OPEN 2

OPEN 2

OPEN 2
—
Outdoor Media Association 2014

“Selling stuff will never be a science. It’s all about persuasion.”
...
Sir John Hegarty
5 /

Published by the Outdoor Media Association
Suite 504, 80 William Street
East Sydney NSW 2011 Australia
ABN: 59 004 233 489
www.oma.org.au
The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) is the
peak national industry body that represents most
of Australia’s Out-of-Home (OOH) media display
companies and production facilities as well
as some media display asset owners.
The OMA operates nationally and prior to
July 2005 traded as the Outdoor Advertising
Association of Australia (OAAA). It was first
incorporated in 1939.
OMA Members advertise third-party products
across all categories in the OOH sector including:
on buses, trams, taxis, pedestrian bridges,
billboards and free-standing advertisement
panels; on street furniture (eg bus/tram shelters,
public toilets, bicycle stations, telephone booths
and kiosks) and in bus stations, railway stations,
shopping centres, university and airport precincts.
© 2014 Outdoor Media Association Inc.
This book is subject to copyright. Apart from
any fair dealing for purposes permitted in the
Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication
may be reproduced or communicated by any
process without written permission.
DISCLAIMER
Every effort has been made to ensure that the information
contained in this book is accurate at the time of printing.
However, to the full extent permitted by law, this book
is supplied ‘as is’ without express or implied warranty.
The OMA welcomes suggestions for improvement but
cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions
and makes no representations about the content or the
suitability of the information for any purpose.
Except as required by law, the OMA will not be liable for
any damages whatsoever (whether direct, indirect, special,
consequential or otherwise) arising out of the use of, or in
connection with or reliance on, the information contained
in this book.
OPEN 2
ISBN: 978–0–9874105–2–8
Outdoor Media Association
Editorial Overview: Julie Jensen
and Charmaine Moldrich
Project Manager: Ti-Ahna Firth
Project Assistance: Xiao Houghton and
Kate Windon
Image Research: Ti-Ahna Firth
Design: Thursday Design
Copy Editor/Contributor: David Hely
Indexer: Katherine Webster
Pre-Press: Spitting Image Sydney
Printer: Imago Group Australia and Hong Kong
Project Sub-Committee: Matthew Byrne ROVA
Media, Max Eburne JCDecaux, Nick Errey oOh!
Media, Richard Herring APN Outdoor, Julie
Jensen and Charmaine Moldrich Outdoor Media
Association, Jane King Adshel, Charles Parry-
Okeden Executive Channel.
Image Contributors: Cannes Lions International
Festival of Creativity, CLIO Awards, CBS
Outdoor UK, Clear Channel Outdoor, OBIE
Awards, Outdoor Media Association Members,
Outdoor Media Association Ireland, Outdoor
Media Centre UK, The Andy Awards, local and
international advertising agencies and clients.
COVER IMAGES
Campaign: Sunlight ‘Clingy animals’
by Lowe Thailand. Chief Creative Officer:
Eric Yeo. Creative Director: Ruchi Sharma
and Ricardo Turcios. Art Director: Katrina
Encanto. Copywriter: EJ Galang, Sarah Ko
and Gabi Espaldon.
/ 6

UP FRONT INTRODUCTION 4
— Charmaine Moldrich
Chief Executive Officer, Outdoor Media Association
FOREWORD 6
— Dr Rebecca Huntley
Executive Director, Ipsos Mind & Mood Report
SECTIONS 01 HUMOUR ME 10
— Fiona Jolly 22
Chief Executive Officer, Advertising Standards Bureau
— Nigel Marsh 38
Chairman, The Leading Edge
— Jane Caro 44
Writer, Lecturer and Media Commentator
02 SELL ME SOMETHING 52
— Ben Colman 64
Chief Executive Officer, 18 Feet & Rising
— Ben Coulson 78
Chief Creative Officer, GPY&R Australia and New Zealand
03 TELL ME A STORY 94
— Andy Lark 108
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Group Lark
— Rob Atkinson 118
Chief Executive Officer, Adshel
— Ben Welsh 124
Executive Creative Director, M&C Saatchi
04 INTERACT WITH ME 134
— John Purcell 146
Commercial Director, Operations & Business Systems, oOh! Media
— Leo Roberts 154
Group Marketing Manager, Integrated Marketing Communications,
Coca-Cola South Pacific
— Luke Chess 162
Creative Director, MJW Australia
REFERENCE SCAN ME 169
INDEX 172
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 176
3 /

INTRODUCTION
Charmaine Moldrich, Chief Executive Officer,
Outdoor Media Association
...
When we published the first edition of OPEN
in 2012 the Out-of-Home (OOH) industry was
tentatively dipping its toes into technologies
such as Near Field Communication (NFC),
facial recognition and consumer engagement
using SMS, WiFi and GPS. The content for
OPEN was predominantly selected with an
artistic eye, rewarding the simple, the bold
and, of course, the cheeky. In OPEN² the
examples we’ve chosen of some of the best
OOH from around the world represent how
far the industry has evolved in just two years.
At the 2014 Cannes Lions International
Festival of Creativity, I was struck by how OOH
is increasingly becoming reflective of culture
and society. ANZ Bank’s GAYTMs campaign
(p. 127) was not only a unique and creative
promotion, it was also a contextually relevant
social statement in support of the annual
Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras – not
surprising that it took out the Grand Prix award
for Outdoor.
An unprecedented 5,600 entries for the
OOH category were submitted to Cannes Lions
in 2014, more than for any other category. This
proves that OOH has well and truly arrived and
creatives are excited about the potential of this
‘ultimate creative stage.’
OPEN² shows us not only how far we’ve
come, it also hints at where we’re headed.
It demonstrates a respect for the traditional,
an eagerness for innovation, and an
ongoing commitment to clear and effective
communication – which is still what our
industry is all about.
Sir John Hegarty put it this way, “Selling
stuff has never been a science. It’s all about
persuasion.” And I would add to that, ‘emotion.’
If you can make someone feel something,
they are more likely to do something. Hegarty
also noted that, “a brand is made not just by the
people who buy it, but also by the people who
know about it.” It is the combination of these
two ideas that makes OOH so potent. It has
the power to inspire (and persuade) and it is
ubiquitous. Put simply: it gets the word out.
In OPEN² we have divided OOH’s
persuasion into four sections: Humour Me,
Sell Me Something, Tell Me a Story and
Interact with Me. Industry leaders were
asked to provide insight into these sections
– how the challenges of advertising have
moulded careers, affected lives and ultimately
changed perspectives. We are grateful
for our contributors’ time and thoughtful
consideration of the task. The results are truly
inspiring.
Dedicating a section to humour was
an obvious choice for an industry that doesn’t
take itself too seriously. In Humour Me, Jane
Caro, writer, lecturer and media commentator,
muses on the value of ‘shocking’ audiences
and how similar we are in our reactions.
Fiona Jolly, CEO of the Advertising Standards
Bureau, writes about the important role of
OOH regulation and how humour can be used
to assuage conservative opinions. Nigel Marsh,
author and Chairman of The Leading Edge,
reminisces about his early days in advertising
and the seminal campaigns that helped
to shape his view of the world.
In Sell Me Something, Ben Colman, CEO
of 18 Feet & Rising, delves into the pop-culture
history of advertising and explores the value
of truth. Ben Coulson, CCO of GPY&R Australia
and New Zealand, contemplates the dark art
of selling juxtaposed with the reality of
consumer desire.
For Tell Me a Story, Andy Lark, former
CMO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
and now CEO of Group Lark, writes eloquently
about the power of OOH and the factors that
will make it even more crucial in the years
ahead. Ben Welsh, Executive Creative Director
at M&C Saatchi, tells of his experience judging
the Cannes Lions and notes that OOH is now
part of our culture, each country uniquely
represented through its advertising. Rob
Atkinson, CEO of Adshel, rounds out this
section, sharing his experiences and excitement
of working in OOH, “for more years than I care
to mention,” witnessing the sudden arrival of
huge change and opportunity.
The contributors for Interact with Me
write about the break-through campaigns that
are inspiring younger generations, such as
Coca-Cola’s Small world machines campaign
(pp. 156–157). Luke Chess, Creative Director,
MJW Australia, encourages advertisers
and marketers to strive for “meaningful
interaction” in all campaigns. John Purcell,
Commercial Director, Operations & Business
Systems for oOh! Media, highlights the value of
OOH technologies – particularly for technology
companies – and how these partnerships
will benefit consumers. Leo Roberts, Group
Marketing Manager, Integrated Marketing
Communications, Coca-Cola South Pacific,
notes that interactive technologies not only
engage the consumer, but also excite the
advertiser, providing new platforms for brands.
We have collected a diverse range
of campaigns, from billboards that purify the
air to a series of McDonald’s advertisements
(pp. 68–69) that demonstrate how a brand can
capitalise on its history. The executions come
from around the world, featuring brands you
know and love and some you may have never
heard of.
What these campaigns have in common
is that they have all been part of a cityscape,
of someone’s commute, of their weekend, their
shopping or holiday experience; they were all
part of people’s everyday lives. That’s OOH.
We present OPEN² to you for your
consideration, entertainment and inspiration.
5 /

