Talon acquires Grand Visual and QDOT
As part of its continued international growth, Talon has extended its global independent OOH offering, with the addition of market-leading digital OOH creative services specialist Grand Visual, and its digital OOH Ad tech provider QDOT.

The strategic acquisition enables Talon to further enhance its abilities across the US and to manage the increased demand for dynamic utilization of the digital landscape as the OOH industry evolves. Through this extension of services and abilities, Talon will continue to develop new ways to better serve clients and contribute to making the industry ‘Smarter as Standard’.

Grand Visual and QDOT employ 48 people globally, across London, New York and a development hub in Montevideo, Uruguay. Both companies will continue to run with the existing management structure, led by founder and chief executive Neil Morris, and Grand Visual managing director Dan Dawson and QDOT managing director Ben Putland.

Grand Visual will retain its identity, and continue to work autonomously with agencies, media owners and client brand teams, including Warner Brothers, Amazon Studios, Netflix and Spotify.

The purchase follows Talon’s acquisition of US independent OOH media agency Grandesign earlier this year, along with the launch of international network Plexus, connected traveller offering Latitude and proprietary Ad tech platforms Plato and Ada.

Barry Cupples, Group Chief Executive Officer at Talon commented:

“As we continue to invest in our proposition as a global independent OOH media specialist, we are excited to bring Grand Visual and QDOT into the Talon Group. QDOT’s world leading technology platforms and Grand Visual’s expertise in digital storytelling, means we are in an enviable position to offer true end-to-end service for our clients – as well as providing a tailored solution to those who need to plug specific services into their own OOH ecosystems.

 

As the industry moves towards a more evidence-based economy, we feel confident that the breadth of our experience, services and capabilities will help to elevate client services further enhancing our smarter as standard approach.”

Neil Morris, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Grand Visual and QDOT said:

“I am proud of the entrepreneurial teams we have in place and the global, future-facing services we have developed. Digital OOH offers an incredible canvas that is crying out for intelligent, interoperable solutions to help brands drive meaningful results. Joining the Talon Group will enable Grand Visual and QDOT to integrate with complementary services, such as Plato and Ada to facilitate scale at an even faster pace.”

To promote its latest TV series “Good Omens,” Amazon Prime Video launched a thrilling digital OOH campaign.

Good Omens Times Square Mixed Reality Digital OOH

The series, based upon Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s novel of the same name, follows the unlikely pairing of an angel (Michael Sheen) and a demon (David Tennant) as they join forces to save the world from the apocalypse. As one of the most hotly anticipated shows of 2019, Amazon wanted to bring the surreal scenarios faced by the protagonists to life with a takeover of Times Square.

As the digital OOH roadblock took over Times Square, the crowd was plunged into terrifying Armageddon scenarios through live animations and a countdown to the end of the world. The mixed reality digital billboard towered above the pedestrian plaza bringing Good Omens to life, with Kraken tentacles, UFOs and giant fish raining down on the crowd below. Just as the audience recognized themselves on the big screen the doomsday scenarios unfurled around them. The mixed reality experience created a fun and memorable experience giving participants the ability to share the moment on social media.

Good Omens Times Square Mixed Reality Digital OOH

Supporting the apocalyptic takeover, were additional large-format digital OOH billboards around Times Square, featuring the countdown to doomsday and the start of the highly-anticipated series.

The campaign was conceived by Amazon Studios and produced by Grand Visual.

Ric Albert, Creative Director at Grand Visual, said: “The Apocalyptic AR activation stops people in their tracks in an engaging race to save the world. It provides content that connects the audience to the series storyline and immerses them in a 5-screen Times Square roadblock. The live countdowns build on the excitement and anticipation of Good Omens debut on Amazon Prime Video.”

 

Runaway Train Geo-targeted digital OOH. Melvin Diaz Cruz Missing
As part of the cross-industry initiative created by M/H VCCP, the out of home (OOH) advertising industry has donated ad space valued at more than $3 million to feature regionally targeted photos of missing children across the U.S.

Today, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and advertising agency M/H VCCP have launched Runaway Train 25, a cross-industry initiative to reinvent the search for missing children in the U.S. As part of the initiative more than 450 digital billboards and transit screens will support the campaign ahead of National Missing Children’s Day on Saturday, May 25th 2019.

Organized by the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA), and produced by Grand Visual, the campaign aims to harness the public’s help to join the search by publishing the names and photos of missing children and raising awareness of the number to call for sightings; 1-800-THE-LOST.  The digital OOH activation spans 14 media vendors and runs across rail, roadside, and high street locations in over 40 U.S states, including major cities NYC, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, and Philadelphia.

