McDonalds Archives - Grand Visual

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.

This month, the topic is “food, glorious food” and how food and beverage brands can connect with consumers through meaningful digital OOH.

With Pumpkin Spice season officially here, many consumers are already starting to plan for their holiday feasts. According to research from Deloitte, 82% of these consumers’ feasts will be influenced by promotional offers. So in the messy food fight for seasonal sales, how do great brands stay relevant and cut through the noise?

Food and Digital OOH

With consumers on high alert for the best deals, digital OOH has the ability to engage these consumers on-location and at a personal level. Here are some food and beverage brands who used digital OOH to showcase their product in eye-catching and engaging ways.

Oreo

Oreo leveraged the biggest solar eclipse in over a decade with this incredibly clever linear, digital OOH campaign.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s celebrated its iconic Big Mac with this innovative, interactive digital OOH stunt.

Walker’s

Here’s an interactive campaign we produced for the famous chip brand to entertain shoppers and give them the chance to win a vacation!

Volvic

Volvic launched this campaign in a busy mall, encouraging shoppers to “get juiced” for the chance to win refreshing prizes.

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

Welcome back to another Top 5 countdown! Today we’ve narrowed down our favourite dynamic campaigns to just five (plus some honourable mentions).

If you missed the last countdown, where we picked our favourite augmented reality campaigns, you should definitely check that out.

So drum roll please… in no particular order, here are our top 5 dynamic digital OOH campaigns.

1. Spotify: 2018 Wrapped

To celebrate the end of another great year, Spotify revamped its popular campaign “Wrapped” with a dynamic, digital OOH twist! Spotify’s premium users were encouraged to sign up for a breakdown of their year in music – for the chance to appear on iconic billboards including Times Square and Piccadilly Lights. The campaign gave over 7000 ordinary people the chance to see their name in the famous lights. What an awesome way to wrap up a year!

2. Google: Introducing Explore

To encourage New Yorkers to explore their exciting city, Google launched this contextual, digital OOH campaign. Based on Google Maps’ latest features, the campaign made the public aware of new places and even reminded residents to check out places that they haven’t visited in a while! We love this campaign as it’s messaging continuously evolved based on what was going on at the time. Live in the Summer of 2018, “Introducing Explore” went on to win a silver OBIE!

3. Hiscox: Cyber Live

In a digital OOH first, cybercriminals were unknowingly behind this unique campaign for Hiscox Cyber Live. To drive awareness of cybercrime to small businesses, the campaign creative was responsive to real-life cyber attacks. As each attack took place, a spot on the poster would flash and pulse. A dynamic campaign that was truly unique, Cyber Live went on to win numerous awards including “Campaign of the Year” at the Campaign Media Awards 2019.

4. McDonald’s: The Iconic Weather Forecast

We’ve seen a few dynamic weather campaigns over the years, but none as innovative as the Iconic Weather Forecast. Taking advantage of the ever-changing UK weather, McDonald’s decided to forecast the weather with a savoury twist. Overturned fries became rain, cheese-burgers became sunshine and chicken nuggets became snow… A chip dipped in sauce became the nation’s thermometer! The dynamic campaign was so popular in fact, that it ran for a second year in 2019.

5. Benadryl: Pollen Counts

Benadryl came to the rescue for hay fever sufferers with this clever, dynamic campaign. When pollen counts across the UK were irritatingly high, the reactive-creative alerted sufferers, prompting them to take action with Benadryl. Winning multiple awards, including a COOH award, the successful campaign was re-booked every summer for three years.

Honourable Mentions

It was so hard to pick just 5 dynamic campaigns, that we had to add these honourable mentions as well… Enjoy!

Top Dynamic Digital OOH Campaigns

Specsavers owned trending news and gossip with this hilarious campaign; prompting consumers to ask themselves if a leaking phone was more important than regular eye tests…

Exploring London was made easier than ever with this data-rich campaign for Google Outside. The digital OOH campaign went on to win two Cannes Lions later that year.

