidays, but for consumers, the busiest quarter of the year is just getting started! 

With 28% of shoppers completing their Halloween shopping in September¹

And research from eBay showing that shoppers made two searches for “Christmas” every second on its site in August last year ²… it’s never too early for brands to start thinking about their outdoor campaigns for Q4.

Digital OOH Retail Insights

Consumers are constantly on the lookout for the best deals, and digital OOH has the ability to engage shoppers on-location, showcasing products and displaying offers in real-time.

Let us show you a few examples…

eBay Fill Your Cart With Colour

eBay brought shopping inspiration to the streets of the UK, with this colourful, weather-activated digital OOH campaign.

Estée Lauder Clinique Chubby Plump & Shine

An interactive digital OOH campaign for clinique's new chubby, plump & shine liquid lipstick

Here’s an engaging Augmented Reality experience we created for Clinique to promote the launch of its latest product.

Topshop Autumn/Winter 2015

Here’s a linear digital OOH campaign we produced for Topshop to promote their highly anticipated Autumn/Winter collection.

Marmite Love It or Hate It

Controversial condiment brand, Marmite, enabled shoppers to join in with its interactive Christmas digital OOH campaign.

Want to discuss your upcoming digital OOH plans? Get in touch!