Clear Channel Outdoor Hard To Miss At Cannes Lions 2014
Gail Chiasson, North American Editor
Clear Channel Outdoor, one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies, is showcasing the powerful combination of Out-Of-Home and Mobile at this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Using the world’s largest rooftop digital screen atop the landmark Le Grand Hotel and interactive digital totems at locations along the Croisette, CCO is featuring DOOH advertising from a number of brand partners including Samsung, L’Oreal, McDonald’s, Weather Channel, Unilever and YouTube. CCO will also display the 2014 Outdoor Lions winners when named.
Additionally, a giant mobile interactive soccer game called Le Grand Kick is available to festival attendees with the competition taking place for all of Cannes to see on the rooftop digital screen.
CCO is sponsoring the Outdoor Lions for the fifth consecutive year. For the first time since the festival began, the Outdoor category is the most popular in 2014, attracting over 5,600 entries and demonstrating that the oldest and most enduring advertising medium has never been more exciting for creatives.
It will be impossible to miss CCO in Cannes with digital displays in the Palais des Festivals and at Centre d’art La Malmaison in addition to the roof of Le Grand Hotel. An innovation and creative leader in out-of-home, CCO is driving reappraisal of the medium’s role in the media mix with visually captivating displays at the biggest creative gathering of the year, as well as pioneering initiatives and groundbreaking research year-round.
William Eccleshare, CEO, Clear Channel Outdoor says, “In the last six months, Clear Channel Outdoor has rolled out Connect, the first global out-of-home mobile interactive advertising platform, an innovation that has helped to transform out-of-home into one of the most contemporary, relevant and effective mediums. It demonstrates our belief in the powerful creative and consumer engagement opportunities which Outdoor and Mobile offers advertisers.
“We are delighted to be showcasing this potential throughout Cannes week. This will include offering the chance to compete in a giant interactive mobile soccer game; a creative digital outdoor showcase featuring our partner brands and inviting people to our interactive exhibition area – our ‘Playground’ – to test-drive the powerful consumer engagement opportunities our medium can deliver through Connect.”
Commenting on the mobile interactive soccer game, Le Grand Kick, Pru Parkinson, global chief marketing officer at Clear Channel Outdoor, says, “We loved the idea of merging the addictive fun of a simple, well-loved soccer game with pioneering digital out-of-home and interactive mobile technology.
“With World Cup anticipation reaching fever pitch, this is a great way for Cannes Lions attendees to experience the huge potential of combining OOH with the mobile platform. The combination is an incredibly powerful mix, offering advertisers unmatched visibility and engagement across any medium. OOH and mobile is going to be front of mind for creatives and planners going forward, and Le Grand Kick is just one example of what is possible.”
Le Grand Kick is a mobile interactive penalty shoot-out game. CCO is tapping into World Cup soccer fever to give all event attendees the chance to take a virtual ‘penalty kick’ in front of the crowds on the Croisette. The game, called ‘Le Grand Kick’, is powered by mobile interactive technology and will be played on the largest digital outdoor rooftop screen in the world, positioned 12 stories high on the top of the Grand Hotel. To play, one only needs a smartphone.
CCO collaborated with Grand Visual to create the soccer game which will allow players to easily sync up their smartphone with the Grand Screen during their allotted match. Players register to take part in the game by simply tapping/swiping their smartphone on one of CCO’s Connect tags located around the festival. The game is modeled on the classic table-top soccer game, Subbuteo, and requires skilled finger swiping on the mobile phone to get the ball in the back of the net on the massive screen. Whoever scores the most goals, wins.
The game is Monday to Friday of festival week, at 1pm, 8pm and 11pm on the Croisette in front of the Grand Hotel.
CCO has partnered with CURB for exclusive rights to host the biggest outdoor digital HD screen in Cannes. Located 12 stories up at Le Grand Hotel, an iconic site on the Croisette and equivalent in size to two double-decker buses, it is visible day and night from the entire Cannes bay and as far away as 3.5 miles. The screen is showcasing the best in OOH advertising, as well as Le Grand Kick.
CCO will also be using the immediacy of its digital capabilities to showcase the Grand Prix and Gold Lions winners on the Grand Screen as soon as they are revealed.
CCO’s Playground is an interactive OOH exhibition and hospitality space in a prime location on the Croisette, directly in front of the La Malmaison Hotel (between Le Grand Hotel and JW Marriott). Agencies and advertisers will view inspiring OOH creativity and innovation from leading advertisers across the globe. Visitors can use the interactive capabilities of the digital totems to choose among a menu of inspiring creative they’d like to view. Additionally, the totems are outfitted with Connect tags which will allow visitors to engage in interactive experiences with their smartphone, including registering to play Le Grand Kick.
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