The out-of-home industry’s leaders encouraged other industries to “Get Out of Home,” with this tactical campaign.

Who would have ever thought that a camera-wearing cow would make for pure digital OOH gold…

We hope that you’ve enjoyed these campaigns as much as we do; stay tuned for our next countdown!

To promote the cold drinks available on its McCafé Iced menu, McDonald’s has launched a weather reactive digital OOH campaign.

Weather Reactive Digital OOH - McDonald's McCafe Iced

The UK-wide campaign showcased the brands’ latest cold drinks, just in time for Summer. Created by Leo Burnett, the bright campaign creative featured two cold drink products, “Strawberry Lemonade” and “Millionaire’s Frappe.”

When temperatures rose above 22 degrees Celsius, campaign creative was played out on screen. If temperatures rose above 25 degrees Celsius, campaign creative updated to also include the live temperature and city name. During the evening as the temperature dropped, the live temperature and city name was removed from the creative.

The campaign was produced by Grand Visual, with planning and buying by OMD and Talon. OpenLoop, the DCO ad server from ad tech specialist QDOT, took the weather API feed to update creative in real-time. Live from 27th May, the campaign will run through to 28th July 2019.

McDonald’s are celebrating the return of their highly anticipated Monopoly prize game with a tactical, digital OOH campaign.

Mcdonald's Monopoly digital OOH

The UK-wide campaign encourages consumers to get “peely peely” for a chance to win, by reminding them how many prizes have already been claimed!

Created by Leo Burnett, the campaign creative features a live counter bordered by subtly-animated board game pieces and prizes up for grabs. Using data from a live API feed, the live counter capitalises on the consumers “fear of missing out.”

The campaign will run in two phases. The first phase will show consumers the number of prizes that have been claimed at a national level alongside the catchy call to action, “get peely peely for your chance to win.”

Similarly, the second phase will also show the number of prizes that have been claimed – but at a regional level. Twenty UK cities were carefully selected and campaign copy was tailored. For example, “10,000 prizes already claimed in Birmingham,” alongside the same call to action.

The campaign was produced by Grand Visual, with planning and buying by OMD and Talon. OpenLoop, the digital OOH campaign management platform from QDOT, takes the live prize data feed from McDonald’s and distributes relevant creative to Media Owners across the UK.

This first appeared in MarTech Series on 21st February 2019.

Our Chief Creative Technology Officer, Daniel Dawson discusses technological advancements in the Out-of-Home (OOH) industry in 2018 and his predictions for AdTech with MarTech Series.

Tell us about your role at Grand Visual and the team/technology you handle.

I head up all creative technology projects at Grand Visual and I am lucky to have a diverse team with a broad spectrum of creative, technical and coding backgrounds to work with.

Besides working on our own AdTech platforms and systems, we also explore, implement, and hone a whole range of innovative engagement techniques such as Augmented Reality, Touch & Gesture, Face Tracking, Video, and Mobile to drive interactions. Engaging stories allow consumers to change or personalize experiences in various ways, creating greater brand recall and changing consumer behaviours.

What were the most significant technological advancements in the Out-of-Home industry in 2018?

There have been some high-profile advancements in the testing of programmatic platforms for automated media trading. A significant and necessary step forward for the industry, in terms of connecting real programmatic media to programmatic creative — the holy grail.

Google Maps DOOH 2019

What are your predictions on the state of AdTech in 2019?

AdTech systems are already changing the way brands plan, book and use the Out-of-Home medium. OOH specialists have begun to buy a sustained presence across the year for heavy OOH users such as McDonald’s, Coca Cola and Google, with these brand’s implementing a longer-term intelligent planning approach across their brand and product portfolios. In 2019, these backend AdTech systems will make huge steps in terms of their interoperability. This will see improvements across inventory management, transactional exchanges, data management, creative logistics, creative optimization and, of course, reporting, all areas for systemization. Consolidation of networks, agreement on standards, and system integration will show Digital Out-of-Home gearing up to be a real force this year.