FOREWORD
Dr Rebecca Huntley, Executive Director,
Ipsos Mind & Mood Report
...
Last year, my husband and I took our fiveyear-old
daughter to Disneyland in Los
Angeles. Wandering around with a social
researcher’s eye (sure, I was on holiday but
I couldn’t help it) I was struck with how
effective the theme park is as an outdoor
experience. Many of the rides are indoors,
but the magic of Disneyland is the feeling that
you are exploring a terrain, an environment
– albeit artificial. You feel like Alice in
Wonderland, only with fizzy drinks and hot
dogs rather than magical potions and cakes.
The whole Disneyland experience is
mesmerising and, of course, you can’t help but
leave with a heap of merchandise – the rides
feel designed to thrill and lull you into a state
of abandon just as you are funnelled into a gift
shop. But you also leave with a greater respect
for the Disney brand and an appreciation that
Disneyland is in fact the ultimate example
of the power and potential of Out-of-Home
(OOH) advertising.
Reviewing the creative collated for
OPEN 2 – the best examples of OOH from
Australia and around the world – reinforces for
me what’s inspiring and really working for this
media channel. The key themes reflect what
Australian consumers expect and want from
advertising: Humour Me, Sell Me Something,
Tell Me a Story and Interact with Me. An
AC Nielsen study from 2011 revealed that 75% of
people agree that OOH gives people something
to look at when out and about, and 78% said it
was useful to have a website address included
on that advertising. 1 The correlation of these
two statistics is that people are expecting more
from OOH; they want it to be entertaining,
engaging and useful. Judging from the
campaigns in OPEN 2 , it does not disappoint.
Poring over the different examples of
OOH creative, I am struck again and again by
how the different consumer and social trends
we observe in our research for The Mind &
Mood Report connect with what is happening
and what is being harnessed in this work.
Take, for example, the water-generating,
air-purifying billboards in Peru that provide
clean water and air. Or the flowering bus
shelters in Belgrade reminding people of
the city’s potential for beauty. In recent
research Ipsos conducted into how urban
and regional dwellers feel about their local
environments, residents talked about how
much they appreciated the presence of largescale
art works and sculptures in public places.
Australians want their city and townscapes
to be dynamic, interesting and surprising.
In recent times, OOH has at times been a form
of public art – funny, thought provoking and
beautiful. Consumers are realistic that it can’t
always be taxpayers’ money making these
things happen, and when they find out that
OOH subsidises street furniture and many other
forms of public infrastructure, research has
shown that they look more favourably upon it.
Then there is the notion that OOH, more
than any other advertising channel, can be
useful. Australian consumers talk constantly
about how busy their lives are; fitting
everything they need to do in a day, rushing
from place to place, juggling multiple roles.
They are always looking for aids, tools and tips
to facilitate making their busy lives possible.
But they are also looking for ways to carve
out much-needed respite from all the hubbub.
There are some creative examples in OPEN 2
of how OOH can make people’s lives just that
little bit easier. There is the IBM billboard
that doubles as a seat for a weary pedestrian
(pp. 114–115) and one of my personal favourites,
the transit bench in Canada that becomes
a temporary bed for a homeless person (p. 145).
Not only is this serviceable, but it also raises
awareness as well as potential funds for
7 /

FOREWORD | CONTINUED
...
this cause. Then there is the experience that
OOH can create. In The Mind & Mood Report we
have found, particularly in the aftermath of the
global financial crisis, a small but significant
shift in focus among Australian consumers
from ‘things’ towards ‘experiences.’ After years
of persistent gloom and doom about the cost of
living and the domestic economy, Australians
have now started to get excited about planning
and spending on travel, eating out, festivals
– the full spectrum of out-of-home activities.
Consumers have also complained for some
time about how they’d like Australian retail
environments to be more dynamic, interactive
and innovative. There are many examples in
OPEN 2 of how OOH can provide an experience
to passers-by – something that will entertain,
distract, lift their mood and focus their
attention.
In more recent times, the big opportunity
for advertisers is how OOH can speak to the
mobile devices we carry with us at all times.
Australian consumers have a huge appetite for
communication; in fact, there are more mobile
phones in Australia than people. We look to
our mobile devices for advice on everything –
where to go when we are lost, what to buy and
where to buy it, what to eat (and to document
what we eat before we eat it). Each of us is an
explorer, with a mobile device as our compass.
And so, there are numerous examples in OPEN 2
of the ways in which OOH can interact with
technology to sell, tell, inspire and entertain.
The Pepsi Max Unbelievable campaign (p. 165)
uses augmented reality to surprise and delight
commuters with images of tigers walking
towards them and snakes popping out of
manholes.
There is no such thing as the undistracted
consumer anymore. We watch our TV
screens with mobile devices on our laps. We
multiscreen and multitask. Our attention is
always divided. Even on a holiday to Disneyland
we are experiencing, reviewing, critiquing and
yes, consuming, across multiple channels.
OOH has a particular challenge:
catching the eye of people riding a bike,
driving a car, rushing from work to the train
station. But OOH also creates a sense of
place that other media struggle to do. What
would Times Square be without OOH? Even
in our own iconic cities there are landmark
advertisements, like the largest billboard in the
country overlooking Sydney’s ANZAC Bridge.
And therein lies the opportunity for disruption.
Great OOH creative is smart about recognising
not only its own geography but the mindset
and needs of the people that share the space
with the advertising content. A recent study
in the UK showed that “people Out-of-Home
have a 33% heightened alertness than people
in home.” 2
OPEN 2 contains examples of OOH
that are short, sharp and impactful. These
are the ads that you notice and understand
immediately, even if you are driving home
thinking about what to have for dinner, or
telling your daughter to stop annoying her little
brother. The 3D Dove billboard from Australia
is a good example (pp. 72–73), as are the
Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia’s
billboards (p. 74), or Destination NSW’s Love
every second billboards (pp. 130–131).
Then there is the OOH that challenges
you to stand in front of it and read. There are
moments in our day when we stop rushing, stop
talking, put the phone away and are prepared
to be interested and engaged. Check out Write
your own ending from Bookworld (pp. 150–151).
The media environment is in a constant
state of change. Australian consumers are
thrilled about this, eager to adapt and embrace
the new. As the examples in OPEN 2 show, there
is power and potential in OOH to hook the
excited and media-savvy consumer, to create
outdoor interactive environments, to speak
to the digital devices that have become our
everyday compasses – to sell, to tell, excite
and inspire.
1
AC Nielsen 2011, OOH Public Attitude Study
2
Outdoor Media Centre UK 2014
/ 8

...

HUMOUR ME
11 /

SECTION 01
Humour Me
...
THE GREAT KIWI
HONESTY TEST
Barnes, Catmur & Friends
...
BLOODHOUNDS
The Richards Group
...
CLINGY ANIMALS
Lowe Thailand
THA COWZ
The Richards Group
...
BONDS – BOOBS
Clemenger BBDO Melbourne
SHOULD’VE GONE
TO SPECSAVERS –
AUSTRALIAN OPEN
McCann Melbourne
...
UNMEMORABLE CELEBRITIES
Maruri Grey
VARIOUS CAMPAIGNS
Extra Credit Projects
...
ICONS
JWT Manila
/ 12

DON’T MISS OUT ON SUMMER
Ig2
...
THE POWER OF COLOUR
Y&R Shanghai
WE WON’T WIPE OUT
YOUR WALLET
Clear Channel Outdoor
...
HEAR THE RUMBLE?
FEEL THE WIND?
Ogilvy CommonHealth Sydney
...
#LIVEYOUNG
BETC
BENYLIN MUCUS MONSTER
Vizeum
...
A DARE FIX’LL FIX IT
AJF Partnership, Soap Creative
WOULD YOU KISS YOU?
Y&R New Zealand
...
LUGGAGE TAGS
Ogilvy & Mather
...
THIS WAY. IT’S TIME.
Paradise Outdoor
13 /

The great Kiwi honesty test
Boundary Road Brewery
...
ADVERTISER
Boundary Road Brewery
PRODUCT
Alcoholic Beverages
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Barnes, Catmur & Friends
To launch Honesty Box Cider, Boundary
Road Brewery ran the great Kiwi honesty test
online. Consisting of 15 simple questions about
honesty, the test was taken by some 12,500 New
Zealanders. The questionable results (hundreds
admitted to lying during the test) were posted
on billboards as part of the campaign.
COUNTRY
New Zealand
YEAR
2013
View campaign video.
/ 14

15 /

Bloodhounds
The Dallas Morning News
...
ADVERTISER
The Dallas Morning News
PRODUCT
Media Company
MEDIA
Transit
AGENCY
The Richards Group
To promote the fact that The Dallas Morning
News has more reporters than any other
local area news source, the newspaper used
bloodhounds to represent their tenacious pack
of reporters, depicting them on city buses with
their heads sticking out of the moving vehicles.
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2012
/ 16

Clingy animals
Sunlight
...
ADVERTISER
Sunlight
PRODUCT
House & Garden
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Lowe Thailand
Detergent brand Sunlight was able to show,
in a very entertaining and cheeky way, how
it can wash away the tough stains and smells
that have a tendency to cling to dishes by using
images of animals desperately clinging to
plates, pans and griddles.
COUNTRY
Singapore
YEAR
2013
17 /

Tha Cowz
Chick-fil-A Restaurants
...
ADVERTISER
Chick-fil-A Restaurants
PRODUCT
Food
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
The Richards Group
The Chick-fil-A renegade cows have been
a staple part of this restaurant’s outdoor
advertising campaigns for many years,
desperately trying to convert beef eaters
into chicken fans using ironic humour.
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2013
/ 18

19 /

Bonds – Boobs
Pacific Brands
...
Following research that suggested many
women felt they couldn’t wear a Bonds bra,
Bonds wanted to show Australian women that
they had a bra for every woman, of any size.
The campaign began with a teaser that saw
Bonds change its logo to ‘Boobs.’
ADVERTISER
Pacific Brands
PRODUCT
Clothing & Accessories
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Clemenger BBDO
Melbourne
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 20