Runaway Train geo-targeted digital OOH

The campaign is delivered through OpenLoop, the dynamic creative optimization server from QDOT. OpenLoop takes the data feed from NCMEC and publishes each missing child case in a geo-targeted push to digital billboards in and around the region the child went missing. “It’s about using clever ad tech to reach a broadcast level audience, whilst delivering tactical and relevant information at a community level,” said Grand Visual’s COO Ben Putland.

The digital billboards also promote Runaway Train 25, a new music video, released today, as part of the broader initiative, which reinterprets the 1990’s award-winning Soul Asylum song “Runaway Train” with musical artists Jaime N Commons and Skylar Gray feat. Gallant. Directed by RSA Films’ Emmy award winner Jake Scott, the music video uses geo-targeting technology to change the missing children featured based on where the video is viewed.

Both the DOOH creative and the music video encourage people to visit runawaytrain25.com and share the video across their social channels to help publicize #MissingKids and #RunAwayTrain25 through their personal networks.  

Runaway Train geo-targeted digital OOH

“Last year NCMEC assisted with over 25,000 cases of missing children, the vast majority were runaways,” said NCMEC President and CEO John Clark. “Thanks to the outdoor advertising community and all of our amazing partners, this highly targeted campaign gives us visibility in transit locations across the U.S.  Campaigns like this can play a vital part in the search and the ability to run multiple cases that are geo-targeted across more than 40 states will be a true game changer.”

“We know that it only takes one person to find a missing child. This powerful campaign is a great example of OOH, online, and social media working together to ensure photos of missing children are distributed as widely as possible,” said OAAA President and CEO Nancy Fletcher. “It’s about driving awareness and spurring action; everyone has the ability to make a difference in their communities.”  “There is nothing more powerful than when a community comes together to solve a problem. We conceived of Runaway Train 25 to bring art and technology together in a way that resonates with communities across the country so that NCMEC can bring home more kids than ever before.” John Matejczyk, founder and Chief Creative Officer, M/H VCCP.

Sky Q Summons Augmented Reality digital OOH
Sun, Sea & Digital OOH!

With Summer on the horizon, we are sharing our top considerations for digital OOH this warm season. It’s a great time of year to use digital OOH to reach your target audience, as nearly half of the population become more active as the weather gets warmer! So why not consider planning your next digital OOH campaign just as you would plan a vacation?

Audience

Who’s your ideal travel companion? Family, friends or a solo adventure? Just as you consider who you travel with, it’s just as important to consider who is the ideal audience for your campaign.

Here’s an augmented reality experience we created for Sky Q, designed to target commuters with fun and games during the school holidays.

Moment

What’s your perfect Summer vacation? A relaxing seaside break or adrenalin filled adventure? Considering the moment you want to create with your digital OOH is key. What do you want your campaign to make consumers feel, think or do?

For the cinematic release for Inside Out, we created a user-generated experience in Times Square. As the movie was centred around emotions, the campaign was designed to capture a participant’s emotions before sharing them to the digital screen.

Lasting Impression

What’s your most memorable vacation? With digital OOH campaigns, it’s just as important to consider the lasting impression you want to leave. Focus on creating a moment for your audience that will truly leave a lasting impression.

Here’s an augmented reality experience we created for Disney. The social video has been viewed over 300 million times and shared over 5.9 million times around the world. It also earned the title of the 2nd most shared ad of 2015.

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

McDonald's Monopoly digital OOH campaign
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.

 

Google Pixel Digital OOH

This first appeared in Digital Signage Today on March 29th 2019.

Ric Albert, Creative Director at Grand Visual shares 3 ways to bring digital OOH creative to life.

OOH continues to outpace other traditional advertising, fuelled by fast growth in DOOH revenue which is expected to continue at a rate of 10% per annum, globally, until 2021. In the UK, digital now accounts for an impressive 50% of total OOH spend, and other markets across Europe and APAC are on a similar trajectory, with the U.S. now also at almost a third. Globally, 2019 is shaping up well for DOOH.

Creatively, for me, it is the sheer size, impact, and ubiquity, of digital screens in cities around the world that make it an exciting canvas to work with. Full motion creative is a game changer when it comes to crafting engaging stories for out of home audiences. Study after study has revealed that motion delivers more impressions, for longer, and drives ROI.

The effect of good quality creative on the medium itself also enhances the value of that media. However, I was dismayed to learn recently from one of the U.K.’s largest media owners, that just 10% of the creative delivered to their full-motion digital portfolio is animated. I’ve been scratching my head ever since.