How would the AdTech industry further grow with the maturity of data science and analytics?

In the Digital OOH (DOOH) space, we are rich in data. While data aggregation and uniformity is still a challenge, especially with some campaigns using up to 15 separate data feeds, we have the benefit of permanent screen technology and can, therefore, build a data picture of the location, the changing conditions, and audiences. Audience insights boost our ability to make advertising creatives contextual and relevant, and more impactful. It also enables targeted Out-of-Home ad buys, which are only activated when the conditions are right, leading to improvements in audience targeting efficiency.

Real-time campaign reporting from third-party verification platforms such as PlayTrack also offers advertisers the ability to assess campaign success and optimize creative on the go. This level of transparency and accountability is crucial for the programmatic future of Digital OOH. Further down the line again — increased data sharing through the blockchain will fuel omnichannel and omniscreen campaigns with much smarter cross-platform audience planning. With more electronic devices in everyone’s pockets, connected, cross-platform digital platforms campaigns will become a programmatic reality.

Spotify 2018 Wrapped Digital OOH

Tell us more about QDOT.

QDOT is an AdTech business designed to facilitate smart, scalable campaign management for digital OOH. These digital-asset management tools were originally developed and used as in-house processes, for Grand visual clients. But as the market grew and evolved to become a flexible, tactical, and real-time platform, just like other digital mediums, Out-of-Home required the infrastructure and creative toolkits to handle the growing volume of creative. That’s why we launched QDOT and opened up our platforms and services to the entire market.

To deliver Spotify’s Wrapped campaign, for example, over 7,640 personalized playlists were shared globally. OpenLoop, the smart campaign management platform from QDOT, allowed users to submit their personalized Wrapped stats and see them published on iconic digital billboards around the world. OpenLoop ingested the data and automated the delivery just moments later. Before OpenLoop, campaigns like this would have been a logistical nightmare. It’s about providing ease of use and driving creativity.

How did you prepare for the execution of the ‘Wrapped’ campaign?

Spotify sent us a version of their data schema and a mock-up of the creative. We tested the schema across our platforms and suggested refinements. Our software is very versatile and is able to ingest feeds to match them against physical locations and media plans. Pairing this with our creative and content development made the whole process very smooth for us and the client.

McDonald's McWeather Digital OOH

At Grand Visual, how do you combine creative technology with data? Could you lead us through your data analytics operations before launching any DOOH/OTT campaigns?

Data crafting is part of what we do. We evaluate all the sources of data that are available and decide how and what to use in order to enhance the brand story and bring the campaign to life. It’s not about using data and technology for the sake of it, we approach data carefully with the brand story always at the heart of what we do. It’s rule-based and creative-driven data science.

How do you prepare for an AI-focused world? Which technologies are you most keen to learn more about?

Grand Visual’s job is to craft creative stories based on the data sources available. So, we’re interested in Machine Learning algorithms and Predictive Analytics based on historical data. Both on a media buying level as well as content creation. If we can predict consumer behaviour — we can base messages on real-world outcomes.

Unified programmatic planning and creative optimization is the end goal, where Planning, Buying, Distribution, Playback, and Reporting are programmatically achieved using real-time audience information and data insight to drive the decision-making process. So. right now creating standards, is a core challenge for the industry. Globally agreed standards for independent 3rd-party verification of advertising play-outs (down to a panel and individual play level), will support the growth of the digital OOH market globally. Making it easier to run digital campaigns at scale across all DOOH channels.

The McDonald’s Big Mac range is back and it’s even better with the addition of bacon, but our latest digital OOH campaign asks – is it still a Big Mac?

As well as adding bacon to the classic Big Mac, McDonald’s have also brought the Mac Jr. and Grand Mac back and added bacon to them too! It’s the first time the brand has changed its statement recipe in 51 years and it’s definitely got the nation talking. To fuel the debate, McDonald’s have launched a live poll across social channels and OOH with contextual call-outs and live poll results.