21 /

HUMOUR ME
Fiona Jolly, Chief Executive Officer,
Advertising Standards Bureau
...
Wherever we go there are signs of all shapes
and sizes. The question is whether we like
the sign, take any notice of the sign, or even
see the sign. From my years of experience
managing the Advertising Standards Bureau
(ASB) – the complaints arm of Australia’s
advertising self-regulation system – no
advertising is free of its critics, whether
it’s television, radio, internet, print or
Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising.
The fact that OOH by its very nature
is in public places – on billboards, bus shelters,
public transport – and cannot be hidden or
switched off like television, radio or internet
advertisements, means it will consistently
create debate in all sectors – the media,
government, the community, and between
advertisers themselves.
The nature of the ASB’s work has meant
that we have sometimes found ourselves in the
middle of some of these rigorous and, at times,
emotional debates.
In the past five years, the ASB has worked
closely with the Outdoor Media Association
(OMA) in putting forward sensible and factual
submissions to state and federal government
inquiries into OOH, ensuring we covered all
of the issues and criticisms raised.
In working with the OMA, we assured
OOH critics were listened to and we added
their criticisms to our regular research work,
ensuring that we maintain an up-to-date
understanding of community perceptions.
Fielding wide-ranging reactions and
formulating them into what can be termed
‘community standards’ has been part of the
ASB’s work since its inception in 1998. The
ASB has sought constructive feedback through
its various ‘community perceptions’ research
projects and these have provided OOH
advertisers with some evidence and answers
about the reasons for the very different
reactions to outdoor advertising.
To maintain a world-class self-regulatory
system, as well as high standards of advertising,
the continuous work of gauging people’s
reactions and perceptions is essential. This
work has led the charge in ensuring that,
when advertisers create slogans, pictures
and concepts for campaigns, they meet and
do not impinge upon community standards.
Also, importantly, the continual research has
highlighted that people’s reactions, perceptions
and knowledge change over time. Up-to-date
information about issues of community concern
is vital knowledge for advertisers, enabling
them to move in sync with the community.
Although considerable effort goes
into trying to predict where the community
will draw the line, the one subject that can
usually be relied upon to cause complaints
is sex. The list of the most complained-about
advertisements during the past 15 years
makes it clear that people are uncomfortable
with advertisements in the public domain for
certain products and services (eg condoms, sex
assistance) as well as highly sexualised images
(eg nude or topless women, intimacy).
Issues raised by the community were
considered in the research we conducted
into sex, sexuality and nudity in advertising.
Participants were very sensitive to issues
around sex and exposure of children to these
concepts. In particular, they were concerned
about the adoption of sexualised appearance
and behaviours, exacerbated by concerns
about reinforcement of unrealistic body
image expectations and the resultant selfesteem
issues. Explicit or highly sexualised
images were considered most offensive to the
community, which believed they should be
less available to children. The inability to turn
off such OOH was highlighted as a concern.
However, humour, relevance and artistic
23 /

HUMOUR ME | CONTINUED
...
ABOVE
Sexpo has made major changes
to its style of advertising.
/ 24
treatments of sexual concepts were found
to make an advertisement more likely to
be acceptable.
In the nine years I have been with
the ASB I have watched with interest the
changes in style of outdoor advertising. Of
particular interest are the changes made by
OOH advertisers to imagery and language on
billboards in line with community reactions
and feedback.
One advertiser, Sexpo, has made
major changes to its style of advertising.
After receiving complaints about its original
images, which depicted bikini-clad women in
sexualised poses, the advertiser considered
the issues raised and changed to more benign
images of couples smiling, while still using the
word ‘Sexpo’. This adapted style of advertising
did not have a negative effect; in fact, we are
led to believe there has been an increase
in attendance at these events.
I believe that community reactions
to advertisements will continue to differ and
change, and that OOH will move and adapt to
these changes as it has since the first billboard
was erected in Australia.
I also know the many different reactions
to advertisements will ensure that the
complaints process and decisions made by
the ASB will continue to receive both good and
bad press and that the value of self-regulation
of advertising in Australia will continue to be
debated. I see this as a positive. Debate after
all provides insight into issues.

Should’ve gone to Specsavers
– Australian Open
Specsavers
...
ADVERTISER
Specsavers
PRODUCT
Retail
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
McCann Melbourne
This Specsavers campaign ran during the
Australian Open with the creative specifically
targeted to the event. Following on from
previous executions, which showed people
doing silly things due to their poor eyesight,
this campaign featured a tennis player serving
a lemon instead of a ball.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
25 /

Unmemorable celebrities
Glue-it
...
ADVERTISER
Glue-it
PRODUCT
Office Supplies
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Maruri Grey
This campaign focused on the unmemorable
celebrities, covering their faces with a sticky
note to identify who they are while leaving the
true star untouched.
COUNTRY
Ecuador
YEAR
2013
/ 26

Various campaigns
Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital
...
ADVERTISER
Mary Free Bed
Rehabilitation Hospital
PRODUCT
Healthcare
MEDIA
Billboard
This successful regional campaign boasted
multiple billboards promoting Mary Free
Bed Rehabilitation Hospital’s programs and
specialised trauma recovery. The campaign
was inspired by a simple idea: what if
billboards themselves were the victims
of traumatic injuries?
AGENCY
Extra Credit Projects
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2013
BELOW
Break free orthopedic rehabilitation
OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP
Concussion rehabilitation
OPPOSITE PAGE, BOTTOM
Spinal cord rehabilitation
/ 28

29 /

Icons
Schick
...
ADVERTISER
Schick
PRODUCT
Health & Beauty
MEDIA
Transit
AGENCY
JWT Manila
To increase appeal to the male target market
and counteract a perception that Schick is
purely a feminine brand, this campaign used
a series of black and white posters featuring
iconic men with defining facial hair (eg Charlie
Chaplin and Mr T), cleverly associating
their distinctive grooming with the Schick
razor brand.
COUNTRY
Philippines
YEAR
2013
/ 30

Don’t miss out on summer
Allegra
...
ADVERTISER
Allegra
PRODUCT
Pharmaceuticals
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
lg2
To promote Allegra, an antihistamine known
for its rapid relief of allergy symptoms, an eyecatching
3D poster campaign was developed,
depicting a man blowing his nose using a part
of the poster. Each poster was individually
crumpled and stuck onto the man’s nose.
COUNTRY
Canada
YEAR
2012
31 /

The power of colour
Pantone
...
Pantone wanted to connect with a new
generation of young Asian artists and
designers. Using huge Pantone colour swatches,
they combined the uniqueness of the colour
with small sections of well-known cartoon
characters to intrigue the viewers into working
out which character was depicted.

ADVERTISER
Pantone
PRODUCT
Office Supplies
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Y&R Shanghai
COUNTRY
China
YEAR
2014

We won’t wipe out your wallet
Casteel Heating, Cooling & Plumbing
...
ADVERTISER
Casteel Heating,
Cooling & Plumbing
PRODUCT
Professional Services
MEDIA
Billboard
To announce its new line of plumbing services,
Casteel Heating, Cooling & Plumbing used
highly visible special-build billboards that used
a 3D empty toilet roll – complete with strands
of toilet paper flapping in the wind – to make
its point.
AGENCY
Clear Channel Outdoor
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2013
/ 34

Hear the rumble? Feel the wind?
Aspen Pharmacare
...
Aspen Pharmacare adopted a niche marketing
approach with this series of tactically placed
outdoor advertisements in railway stations and
lifts. The execution was humorous, impactful
and memorable.
ADVERTISER
Aspen Pharmacare
PRODUCT
Pharmaceuticals
MEDIA
Retail & Lifestyle, Transit
AGENCY
Ogilvy CommonHealth
Sydney
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013

#Liveyoung
Evian
...
Featuring the brand’s ‘Baby and Me’ creative,
Evian sought to raise the spirits of London
commuters by calling on them to find new
ways to ‘Live young.’ Content changed daily
and appeared on digital screens and escalator
panels across central London and Underground
stations, while the hashtag #LiveyoungJanuary
drove commuters to social media for a chance
to win prizes.
View campaign video.
/ 36

ADVERTISER
Evian
PRODUCT
Beverages
MEDIA
Digital
AGENCY
BETC
COUNTRY
UK
YEAR
2014
37 /