Can it be budget constraints? Are advertisers overwhelmed by the diversity of formats, locations, and technologies that make up the DOOH landscape? Plus with so much discussion focused on what the medium can do now, and in the near future, as a programmatically enabled, blockchain assisted platform, it is easy to see how some are finding the endless possibilities daunting.

So to all those advertisers who are still unsure about how to approach the medium, or are still using DOOH as an extension of their standard print or static outdoor work – here is a back to basics guide for crafting good quality, full motion DOOH creative. Based on three simple fail-safe tips that won’t break the bank.

1. Add motion

Generate creative that works harder. I’m talking motion. Motion, motion, motion! It attracts the eye, it helps to tell a story, it delivers drama and emotion. It brings a totally new dimension. It delivers cut through. It’s the absolute must-have for visual communication. It seems so obvious and yet we still see so much DOOH advertising that is static.

If your formats have it, use it! The power of motion helps an ad come to life. Sometimes, it doesn’t need much — a sprinkle of animation can elevate the creative into something memorable. Take advantage of the video content that may exist. Seek out the TV spot or trailer. It will have shots in it that bring a depth and richness to the DOOH creative.

Digital isn’t just pixels instead of paper, it gives us the opportunity to do more. We should be harnessing the potential of DOOH and stop using it as just another delivery file. It’s all about creative impact. And sometimes, a JPEG just isn’t that impactful! We can easily push beyond traditional print with animation, videos, live and updatable content.

2. Timing is everything

Dufry International Take Something Home Digital OOH

Be mindful of your environment and duration. All signs point to shorter sharper messaging being the way to go, but depending on the environment and duration of the digital screens you are using and what you’re trying to accomplish — longer form copy can work too.

Consider the difference between a five, a ten and a 20-second execution. Are you giving yourself enough time to establish your brand and message? Are you using the full duration of the execution wisely? Are you putting appropriate creative into different environments? Is there the potential to deliver multiple brand messages?

DOOH allows us to build a layered and nuanced piece of communication. Delivering a complex message or a last-minute offer is something that DOOH is great at. For example, in a ten-second piece, the creative can start with a call to action, proceed to the offer and finish with establishing the brand proposition. Separating these messages into bite-size pieces allows the audience to take in each element without being overloaded. It’s digestible and impactful and works for the dwell time.

Intelligent scheduling can make all the difference. Create something for the morning commute and another message for the evening. Or communicate with your weekend audience in a different way from the midweek crowd. Subtle changes in copy can build real depth to your campaign.

3. Be contextual

Digital OOH is a connected media. We are already serving creative that adapts to real-time feeds, such as weather, traffic flow, and social media trends. The infrastructure is in place so it makes sense to get the media working hard with useful and relevant messaging that can change and evolve during the course of a campaign.

Now, campaigns can adapt and respond to conditions and real-world events, or feature last minute deals that push different products to different audiences at different times in the day. By harnessing the context effect, brands can achieve cut through and turbocharge the relevance, and effectiveness of their advertising messages.

So the challenge is on for 2019 for all of us to ditch the JPEG. To be creative. All of the time. It doesn’t have to eat up your budget, it just has to move. Let’s ditch the JPEG and get the creative working harder. Let’s maximize the potential of the medium, use the full canvas, duration, and be relevant, and contextual. Let’s capitalize on the unique creative opportunity that DOOH provides for brands and audiences alike.

Grand Visual Team

Our Team

Neil

How long have you been at GV for and what’s your role?
It’ll be fourteen amazing years in July this year. I’m CEO and work with a great management team at Grand Visual and QDOT.

What’s your favourite GV campaign?
So many to choose from over the years! But I’d have to say Lynx Angel Ambush because it really made everyone wake up to the potential for creative technology in out of home and it won our first Cannes Lion.

If you weren’t in the Management Team, would you rather be in the Production Team or the Creative Team?
I started out as a Producer so I should go there but I think I’d join the Creative Team for a new experience.

Would you rather be able to breathe underwater or fly through the air?
Fly through the air – that would be so much fun.

Would you rather have an unlimited international first class ticket, or never have to pay for food at restaurants?
Definitely the first class ticket – visiting new countries and cultures is an absolute treat. (Although if I can fly through the air I might not need the plane ticket …)

 

Our Team

Dan

How long have you been at GV for and what’s your role?
I joined at inception as one of the founding fathers of the company.