McDonald's Digital OOH

Created by Leo Burnett London and produced by Grand Visual, the OOH creative features a hero image of the limited-edition Big Mac Bacon “to be enjoyed until 19th March.” The live poll garners opinions across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, asking the audience, “which side are you on?”

OpenLoop processes the real-time results from Mention Solutions’ API, and displays the percentage results for #NotABigMac versus #StillABigMac live across digital OOH screens in London, Nottingham, Cardiff, Newcastle and Liverpool.

McDonald's digital OOH

We all know and love the Big Mac burger, so it’s a great campaign for meat fans inviting them to engage and share their opinion on the new recipe. The campaign is driven by real consumer engagement and the localised call outs to have your say keeps the campaign contextual, fresh and relevant.

Ric Albert, Creative Director at Grand Visual

How to Deliver Dynamic Creative Content

This article first appeared on Digital Signage Today on 14th June 2018.
By Dan Dawson, chief creative technology officer, Grand Visual

Originally used in display advertising, dynamic creative is simply another term for “personalized content,” where the content of an ad is matched to the active audience, condition or mindset. Thanks to the explosion of data sources, plus advancements in the software and hardware systems for processing data, marketers are now better equipped to deliver the right message, to the right audience at the right moment via the best channels.

Hiscox Cyber Live digital OOH

It’s the same for OOH. By simulating the cookie model from the display world, DOOH can layer real-time first and third-party data with local offline data such as time of day, day of the week, geographic location, to build, optimize and render ads that react to the environment, the audience and other factors. Add in machine learning algorithms, artificial intelligence and data science, and you really start to see just how transformative data insight will be to the future of DOOH.

What’s more, is tech-savvy consumers have come to expect this level of intelligence and responsiveness in digital communication. Having been used to seeing personalized and relevant ads online and now even during TV ad breaks, consumers expect digital OOH ads to be plugged-in, smart and responsive. As a one to many medium, DOOH can deliver tailored, contextually relevant messaging that achieves a deeper level of communication whilst avoiding the pitfalls of more invasive personalization in the online one to one world.

Rather than the creative agency designing a hero 48 sheet poster for OOH, now it’s about designing a master layout with thousands of permutations, iterations and levels of dynamism. Where data science informs every stage of the creative process, from planning, buying, concepting and production, through to execution and distribution.

Where people in different parts of the city, country or world will see different pieces of creative based on their surroundings and context. Dynamic creative ads can be rendered or created in real time, when a data source instructs. From a specific location to a recent arrival in an airport, or the weather outside, an ad using dynamic creative can serve content that is relevant to the audience context. Where the creative is so flexible, it can sometimes be quite startling to see ads that make you go “Wow…I was just thinking that.”

What Needs to Happen?

Creating campaigns that truly deliver on the medium’s creative potential will naturally mean a degree of complexity. To implement dynamic creative optimization (DCO) for DOOH requires longer lead times, involves cohesive multi-stakeholder working, and a budgetary commitment. To see DCO successfully adopted, some standardization in reporting across the DOOH world will also be needed. Advertisers need to know which version of the ad has played, when, and where, to help the campaign be as effective as possible, and to help the machine learn more.

This is why the role of the OOH specialist will become even more important going forward, indeed some of our best work has come when the OOH specialist has played an active role in both the media and creative discussions. The unique data, insight, and decades of experience in OOH planning that specialists have, will play a key role in the success of delivering synergized OOH and online programmatic campaigns.

Collaboration between agency, OOH specialist, production house and media owners is paramount and the most successful projects will always be those ones that see all parties truly working together… Driven by data, created by humans, delivered by machine.

Specsavers more important than... digital OOH

The Trailblazers

It takes brave agencies and clients to spearhead this new way of working. But, with the large amounts of data now available, it’s possible to take the guesswork out of the decision making and embrace a more fact-based approach to advertising content.

Google has been blazing a trail in tactical data-informed DOOH creative. In the UK their permanent hoarding on London’s Silicon roundabout runs localized content about cafes, weather, traffic updates, and provides information on what people are searching for.