HUMOUR ME
Nigel Marsh, Chairman,
The Leading Edge
...
I’m the wrong person to ask about Out-of-
Home (OOH) advertising. I’m utterly biased.
Ever since I moved to London at the
start of my career I was smitten by the clever
posters I would walk past on my way to work.
Far from viewing OOH as visual pollution,
I thought it made the cityscape nicer (a view
rather dramatically reinforced and solidified
by a trip behind the Berlin Wall that winter).
The moment I saw the famous ‘I never read The
Economist. (Management trainee. Aged 42.)’
poster, I made a decision that I wanted
to work at the agency responsible for creating it.
Twelve months and a series of happy accidents
later, I was indeed lucky enough to turn up for
my first day of employment at said agency
– AMV BBDO.
Looking back, I didn’t realise how lucky
I was. For eight years I watched some of the
most famous and effective poster advertising
ever seen being written, sold and produced.
The Economist campaign defied all expectations
and continued to raise the bar: most memorably
on one occasion turning the tops of London
double-decker buses into giant 48-sheet posters
with the headline, ‘Hello to our readers in
high office’; on another producing a billboard
campaign that consisted purely of a blank red
poster with a small model of a fly stuck on the
top right-hand corner – no headline, no logo.
Amazing ground-breaking stuff. And boy was
it effective.
We broke all the rules and produced a car
campaign for Volvo that didn’t have any cars
in it, just the line, ‘Cages save lives’ above
pictures of scenarios such as a diver in a cage
being attacked by a great white, with the Volvo
logo below.
Of course, it wasn’t just AMV BBDO
leading the charge. There were a number of
agencies doing amazing poster campaigns at
the same time – everyone trying to out-do each
other; indeed, my all-time favourite poster
came from a competitor. It was for the new
Volkswagen Polo. Far from having no cars
in it, it was simply a huge pack shot of the new
model with the headline, ‘The New Volkswagen
Polo’ and underneath, next to the logo, a small
byline, “We never said the old one was perfect.”
Brilliant. Such confidence. And humour. And
simplicity. So perfectly on-brand, understated,
and appealingly humble. You can just imagine
all the reasons NOT to do that poster: “Ooh
be careful! You’re criticising the company!”
or “You’ll upset all our customers who have
bought a previous model” etc. Of course, back
in the real world, no one was upset, everyone
got it and felt all the more fondly of Volkswagen
as a result.
My love of good posters has its
downsides. I can’t see a bad one without
feeling a desire to call up the client and explain
where they’re going wrong. My wife rightly
points out that it’s got nothing to do with me
but I just can’t help myself. Someone should
have told them that their art direction is too
fussy and the copy too small to read standing
five feet away, let alone from a passing car. Or
that their agency has committed the cardinal
sin (in my eyes) of the ‘irrelevant attention
grab’, any idiot can get your attention (naked
body, dead body, swear word, etc). It’s doing
it in a branded, compelling, relevant way that
takes skill. And art, if I’m being totally honest.
I believe good posters are art. And I’m not just
talking about the stuff that Toulouse-Lautrec
and his contemporaries produced in France
in the late 1890s. I’m talking about the stuff
produced now.
But does it work? Well, one of the utter
joys of my role here at The Leading Edge is that
I have been exposed to decades of research
39 /

HUMOUR ME | CONTINUED
...
and market-mix models that prove beyond
question the added effectiveness of campaigns
when outdoor is included in the schedule. Our
research shows ROI increases anywhere from
20% to 38% when OOH is intelligently added to
a client’s plans. It’s rather lovely when science
backs up a long-standing personal prejudice.
It’s my belief that these types of results
will always be available to clients. Posters will
never go out of fashion. Whatever technology
throws up, people will always have legs and
eyes. However short people’s attention spans
become, there will always be a place in our
hearts and minds for a well-crafted picture
and six-word headline on the way to work.
RIGHT
The Economist campaign, turning the tops
of London double-decker buses into giant
48-sheet posters.
/ 40

Benylin mucus monster
Johnson & Johnson
...
Targeting commuters, who are more susceptible
to colds and flu in winter, this campaign ran
on the Luas tram network with a special build
at one of the busiest Luas stops in the heart
of Dublin.
ADVERTISER
Johnson & Johnson
PRODUCT
Pharmaceuticals
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
Vizeum
COUNTRY
Ireland
YEAR
2012
41 /

A Dare fix’ll fix it
Lion
...
This campaign humorously positioned Dare
Iced Coffee as the solution for those occasions
when you are caught with your foot in your
mouth. Using the digital network, Dare was
able to intermittently change its messaging
to capitalise on humorous topical events in
news and entertainment where people weren’t
thinking straight.
ADVERTISER
Lion
PRODUCT
Beverages
MEDIA
Billboard, Digital, Street
Furniture, Transit
AGENCY
AJF Partnership,
Soap Creative
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013–2014
/ 42

43 /

HUMOUR ME
Jane Caro, Writer, Lecturer
and Media Commentator
...
The most important – and also the most
neglected – part of persuasive communication
is that it must contain something unexpected.
This is the element that causes us to stop and
pay attention. It disturbs the usual and shakes
us out of our torpor. It is also the part of
a communication that those who commission
such things are most afraid.
When I worked in ad agency creative
departments, we often joked at how unerringly
many clients would find the idea in an
advertisement and demand it be taken out.
That’s because the idea – in an advertising
creative person’s terms – is the part of the
concept that makes it unexpected, different,
and, yes, a little bit disturbing. Sadly, without
an element of the unexpected, messages sink
without a trace. However deep your pockets,
it is no longer possible to bore people into
buying your product. These days, they will
either physically reject your message by fastforwarding
it, muting it, skipping it or – if all
that fails – by simply ignoring it. We’ve never
been so besieged by advertising messages and
never been so less likely to notice them.
Some advertisements, however, are
transcending the technology to such an
extent that they are becoming destinations in
themselves. Their creators have realised that
if you make the message relevant, compelling
and engaging enough, your audience will
also become your media. They will post your
message on their Facebook page and tweet it to
their followers. If they do that, discussions will
emerge around your message and it will become
not an intruder on the popular conversation (as
so many advertisements still are) but both an
instigator and an equal participant. That’s the
Holy Grail for any message.
For Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising
messages, however, the pursuit of the
unexpected in cynical, lazy or unskilled hands,
has the potential to cause real problems.
OOH messages have always had the
advantage of being harder to ignore. They
are able to intrude themselves into our
field of vision simply by being a part of the
landscape. You can’t even go to a public loo
these days without someone sticking an
advertising message on the back of the door!
This is also their disadvantage. Because
OOH advertisements cannot be avoided by
passers-by, there is an added responsibility
on advertisers in terms of their message. The
advertisement that might be unexceptional
in Zoo magazine, for example, is going to cause
trouble 24 sheets high beside the M1. I spend
quite a lot of my time as a media commentator
apologising on the advertising industry’s behalf
for ill-conceived posters.
Part of the problem is a lazy attempt
to gain attention via shock. There is nothing
intrinsically wrong with shock as a way
to include the unexpected in your message –
just as long as the unexpected is relevant and
appropriate. When it is borrowed interest,
however, or just a cynical attempt to cause
a furore and so gain free exposure, it may
work in the short term but, in the long term,
it increases pressure for creativity to be limited
by legislation, which will damage us all.
Advertisers, like any other participant
in the public space, have two sets of
responsibilities – to their client and to
society as a whole. Yet, to get noticed, OOH
advertisements still have to disturb the usual
by doing something unexpected. The task is
a tough one, but if you get it right, the rewards
can be worth it.
Create a message that disturbs your
audience in a positive way and you can spend
far less of your budget on buying media and far
more on making a really first-rate message
– be it for television, OOH, print, online or
45 /

HUMOUR ME | CONTINUED
...
whatever. That’s because, if they like it enough,
your audience will become your distributors.
Most humour is to do with the
unexpected. Often, people explode into
laughter from the shock of recognition –
something gets said that is often thought but
rarely gets spoken. Maybe it breaks a taboo
of some kind and so we laugh with the relief
at seeing our own private thoughts normalised
and confirmed. I believe that kind of laughter
diffuses shame.
Inspiration is about the unexpected too.
People who overcome great odds are unusual.
Where we fear we might fail, they prove you
can unexpectedly succeed, and that the very
worst moments can be transformed into the
very best. That’s unexpected, and so we pay
attention.
Acknowledging the negative is also
unexpected and paradoxically leads to more
trust in the truth of a message overall. If you
admit your weaknesses, I am much more likely
to believe you when you tell me about your
strengths.
Connection happens because of shared
emotions. We all live very different lives from
one another but we all feel the same emotions.
We all know what it is to feel joy, pain, fear and
hatred, even if they have been triggered by very
different life experiences. It is through our
shared emotions that we connect, no matter our
age, race, gender, religion, education or class.
When asked what he wanted his writing
to do, E.M. Forster (author of A Room with
a View, Howards End and A Passage to India)
said, ‘Only connect.’ It is in the unexpected
moment of connection via empathy, recognition,
shared shock and laughter that the message
goes home.
But don’t be cynical about it.
/ 46

Would you kiss you?
Schick
...
ADVERTISER
Schick
PRODUCT
Health & Beauty
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Y&R New Zealand
This Valentine’s Day campaign featured
attractive women in seductive situations and
asked men to consider how they would feel
if the tables were turned? Would they be more
inclined to get the razors out and let go of those
precious beards?
COUNTRY
New Zealand
YEAR
2013
47 /

Luggage tags
Expedia
...
Expedia sought to avoid well-trodden holiday
clichés. They took a piece of ephemera, used
by some 900 airports worldwide. Utilising
these iconic adhesive labels, clever puns were
created using the ubiquitous three-letter
airport designators. Each advertisement
included a punchline designed to look like
passport stamps.
ADVERTISER
Expedia
PRODUCT
Travel & Tourism
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Ogilvy & Mather
COUNTRY
UK
YEAR
2013
49 /

This way. It’s time.
Genesis Fitness Club
...
Though only a small fitness club in suburban
North Queensland, Genesis Fitness Club took
a big approach to its advertising, appealing to
local commuters on a quirky yet personal level
with its series of billboards.
ADVERTISER
Genesis Fitness Club
PRODUCT
Health & Fitness
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Paradise Outdoor
Advertising
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 50

...

