Top Shop/Twitter [1] and the charity Women’s Aid [2] were named overall winners at Ocean Outdoor [3]’s annual Art of Outdoor Digital Competition (Thursday October 9, 2014) at London’s IMAX cinema, before an audience of more than 450 guests from the UK’s media, creative and advertising sectors.
Entries for this highly regarded competition, which celebrates pushing the creative boundaries in digital out of home advertising, were judged by a panel of 13 cross-discipline industry experts
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Top Shop came first in the Creative Techniques category for a campaign created by Twitter UK which will use real time Twitter data to showcase the latest catwalk fashion trends live across Ocean’s digital outdoor UK network, The Grid.
Domestic violence charity Women’s Aid received the Interactive Category First Prize for a campaign which will use facial recognition technology to demonstrate how it only takes one person to notice domestic abuse to start making a change. The campaign was devised by WCRS.
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British Airways [6] picked up two awards, one in each category, joining an impressive list of runners-up together with Spotify [7], NEST [8] and The North Face [9].
“The fifth year of the competition gave us a record number of entries and the strongest shortlist we have seen in five years,” says Tim Bleakley, CEO, Ocean Outdoor. “Our winners are striking in the power of their visual ideas combined with innovative use of technology. They deserve to be recognized for their immediacy and relevance to their target audiences.”
“Previous competitions have demonstrated the sheer potential, but this year’s competition has significantly raised the bar,” says Rachel Bull, editor of Brand Republic which partners Ocean on the competition. “Here’s proof that digital out-of-home really is the ‘must have’ media to get your brand noticed.”
The winners share a prize fund of £450,000 across Ocean’s premium network The Grid and the screen at Eat Street, Westfield London.
See this year’s winners and a creative showcase of all the entries here [10].
Creative Techniques
- 1st Place: Topshop
Campaign: #TopTrends
Agency: Twitter UK
Using Twitter data to feed information about surfacing trends and styles, Top Shop’s campaign sets out to democratise fashion, making London Fashion Week looks available almost as soon as they hit the catwalk. Using The Grid around the UK puts the public no more than 10 minute away from the latest #TopTrends. Time, location and local weather specific data is also deployed to increase relevancy of the campaign. The judges said: “This campaign is brilliant positioning and directly related to Top Shop’s retail locations. The idea is fantastic.” - 2nd Place – Spotify
Campaign: Hijack the Radio!
Agency: Kinetic & Starcom MediaVest
This scientifically ambitious campaign ringfences roadside locations using radio frequency scanners to identify which radio stations approaching motorists are listening too. The roadside screens then deliver the name of the song and artist being played at that moment on that music network. The judges said: “This really is pushing the boundaries of DOOH. This campaign delivers the necessary wow factor of surprise, brilliantly highlighting Spotify’s vast range of choice and its recommendations engine.” - Tie 3rd Place – Nest
Campaign: Intelligent Thermostat
Agency: Talon
Collaborators: Grand Visual, Beyond@ MGOMD
This campaign deploys Grand Visual’s Openloop platform to showcase the benefits of NEST’s intelligent thermostat which give precise control of the room temperature at home wherever you are. The campaign displays current local temperatures, together with location and mindset based examples revealing why it can be handy to dynamically turn the heat up or down. The judges said: “The concept is simple, but very clever. It might feel blunt, but sometimes the simplest ideas work the best.” - Tie 3rd Place – British Airways
Campaign: The World is on Sale
Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty
Featuring live streamed footage of planet Earth directly from the International Space Station onto Ocean’s large format screens, the campaign pinpoints BA destinations in real time as pop up pins on the globe. Utilising brand new technology called UrtheCast’s API gives us a space eye’s view of a world that is just waiting to be explored. The judges said: “Using a live feed from somewhere as remote as the ISS is incredibly cool. This campaign takes in technology never been done before. You would definitely remember it.”
The Interactive Award
- 1st Place – Women’s Aid
Campaign: If you can see it, you can change it
Agency: WCRSThis campaign for the charity Women’s Aid combines subtle motion with facial recognition technology to demonstrate how it only takes one person to notice a problem to start making a change. As more people stop and notice the moving image of a domestic violence victim featured on the poster, the image begins to change as the victim’s bruised and battered face returns to normal. The judges said: “This campaign figures out how many people are looking at the screen – and the longer you look at it the more it changes. This has not been done before. So, paying attention has a positive effect. Very clever.” - 2nd Place – The North Face
Campaign: The Thermoball Jacket – Creating Warm Leads
Agency: Manning Gottlieb OMDAs winter draws on, outdoor clothing brand The North Face showcases its hero jacket, using cameras and thermal imagery to pinpoint the coldest shoppers in the vicinity of an outdoor screen. Brand to hand ambassadors then use the big screen to show people just how low their body temperature is, asking them to try on a Thermoball jacket to demonstrate how quickly their body temperature raises instantly on the screen. Shoppers are invited to take cosy selfies using the hastag# thermoballed to receive a unique discount code for a jacket at their nearest store or stockist. The judges said: “It is totally fitting to that environment. It’s a totally a new take on thermo imaging. And its weather related. It really couldn’t be better.” - Third Place – British Airways
Campaign: Spin the Globe
Agency: Bartle Bogle Hegarty
British Airways celebrates its global credentials in this interactive game which invites people to Spin the Globe to discover world sale prices. Those lucky players whose spin unveils a golden destination pin will win the chance to fly to that destination for free. With images drawn from Google Earth, motion sensitive technology allows players to spin the earth with a swipe of their hand. The judges said: “You will definitely get groups of people watching and wanting to participate. Gamification like this works so well on digital out of home.”