For the launch of Pixel 2, Google ran a U.K. wide campaign that integrated traffic, rail, time of day, and location data, to bring to life the phones key features at the most appropriate time. And, in the U.S., Google Play Music ran a multi-market DOOH campaign to replicate the music app’s ability to suggest the perfect soundtracks based on the consumer’s mindset in that moment.

Food, fashion and retail brands are also making creative inroads. Fast food giant McDonald’s has been honing its messaging, promoting McCafé’s Iced Frappes when the sun shines, and diverting commuters stuck in traffic jams to their nearest restaurant. The online bidding site eBay has also promoted products and deals based on hyper-local real-time weather conditions.

McCafé Iced dynamic digital OOH

Transport and automotive brands are certainly not being left behind. Audi ran a tactical roadside campaign promoting the intelligent technologies available in their latest cars. Using traffic, time and weather data to trigger the most suitable technology features for the conditions such as the ‘Pre-Sense’ safety feature during heavy traffic, or their quattro-on-demand; all-wheel drive technology during adverse weather.

By exploiting the context effect, and running responsive, data-driven creative, DOOH campaigns can remain relevant, compelling and aligned with consumer mindset.

The Upshot

Data can inform the creative process and help optimize both the media and message whilst the campaign is running. The holy grail.

Dynamic Creative, joins the dots between data-driven media planning and the mindset of a consumer at a given time, in a given place. That is powerful.

Now we need to use it. We need forward thinking brands and agencies to collaborate and make it happen. To help forge these new ways of working, using data-informed workflows, and cohesive multi-agency teams. The machines cannot take over the world of OOH, but they can make it smarter, and more agile. Machines can optimize against the rules that humans set but in real time.

McDonald’s launched a national digital outdoor campaign that used MET Office real-time data to bring to life April’s unpredictable weather conditions.

In order to take part in Britain’s favourite topic of conversation, Leo Burnett London turned the McDonald’s menu into weather icons to represent the live temperature and 5-day forecasts.

For example, an unwrapped burger represents the sun, while an upturned box of fries signifies rain. There are eight different icons to show how volatile April weather can be.

Breaking on 26 April, the dynamic campaign ran for three days with media planning and booking by OMD and Talon, production by Grand Visual, and campaign management and distribution through OpenLoop.

Hannah Pain, Senior Brand Manager at McDonald’s said:

“We are very excited to be using some of our most loved products to join in the very topical April weather conversation.”

Ben Newman, Creative at Leo Burnett London added:

“Don’t trust the weatherman. This April, McDonald’s has got you covered.”

To announce the return of the hugely popular Monopoly prize game, McDonald’s has kicked off a revitalised, tactical, copy-led digital OOH campaign to encourage consumers to ‘Peel and Play’. The UK-wide dynamic activation contextualises copy using date, weather, and prize data and will run across Retail, Roadside and City Centre locations for four weeks from 21st March – 19th April.

The revamped style creative uses retro comic speech bubbles announcing, “Winning feels as likely as getting caught in the rain without an Umbrella” on a bad weather day, for example. Bursts of activity run across the month and tap into date, weather and prize data with copy lines that play on the real-time conditions experienced at each billboard. A live counter also reveals the number of prizes claimed so far with the added call to action to “Get peeling for that winning feeling.”

The revamped campaign was created by Leo Burnett, produced by Grand Visual, with planning and buying by OMD and Talon. Dynamic content is managed and delivered by QDOT, using ad tech platform OpenLoop, to analyse Met Office data and trigger the geotargeted playout of messages.

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

“The retro, sixties style vector artwork combined with the dynamic and contextual messaging makes this a simple, eye-catching and engaging execution that remains fresh and relevant throughout the duration of the campaign.”

Vicky Marshall, Client Director at Talon, adds:

“The brand’s successful Monopoly OOH campaigns have evolved significantly to drive real consumer action and engagement using smarter digital OOH that is dynamic and contextual. This supports wider brand activity that really stands out and elevates people’s experience with McDonald’s.”

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