SELL M
E
SOMETHING
53 /

SECTION 02
Sell Me Something
...
SUIMIN – AN ASIAN TAKEAWAY
IN YOUR PANTRY
Clemenger BBDO
...
A–CLASS
Clemenger BBDO, Foundation
...
CONNECT BETTER
Meerkats
MADE IN THE DARK
FOR A BETTER TASTE
The Red Brick Road
...
THE GREAT GATSBY
Village Roadshow
...
THERE’S A PAGE FOR THAT
Leo Burnett Toronto
VARIOUS CAMPAIGNS
Adams Outdoor Advertising, Fairway
Outdoor Advertising, Moroch and
TBWA Shanghai
...
LIVE TO DELIVER
PHD
DOVE IS DIFFERENT
Workshop
...
RAC INSURANCE
JWT Perth
...
GRAND THEFT AUTO V
Rockstar Games
/ 54

LISTEN FOR FREE
Glue Society
...
LUNA CORONA
Cramer–Krasselt
...
KETTLE CHUNKY
Scarlet Design Group
...
THE LION KING
Slingshot Production
...
THE NIGHT-TIME ECONOMY
DDB Melbourne
...
QUENCH YOUR CURIOSITY
Leo Burnett Sydney
COME TO PLAY
Walz Tetrick Advertising
...
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Village Roadshow
THE PERFECT AUSSIE
CHRISTMAS
BMF
...
RABBIT PIZZA
Barnes, Catmur & Friends
THE FASTEST WAY
TO TRANSFER MONEY
McCann Worldgroup
55 /

Suimin – an Asian takeaway
in your pantry
San Remo
...
ADVERTISER
San Remo
PRODUCT
Food
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
Clemenger BBDO
Taking Suimin’s Asian takeaway campaign
to new heights, a series of unique Thai-themed
bus shelters were created in areas close to
supermarkets selling Suimin products, driving
brand identity and influencing shoppers along
the path to purchase.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 56

A-Class
Mercedes-Benz
...
The all-new A-Class car advertisement was
designed specifically to reach a new, younger
buyer. Outdoor was chosen as the main
broadcast medium due to the light TV viewing
habits of the targeted audience. High-impact
formats were used to capture the attention
of a generation who largely dismissed
Mercedes-Benz as making cars for their
parents, not for them.
ADVERTISER
Mercedes-Benz
PRODUCT
Automotive
MEDIA
Billboard, Street
Furniture, Transit
AGENCY
Clemenger BBDO,
Foundation
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 58

59 /

Connect better
iiNet
...
ADVERTISER
iiNet
PRODUCT
Telecommunications
MEDIA
Billboard, Transit
AGENCY
Meerkats
iiNet delivered on its brand promise to ‘Connect
Better’ with this outdoor campaign. Services
that required more detail, such as ‘free in-home
tech support’, were explained in places where
people could be found waiting with time on
their hands, such as airport terminals and
train station platforms. Other messages were
designed to be more easily digested.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 60

Made in the dark for a better taste
Magners
...
ADVERTISER
Magners
PRODUCT
Alcoholic Beverages
MEDIA
Transit
AGENCY
The Red Brick Road
This eye-catching campaign dominated seven
underground stations across London and
Glasgow featuring all black artwork, with only
the product spotlighted.
COUNTRY
UK
YEAR
2012
61 /

The Great Gatsby
Roadshow Films
...
ADVERTISER
Roadshow Films
PRODUCT
Entertainment
MEDIA
Street Furniture, Transit
This campaign was designed to launch Baz
Luhrmann’s highly anticipated film adaptation
of The Great Gatsby, and featured stunning
visuals inspired by 1920s design and the stars
of the movie.
AGENCY
Village Roadshow
COUNTRY
Australia & New Zealand
YEAR
2013
/ 62

63 /

SELL ME SOMETHING
Ben Colman, Chief Executive Officer,
18 Feet & Rising
...
There are few purer tests of an advertising
professional’s talent than to create magic
out of a simple product truth. Bill Bernbach
threw down the glove in 1959 when he used
the humble product image of a Volkswagen,
underscored by the one-word headline
‘Lemon’ and word-perfect copy, to evoke
a truth about the compelling quality control
standards applied by the German car-maker
at the time. This now-classic ad is all about
the product. Adland has been chasing
such moments of simple genius ever since.
Or have they?
Over the decades, simple product-truthbased
advertising seemed to lose its place
in the sun and take a back seat as the industry
evolved. Through the 1970s brand image was
king, and The Marlboro Man rode ahead of the
pack. In the ‘80s and ‘90s the world chased
brand salience and emotional connection
as we all velcroed up our Nikes and were told
to ‘Just Do It.’ And more recently, through the
Noughties until today, the pursuit of brand
engagement through content, interaction and
data has become our guiding mantra.
Simple product-truth-based advertising
lost its cool factor in the creative departments
of agencies around the world. It never
disappeared completely but this style of
advertising certainly struggled for oxygen and
recognition for many years.
So, are product-centric advertisements
in the process of making a stunning comeback?
Perhaps. As ‘consumers’ redefine
themselves as ‘acquirers’ and take big steps
towards control of the advertising conversation
and transaction, many people seem less and
less interested in chatting with, or genuinely
engaging with, a whole host of brand categories
– “No, I don’t really want a social media
relationship with my shampoo.”
Today, people are almost in total control of the
dialogue and the choice to engage with brands
on their own terms. And many are choosing to
opt out of the game.
It is this shift in ground that seems
to be opening up fresh space for brands that
genuinely understand the simple role they play
in people’s lives and, importantly, are happy
to stay there rather than overreach. Now, more
than ever, there is great opportunity for brands
that genuinely know who they are and how
to express themselves – simply, clearly and
with confidence.
Bringing the product and its winning
features back into the limelight is hard for
many in the advertising industry to embrace,
as we have spent years chasing the Holy Grail
of ‘consumer insight’ to unlock wallets and
purses. The reality for many categories is
that ‘my research’ is usually as good as ‘your
research.’ It also seems to be the case that many
consumer-insight-driven ads leave you hanging
with a “So you understand me a little – so
what?” kind of feeling. History is littered with
such campaigns that forgot the product’s role
in the conversation.
The wonderful thing about advertisements
that stay grounded in a product truth is that
they rarely overstate the role the product plays
in our lives. They don’t over-promise and
therefore rarely stand at risk of overt rejection.
Ads that are a straight sell don’t reach too far
into your life and suggest you’ll be a better
lover, mother or provider.
Instead, product-truth ads invite the
reader, watcher or listener into a short moment
of empathy with the product through a great
demonstration or ‘wow’ piece of information
that evokes a quiet, “Hmm, you have my
attention, and I think I like you” response.
Great product-truth advertising briefly
65 /

SELL ME SOMETHING | CONTINUED
...
ABOVE
Dove is different, see full
campaign on pages 72–73.
/ 66
invites you into the product’s world. Once
there, you are given a clear and powerful sense
of “this is who I am as a brand” along with “this
is what I do better than anyone else.” The best
of these advertisements leaves you, as viewer,
with a powerful and unsaid call to action. Like
the brand is asking, “So, are you with me?”
Product demonstration done well has
always been among the most memorable of ads.
Great demos are also hard to beat in terms of
sales effectiveness. The recent Out-of-Home
(OOH) advertising campaign for Dove is
a great example. Here is a product that has
built a powerful category umbrella brand on
the compelling product story of not being soap
because it contains one-quarter moisturiser.
The OOH execution, featuring soap as the
cheese grater bad guy and Dove as the hero,
is consumed and understood in an instant.
The visually impactful advertisement leaves the
viewer to quietly confirm their agreement that
‘Dove is different’ (pp. 72–73) as they go about
their daily lives, until the next time they stand
in the beauty aisle of the supermarket. Job done.
Quite often, we don’t even recognise
a great product demonstration when we see
one because of the way it’s done. Apple has been
a master at this since the first iPod Silhouette
campaign with ‘1,000 songs in your pocket’
to the latest iPhone release.
They show how product demo advertising
never need be dull.
Few media provide a better test of
a product-truth-based creative execution, or
of a creative team, than the simple blank canvas
of an outdoor billboard. Distilling the product
truth down to a winning image, or a few key
words that carry the whole conversation, has
stolen many a creative team’s evening and
weekend.
But when done well, advertising simply
doesn’t get any better.

There’s a page for that
IKEA
...
This outdoor campaign was designed to
give people a reason to keep the new IKEA
catalogue around all year long by turning the
catalogue into a book about ways to deal with
life’s changes. Placed on billboards and bus
shelters, the amusing taglines and relatable
‘flagged’ pages were aimed to prompt
consumer recall.
ADVERTISER
IKEA
PRODUCT
House & Garden
MEDIA
Billboard, Street Furniture
AGENCY
Leo Burnett Toronto
COUNTRY
Canada
YEAR
2013
67 /

Various campaigns
McDonald’s
...
As one of the most prevalent fast food
advertisers, McDonald’s makes significant use
of outdoor advertising that uses innovative
bespoke builds, traditional layouts and simple,
emotive creative. Campaigns are usually
executed across the globe, requiring multiple
executions and slogans.
ADVERTISER
McDonald’s
PRODUCT
Food
MEDIA
Billboard, Street Furniture
AGENCY
Adams Outdoor
Advertising, Fairway
Outdoor Advertising,
Moroch, TBWA Shanghai
COUNTRY
USA & China
YEAR
2012, 2013, 2014
BELOW
Bag some dinner
OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP LEFT
Real. Good.
OPPOSITE PAGE, BOTTOM LEFT
Happy Meal
OPPOSITE PAGE, FAR RIGHT
History of the Big Mac