What’s your favourite GV campaign?
Wow. It’s like asking who your favourite child is! Our projects are all so different so I have favourites in each category, for each client and in each market. As I look back over the last 14 years of Grand Visual the milestone projects are those which really helped shape the DOOH industry and then made the phone ring. I think back to Rocky Balboa, Nike Write the Future, Yell.com, Google Speech, The Harry Potter Premiere and Lynx as pivotal moments in both the company’s and the industry’s history. I think I’d have to pick Lynx Angel Ambush as the one… That campaign was a game changer. The teams we worked with on that project have become lifelong friends for the pain we all went through together. I feel like that project helped Grand Visual propel to the next level and also helped us give birth to probably our most successful Augmented Reality projects Pepsi Max: Unbelievable Bus Shelter and My Disney Side.

If you weren’t in the Management Team, would you rather be in the Operations Team or the Tech Team?
Wow. Again it’s like asking who your favourite child is! But yeah… Tech. Operations require far too much political correctness and HR – everyone who knows me knows I swear way too much when I’m excited/showing off.

Would you rather be able to control fire or water?
Easy…Water. I’d give everyone in the world access to clean water, and put out the fires of the idiot who answers this question incorrectly.

Would you rather be the first person to explore a planet or be the inventor of a drug that cures a deadly disease?
I’d invent the drug and give it away for free… get a Nobel prize, become a Trillionaire through my new found celebrity and philanthropy status… and then go explore a new planet with my new found wealth.

our team

Sarah

How long have you been at GV for and what’s your role?
A bit over a year and a half and I’m a Senior Marketing Executive.

What’s your favourite GV campaign?
The Augmented Reality experience that we did Pepsi Max Unbelievable bus shelter, I remember reading about it when I lived in Australia and thinking it was so cool!

If you weren’t in the Marketing Team, would you rather be in the Creative Team or the Client Services Team?
Creative Team.

Would you rather have more time or more money?

More time to make more money.

Would you rather only be able to jump everywhere or only be able to walk on your hands?
Probably jump everywhere.

 

our team

Steve

How long have you been at GV for and what’s your role?
Just over three years – I’m a software developer.

What’s your favourite GV campaign?
Has to be the interactive game we did for Pets at Home ‘My Pet Pals’.

If you weren’t in the Tech team, would you rather be in the Production team or Operations?
Ops. I’d get to work with Gwen all day!

Would you rather be able to breathe underwater or fly through the air?
Flying definitely!

Would you rather become twice as strong when both of your fingers are stuck in your ears, or crawl twice as fast as you can run?
Stronger with my fingers in my ears. It would make leg day easier.

Spotify has joined forces with country singer Maren Morris to celebrate strong women, in a socially driven digital OOH campaign that launched on International Women’s Day.

The digital OOH activation coincides with the release of Morris’ second album ‘GIRL’, bringing a powerful female perspective to the predominantly male country music scene.

Spotify Maren Morris Digital OOH

#ShareYourCrown amplifies Morris’ custom Snapchat Lens which was debuted by the artist during a takeover of Spotify’s Snapchat channel. The special lens invites fans to take a picture of themselves and other important women while wearing the singer’s signature crown. These images were then shared online via the hashtag #ShareYourCrown.

Conceived in-house by Spotify’s creative team, the dynamic digital OOH activation was produced by Grand Visual. We monitored the hashtag across social media channels in real-time and published fan-generated photos to multiple iconic digital billboards across New York City, Dallas, Los Angeles and Toronto.

Spotify Maren Morris Digital OOH

The digital Out of Home campaign champions powerful women by capitalizing on the positive social media buzz. This extends the reach of #ShareYourCrown to OOH audiences’ across North America in time for International Women’s day.

digital marketing apprenticeship grand visual

our team

Steve

How long have you been at GV for and what’s your role?
I’ve been at Grand Visual for just shy of a year, working as a Creative.

What’s your favourite GV campaign?
My favourite GV campaign is Sky Q Summons. Using Augmented Reality to create an interactive experience and allowing people to meet their favourite TV stars was awesome! Seeing the surprise on their faces really made all the hard work worth it!

If you weren’t in the Creative Team, would you rather be in the Finance Team or Operations?
I’d rather be in Operations … spreadsheets and I wouldn’t get along.

Would you rather hear the good news or the bad news first?
I’d rather hear the bad news first!

Would you rather live without the internet, or live without AC and heating?
I could live without AC and heating … watch me put four jumpers on as I find something to watch.

 

our team

Jackie

How long have you been at GV for and what’s your role?
I’ve been at GV for 11 years and I’m the Finance Manager – or anything no-one else wants to do!

What’s your favourite GV campaign?
The Augmented Reality experience that we did for Angels.

If you weren’t in the Finance team, would you rather be in the Production Team or the Tech Team?
The Tech Team.

Would you rather be completely invisible for one day, or be able to fly for one day?
I’d rather be able to fly.

Would you rather be able to control fire or water?
Water!