69 /

Live to deliver
FedEx
...
As sponsors of the world-renowned Wimbledon
Championships, FedEx created an incredibly
impactful outdoor campaign by turning
an everyday station platform into a lifesized
tennis court. It added to the hype and
excitement as it was positioned at the closest
station to the tennis tournament.
ADVERTISER
FedEx
PRODUCT
Professional Services
MEDIA
Transit
AGENCY
PHD
COUNTRY
UK
YEAR
2013
71 /

Dove is different
Dove
...
A bespoke build of a giant grater and Dove
beauty bar was the cornerstone of this
campaign. The special build was featured
on two of Australia’s busiest metropolitan
street billboards; one in Sydney and one in
Melbourne. The theme was also extended
across the eastern seaboard of Australia
on buses.
ADVERTISER
Dove
PRODUCT
Health & Beauty
MEDIA
Billboard, Transit
AGENCY
Workshop
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 72

RAC Insurance
Royal Automobile Club of WA (RAC)
...
ADVERTISER
Royal Automobile Club
of WA (RAC)
PRODUCT
Insurance
MEDIA
Billboard
A series of billboards designed to demonstrate
the depth of insurance offered by RAC, a car
and home insurer that puts helping its Western
Australian members at the heart of what it does.
AGENCY
JWT Perth
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2012–2013
/ 74

Grand theft auto V
Rockstar Games
...
Rockstar Games’ Grand theft auto V, was
launched with an extensive campaign featuring
large-scale portraits of the game’s characters,
executed across multiple formats in major
Australian capital cities.
ADVERTISER
Rockstar Games
PRODUCT
Games & Toys
MEDIA
Billboard, Street
Furniture, Transit
AGENCY
Rockstar Games
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
75 /

Listen for free
Spotify
...
This was the first Out-of-Home (OOH)
campaign for Spotify in the Australian market.
The use of clean, bright creative across Sydney,
Melbourne and Brisbane aimed to cut through
in the busy OOH space and capture the attention
of passers-by looking for a free music fix on
their mobile.
ADVERTISER
Spotify
PRODUCT
Entertainment
MEDIA
Digital, Street Furniture
AGENCY
Glue Society
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2014
/ 76

77 /

SELL ME SOMETHING
Ben Coulson, Chief Creative Officer,
GPY&R Australia and New Zealand
...
Imagine walking into a luxury store and
loudly announcing to anyone within earshot,
“Sell me something, God damn it. I’ve got
a hunger to buy and the buffet is open,
let’s eat!”
“Excuse me sir, can I help you (are you
crazy, should I call the police)?”
“You heard right, my consumer demand
is peaking and if I don’t get some retail relief
real soon, it’s gonna blow!”
Not something I’ve done before, but
it would be worth it to see the look on the
sales assistants’ faces as they struggled with
these new rules of retail engagement. You
are going to buy, it’s now just a matter of
what and how much.
It sounds a bit far-fetched, but this
is really what happens when we do our jobs
properly. People want to buy things. Sometimes
so much it doesn’t completely make sense.
It’s worth keeping in mind when selling
to people that advertising is demand stimulus.
We’re the ‘want makers.’ We are the hands on
the bellows that fan the flames of capitalism.
Okay, that might be a little dramatic, but
our role in driving confident and successful
economies is significant. Without sufficient
demand for goods and services, some of the
building blocks of the economy (like GDP) fail.
The right advertising moves a person
into the buying box seat. It isn’t some kind
of dark voodoo that can make us act outside
our will. But it is the little retail bird whispering
in our ear; the voice that says, “Go on, you really
deserve this. Hell, you actually need it. It’s
a very smart buy.”
And it can be a really fun game. We
all like buying stuff. And we like the whole
courting process (whether we admit it or
not). Often, it is a lovely flirtation, a little
psychological cat and mouse with our capitalist
programming. Done properly, it’s outright
seduction. Rational thinking is swept away
in the moment.
Suddenly, we have that new fishing rod
with laser scope, the smart TV that will let us
watch Game of Thrones nights before it runs in
the US, the blender that will make the smoothie
that will kick start our new healthy lifestyle,
the shoes that will absolutely make the outfit.
Think about some of the things you have
bought recently and the story you created for
why you need them: “It was such good value”;
“I’ve been looking for one of these for ever”;
“It will last a lifetime”; “It was the last one”;
“They have just come in and I was lucky to snap
them up.” Sometimes, we even need the things
we buy, but we still like to make up these little
justifications.
Whenever you notice yourself inventing
a wonderfully appropriate validation for your
purchase, understand you have been ‘sold.’
It’s not a bad thing, you’ve got the product
or service you wanted and it has been fun
choosing it. This ritual rationalisation is
just the last move in a big game of corporate
seduction (I’m sure market researchers have
a much fancier name for it).
On that note, marketing does have
a habit of turning this romance into a somewhat
less poetic science. We’ve all been in meetings
where the depersonalisation of the process and
the weight of anachronisms make it all seem
a bit creepy.
Selling doesn’t have to be creepy; it’s
not something to be ashamed of. Everyone
is selling something. The doctor is selling you
a way to get better (often involving at least
two consultations, a set of scans, plus a referral
and a trip to the chemist; masterful on-selling.)
The architect who built your home sold you
a vision, the yoga teacher a lifestyle, the school
a future, and so on.
79 /

SELL ME SOMETHING | CONTINUED
...
ABOVE
Highlighting the many destinations
British Airways flies to, digital
billboards in key London locations
featured signs that encouraged
passers-by to look up and spot
its aircraft.
The most important thing when selling
something is to be personable, respectful and
create a game that is fun for both the seller
and the buyer. Take a look at the recent British
Airways Outdoor advertising campaign that
tracks aircraft as they fly over. Or the lovely
Swedish hair care posters (p. 144) that respond
to the arriving trains. They are both great
examples of advertising that is able to have
some fun with its audience.
We need more work like this. It helps
change the still popular perception that we
are evil marketers running around with ‘brand
nets,’ trying to snare unsuspecting consumers.
An image we really need to retire.
A good place to start is to resist using
terms like ‘target market’ and ‘consumers.’
We are not hunting – and people don’t eat ads.
In any case, there is no value in tricking
someone into buying your stuff. That’s what
‘snake oil’ salesmen do, and it only ever attracts
fools and leads to you getting run out of town –
or lynched.
So, I like to start with the assumption
that people are saying, ‘sell me something’ –
meaning, they have some money they’d like
to spend, they want to be seduced, and the
game of determining which particular product
will best court their desires is afoot.
/ 80

The night-time economy
Westpac
...
ADVERTISER
Westpac
PRODUCT
Financial Services
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
DDB Melbourne
To promote its 24/7 self-service branches,
Westpac developed this campaign which
displayed a geo-targeted message to engage
people with its extended service offering.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
81 /

Quench your curiosity
Diageo Australia
...
ADVERTISER
Diageo Australia
PRODUCT
Alcoholic Beverages
MEDIA
Billboard, Transit
AGENCY
Leo Burnett Sydney
Recognising that people are moving away
from the traditional premix, Bundaberg Rum
brewed a series of crafted premixes offering
a desirable and authentic alternative for the
discerning drinker.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 82

Luna Corona
Corona Extra
...
ADVERTISER
Corona Extra
PRODUCT
Alcoholic Beverages
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Cramer-Krasselt
During the summer of 2013, the actual moon was
turned into the iconic slice of lime associated
with the Corona Extra bottle. After extensive
work with astronomers, the perfect location
in downtown New York was found where the
crescent moon would descend into the billboard
and fall into the neck of the beer bottle.
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2013
View campaign video.
83 /

Come to play
Kansas City Royals
...
When the Kansas City Royals signed three
star pitchers they celebrated with this
double billboard campaign. Positioned on
opposite sides of a busy highway, the creative
demonstrated the power of the pitcher’s
delivery as the ball seems to rip through
the opposite catcher’s billboard.
/ 84

ADVERTISER
Kansas City Royals
PRODUCT
Sport
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Walz Tetrick Advertising
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2013
85 /

The Wolf of Wall Street
Roadshow Films
...
ADVERTISER
Roadshow Films
PRODUCT
Entertainment
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
Village Roadshow
Roadshow Films let the money do the talking
with this campaign created to launch the
film The Wolf of Wall Street in Australia. The
cashed-up concept required security to guard
the advertising panels which were filled with
genuine $100 notes (to the value of $10,000)
being blown around the star of the film,
Leonardo DiCaprio.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2014
/ 86

Kettle Chunky
Snack Brands Australia
...
ADVERTISER
Snack Brands Australia
PRODUCT
Confectionery & Snacks
MEDIA
Retail & Lifestyle
AGENCY
BANJO
Over 60 shopping centre advertising panels
were converted into gigantic packets of chips,
some of which had sound, to promote the new
Kettle Chunky chip range. When shoppers
walked past a panel, the movement triggered
the sound of someone chomping on the chunky
chips followed by a “that’s crunchy” voice over.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
87 /

The perfect Aussie Christmas
ALDI
...
ADVERTISER
ALDI
PRODUCT
Retail
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
BMF
ALDI took its Christmas campaign to the
streets with an Aussie-themed Christmas
message, complete with surf board seats,
advertising its low prices on Christmas
lunch essentials.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013

Rabbit pizza
Hell Pizza
...
ADVERTISER
Hell Pizza
PRODUCT
Food
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
Barnes, Catmur & Friends
To promote its new rabbit meat pizza over
the Easter holiday break, Hell Pizza launched
this controversial billboard made entirely
of rabbit skins.
COUNTRY
New Zealand
YEAR
2014
View campaign video.
89 /

The Lion King
Disney Theatrical
...
ADVERTISER
Disney Theatrical
Productions
PRODUCT
Entertainment
MEDIA
Billboard, Street
Furniture, Transit
To promote the much anticipated return
of The Lion King musical to Sydney, this
attention-grabbing campaign ‘turned the city
yellow’ with transit wraps, billboards and
street furniture posters dominating Sydney’s
CBD during the production’s opening week.
AGENCY
Slingshot Production
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 90

91 /

The fastest way to transfer money
Western Union
...
ADVERTISER
Western Union
PRODUCT
Financial Services
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
McCann Worldgroup
Roadside billboards en-route to Western Union
money transfer outlets featured currencies,
which used faces from international banknotes
that changed as the driver drove past, to remind
them that the Western Union money transfer
service changes currency instantly.
COUNTRY
India
YEAR
2012
View campaign video.
/ 92

...

TELL M
E A
STORY
95 /

SECTION 03
Tell Me a Story
...
BIG QUESTIONS
Bulldozer
...
WE NEED YOUR HELP
Common Ventures
VARIOUS CAMPAIGNS
Serve Marketing
...
FAST FRONT PAGES
News Corp
ULTIMATE SURVIVAL ALASKA
National Geographic Channel
...
MAD MEN SEASON 5 TEASER
The Richards Group
WHAT ARE YOU DOING
TO YOURSELF?
GPY&R
...
ECOMOTIVATION
Leo Burnett Belgrade
...
SMART IDEAS FOR SMARTER
CITIES
Ogilvy & Mather
/ 96

PORTABLE WATER GENERATOR
FCB Mayo
...
TRIBUTE TO MANDELA
Clear Channel Outdoor
NEVER HIDE
Marcel Worldwide
...
GAYTMS
Whybin\TBWA Group
RECYCLE EVERYTHING
Grey
...
PLAN B
Ogilvy & Mather
LOVE EVERY SECOND
BANJO
...
WHAT R U HAVING?
Steve Minon in Exile
97 /

Big questions
Church of Sweden
...
ADVERTISER
Church of Sweden
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Billboard, Street Furniture
AGENCY
Bulldozer
This provocative campaign aimed to demonstrate
that the Church of Sweden is an open organisation
that encourages debate, whatever the subject and
no matter who wants to discuss the issues.
COUNTRY
Sweden
YEAR
2013
99 /

We need your help
Royal Institute for Deaf
and Blind Children
...
This pro-bono campaign featuring a teddy bear
with no eyes or ears helped raise awareness and
donations for the Royal Institute for Deaf and
Blind Children.
ADVERTISER
Royal Institute for
Deaf and Blind Children
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
Common Ventures
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 100

Various campaigns
City of Milwaukee Health Department
and United Way of Greater Milwaukee
...
Serve Marketing, North America’s only allvolunteer,
not-for-profit advertising agency,
worked with the City of Milwaukee Health
Department and United Way of Greater
Milwaukee to create two behaviour-changing
public service campaigns: one around the
growing social problems of teen pregnancy
and the other to raise the immunisation rates
for babies.
ADVERTISER
City of Milwaukee
Health Department
and United Way of
Greater Milwaukee
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Billboard, Street
Furniture, Transit
AGENCY
Serve Marketing
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2009–2012
BELOW
I want a strong baby
OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP LEFT
Think your teen life won’t change with a baby?
OPPOSITE PAGE, TOP RIGHT
Your baby’s not a baby anymore
OPPOSITE PAGE, BOTTOM RIGHT
Teen pregnancy, stop ignoring it
/ 102

103 /

Fast front pages
News Corp
...
ADVERTISER
News Corp
PRODUCT
Media Company
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
News Corp
The challenging objective of this groundbreaking
outdoor campaign was to increase
circulation of News Corp’s newspapers.
Recognising that newspapers continue to
set the daily agenda for other media, the
execution was to post the entire front page
of News Corp newspapers across hundreds
of outdoor sites in Sydney, Melbourne and
Brisbane by 6am, every day, for eight weeks.
At the time, this was the most logistically
complex outdoor campaign ever attempted
in Australia.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 104

105 /

Ultimate Survival Alaska
National Geographic Channel
...
ADVERTISER
National Geographic
Channel
PRODUCT
Entertainment
MEDIA
Billboard
This building wrap announced the premiere
of Ultimate Survival Alaska, on National
Geographic Channel. The execution needed
to match the extreme nature of the series –
to be big, bold, epic and, most importantly,
something you could only see on National
Geographic Channel.
AGENCY
National Geographic
Channel
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2013
/ 106

Mad Men Season 5 teaser
AMC
...
ADVERTISER
AMC
PRODUCT
Entertainment
MEDIA
Billboard
AGENCY
The Richards Group
This campaign aimed to use as few elements as
possible to remind people about the upcoming
season of Mad Men. The creative thinking: less
became more. With its controversial nature
and built-in mystery, the campaign went viral,
becoming an Internet meme overnight.
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2012
View campaign video.
107 /

TELL ME A STORY
Andy Lark, Founder & Chief Executive Officer,
Group Lark
...
Few start with it. Even fewer end with it.
Most include it – more or less. But rarely
does anyone start with it and let it dominate.
That’s how it’s always been with Out-of-
Home (OOH) advertising.
Some of the most memorable campaigns,
however, launched alongside Australia’s roads,
inside bus shelters and atop our buildings, teach
us that OOH is more than just part of the mix;
a checkbox to tick in effective planning. They
underscore that OOH can be the starting point
– or even the entire platform – for the creative
idea and campaign.
Who can’t recall the roadside image of
the kid’s eyes bleeding in the rain to emphasise
the need for driving safely in the rain? Or,
for us Kiwis, Tui Beer’s now iconic Yeah
right campaign? How about last summer’s
brilliant Bonds’ Boobs billboards? (pp. 20–21)
They all bet big on OOH and won – not just
hearts and minds, but also wallets. Much like
the Commonwealth Bank Can campaign,
Bonds teased the idea of Boobs before the
campaign broke, creating both anticipation and
talkability. OOH wasn’t just part of the mix,
it ignited the mix.
So it was at Commonwealth Bank in
opening the Can campaign. Billboards across
the country created anticipation and planted
the idea firmly in the minds of Australians.
By the time the campaign broke a week later,
Commonwealth Bank owned ‘Can’ and had
provoked a national conversation. OOH had
again proven its effectiveness as a potent
creative platform for reaching consumers.
Today the fight for consumer attention
has never been more intense and difficult to
win. As other traditional media channels dive
in priority in the face of the onslaught of digital,
OOH remains a crucial way to win mindshare.
It has firmly established itself, not just as an
integral part of the mix, but as a pivot point for
driving the success of campaigns. But simply
changing the way we think about using OOH
won’t be enough. We have to re-imagine the
potential of OOH itself.
Three forces are going to make OOH even
more crucial in the years ahead.
First, mobile. What happens on the phone
is less important than what the phone interacts
with. The camera, GPS and accelerometer
are just a few of the technologies driving
interaction. QR codes became one of the first
tools for driving interaction with phones. While
achieving limited popularity here in Australia,
it’s hard to encounter OOH in Hong Kong that
doesn’t feature them.
Like all early technologies, QR codes
were a signal of things to come. Near Field
Communications and iBeam will afford new
opportunities for interaction – for both content
and commerce. Imagine buying what you see
with a simple ‘tap and go.’
Second, data. To date, the majority of
OOH has featured limited interactivity. Most
video has been a rotation of fixed mass-market
messages. Big data coupled with dynamic
presentation will mean OOH gets personal.
Very personal.
So you ‘friended’ your favourite car brand
on Facebook. They’ve captured your photo,
digitised it to create a data fingerprint, and
reconciled your profile with their customer
database. They now know that presenting you
with a new car offer might not be so smart –
you just bought a new car months ago – but
presenting you with insurance, a credit card,
or other services will make much more
sense. So, as you are strolling down the road,
billboards change dynamically.
It’s all very Minority Report. And it’s
here now. Already, digital display systems that
identify consumers individually and then serve
the most relevant ad are being tested across
109 /

TELL ME A STORY | CONTINUED
...
Australia. OOH will not only get more relevant,
but also more contextual. It will know it’s your
spouse’s birthday this weekend and will offer
gift or restaurant suggestions. Or, that you’ve
just had a baby and are ready for nappies.
Billboards will become mood walls, shifting
content to create emotion and evoke a response.
Third, precision. Mobility and data are
going to underpin the precision of how OOH
works. But behind the scenes, all that data will
enable marketers to better understand how
OOH really works in the mix to drive marginal
improvements in revenue. Systems such as
those from MarketShare will enable marketers
to understand the marginal improvement
delivered by specific OOH units. They’ll
understand, for instance, that up-weighting
OOH around certain malls, impacts sales
disproportionately more over, say, a spend
on a digital campaign.
OOH can no longer be ‘out of mind’ for
marketers. It’s a medium rapidly becoming
as dynamic as digital and a go-to platform for
launching campaigns.
By starting the marketing journey
with OOH and extending it into rich content,
commerce and community, marketers stand
to reap rich rewards.
They just need to say ‘Can’.
ADVERTISER
Commonwealth Bank
PRODUCT
Financial Services
MEDIA
Billboard, Street
Furniture
AGENCY
M&C Saatchi
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2012–2014
/ 110

What are you doing to yourself?
New South Wales Health
...
ADVERTISER
New South Wales Health
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Street Furniture, Transit
AGENCY
GPY&R
To raise awareness of the negative consequences
of irresponsible drinking in young adults,
this thought-provoking campaign was
designed to initiate conversation with young
people, empowering them to take personal
responsibility for how much they drink and the
consequences of excessive drinking and public
drunkenness.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
111 /

Ecomotivation
Vip mobile
...
ADVERTISER
Vip mobile
PRODUCT
Telecommunications
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
Leo Burnett Belgrade
Serbia’s Vip mobile chose to do something
about its country’s poor eco awareness. Signs
in bus shelters were turned into Belgrade’s
only recycling spots while bus shelters in front
of neglected buildings were transformed to
demonstrate how the city could look.
COUNTRY
Serbia
YEAR
2013
113 /

Smart ideas for smarter cities
IBM
...
ADVERTISER
IBM
PRODUCT
Information Technology
MEDIA
Billboard, Street Furniture
AGENCY
Ogilvy & Mather
Demonstrating IBM’s commitment to creating
solutions that help cities all over the world
be smarter and make life in those cities
better, the ‘People for Smarter Cities’ project
created outdoor advertising with a purpose:
a bench, a shelter and a ramp were designed
to communicate a message while also being
functional.
COUNTRY
France
YEAR
2013
115 /

Portable water generator
The University of Engineering
and Technology
...
ADVERTISER
The University of
Engineering and
Technology
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Billboard
Peru’s University of Engineering and
Technology decided to tackle the very serious
problem of drinking water scarcity in Lima.
University students engineered the first
billboard capable of producing water from
the air, using the billboard as a portable
water generator.
AGENCY
FCB Mayo
COUNTRY
Peru
YEAR
2012
View campaign video.
/ 116

TELL ME A STORY
Rob Atkinson, Chief Executive Officer,
Adshel
...
I think that the most often used phrase in our
industry these days is ‘the only certainty is
change.’ And while it may be an overworked
cliché, like all clichés it has only stood the
test of time by being rooted in more than
a little truth.
You only have to take a look around to
see that while the power to entertain, inform
and create genuinely long-lasting relationships
with consumers remains the same, the methods
of delivering the message have never seen so
much change.
The advertising industry does a lot
of things, from creating billboard posters to
snappy jingled TV spots, from aerial banners
to iPhone games. And yes, we do all these
things well. But greatness in advertising occurs
through one thing and, surprisingly, it is one of
the oldest occupations known to mankind: the
ability to create and distribute great stories.
Cast your mind back to some of the
best advertisements that have moved and
engaged you over the last year. Whether it’s the
ubiquitous (but very, very clever) Dumb ways
to die campaign (p. 126) from Metro Trains
Melbourne, or some of the extraordinary
Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising executions
by Clear Channel Outdoor in the United States
such as Mandela tribute (p. 121). They all have
one thing in common: a compelling, easily
identifiable and well-told story at their heart.
And to use another cliché, ‘things can
only get better.’ With change lies opportunity,
and the technological developments in digital
and mobile are offering unprecedented
opportunities for creativity in storytelling.
It would be easy to simply describe
what we do as no more than renting our
consumer relationships to third parties. But
in our modern media world, advertising in
all its forms goes much further than a simple
transaction of eyeballs.
What new technology has bought to our
industry is an explosion of new ways to offer
consumers even more value from advertising
through education and entertainment. And
OOH is at the forefront of this revolution,
having evolved almost beyond recognition from
one-dimensional billboards to the immersive
and interactive experiences consumers
enjoy today.
Rather than limiting ourselves to passive
brand engagement, we now have the tools and
insights to create campaigns that translate
directly to purchase. The arrival of digital
billboards, premium OOH sites and more
creative thinking are turning outdoor media
on its head.
Pushing the boundaries of possibility
to take things one step further is one of the joys
of working in our industry. The key to success
is grasping the rapidly emerging opportunities
so as to redefine our position as the most
cutting-edge and integrated medium available.
I have been working in OOH for more
years than I care to mention and never before
have I seen so many exciting and challenging
ideas erupting from our industry.
The limits to what is possible will only
be determined by how far we can push the
creative process. Take IBM, for instance.
In a giant leap, they have transformed
traditional posters in France into street
furniture, creating new ramps, seats
and shelters (pp. 114–115).
Nearer to home, commuters in Sydney’s
Martin Place were recently shocked and
amazed by real dollar bills, guarded by
impressive security, used to launch the
Hollywood blockbuster, The Wolf of Wall Street
(p. 86) – a superb demonstration of using
creativity to bring a strong narrative directly
to people on their daily commutes.
119 /

TELL ME A STORY | CONTINUED
...
ADVERTISER
Taubmans Endure
PRODUCT
House & Garden
MEDIA
Digital
AGENCY
Jam&Co Design
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
At Adshel, we are no strangers to highprofile,
interactive and story-led campaigns;
in fact, we have been at it for some time.
Take Taubmans who came to us looking for
help to inject some inspiration into home
decoration projects.
We determined that inspiration can
strike literally anywhere and so we set about
creating interactive touch-painting panels for
Taubmans’ Endure range. The unique digital
panels allowed the public to embrace their
inner muse, playing with colour schemes
and techniques in real time, and on the go.
More than just a digital paintbox, panels
were positioned close to Bunnings Warehouse
hardware stores leading to a high rate of
conversion to purchase. And once our budding
decorators had settled on a colour scheme,
there was a QR code ready to send the final
palettes directly to their smartphones.
And the campaign worked, attracting
some 1,500 unique users, across six digital
screens in Melbourne and Sydney.
So, despite the excitement undoubtedly
generated by the method of delivery, the core
proposition remained simple: we allowed
potential customers to become part of the
Taubmans’ brand story, rather than simply
remaining interested observers.
This success story points the way to
connecting with a commuter base who are
more than ready to engage with advertising
that allows personality and individuality to
shine through strong and focussed storytelling.
Street level is a powerful place to be,
and the future is bright. All it takes is a little
creativity and left-field thinking to dominate
the advertising world in ways that other media
could only dream about.
We hold the keys to bringing the stories
to the street, using new and incredibly exciting
technology to connect the public with our
dreams and creations.
The modern world is fast paced and time
is tight, but we know one thing for certain: if we
harness the talent we have to create exciting
and immersive experiences, consumers will
join us on the journey.
So let’s be bold and continue to seize the
advantage we have created.
/ 120

Tribute to Mandela
Clear Channel Outdoor
...
ADVERTISER
Clear Channel Outdoor
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Digital
AGENCY
Clear Channel Outdoor
When anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician
and philanthropist Nelson Mandela died in
December 2013, his life was celebrated with
a week-long digital billboard campaign
featuring quotes from dignitaries including
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama,
President Barack Obama and Pope Francis, in
praise of Mandela and his influence. On the day
of Mandela’s funeral the quotes featured were
from the man himself.
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2013
121 /

Never hide
Ray-Ban
...
ADVERTISER
Ray-Ban
PRODUCT
Clothing & Accessories
MEDIA
Billboard, Street Furniture
AGENCY
Marcel Worldwide
Marking its 75th anniversary, Ray-Ban ran
a campaign comprised of seven photographs
each focusing on a different decade in history.
The stories behind the images were inspired
by real-life tales told on the Ray-Ban website.
Each advertisement carried the message ‘Never
Hide’ and aimed to celebrate people who have
flouted conventions.
COUNTRY
France
YEAR
2012
/ 122

TELL ME A STORY
Ben Welsh, Executive Creative Director,
M&C Saatchi
...
OOH!
If I had been asked to do an Out-of-Home ad
I would have written:
‘OUT OF HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS’
Then I could have got someone to make
it look nice, put my feet up and had a beer. But
for some divine sense of irony, the brief was
800 words on OOH. So here goes.
I was lucky enough to judge Outdoor
at Cannes last year [2013]. It was a remarkable
experience. There were over 5,000 entries and
they covered everything from a set of bathroom
scales with a mirror (don’t ask) to a massive
outdoor construction that captured drinking
water from the air.
The category encompassed pretty much
everything that appeared in the show, from
innovation to good old-fashioned 24-sheet
posters. It varied from daft to inspired, shit
to sublime, but at the end of four days of talking,
the ideas we were considering for the Grand
Prix tended to have one thing in common:
a social purpose.
These advertisements weren’t just
effortlessly communicating something, they
were part of the local community and they were
solving a problem. And in doing so, they told
a cultural story.
Let’s start with Egypt. Apparently loose
change is in short supply, so in the equivalent
of their milk bars you might be given a couple
of carrots in place of a few coins. This turned
out to be a huge opportunity for Vodafone
Prepaid. They circulated recharge strips, called
‘Fakkas,’ of varying small denominations to
these change-strapped milk bars. This use of
possibly the world’s smallest outdoor medium
led to Vodafone becoming the pre-paid network
of choice.
Closer to home (well, Cannes was home
that week) IBM were creating interesting
stories in Paris with more traditional OOH
with Smart ideas for smarter cities (pp. 114–115).
It was also one of those things that could have
been so very dull and corporate, and yet here it
was, not just delivering a message but providing
a useful function. After much discussion, it
ended up winning the Grand Prix. It was so
simple and clear and, if I’m honest, refreshingly
traditional (the mirror on those bathroom
scales had clearly upset everyone).
On the other side of the Atlantic, people
in Brazil were finding an opportunity in
another cultural phenomenon, football. The
state of Bahia, like the rest of the country, had
a problem with blood donations. They also
had a football club called Vitoria who proudly
wore black and red jerseys. To raise awareness
of the need for blood, the team took to the field
in black and white. As donations started to flow,
the red returned to the jerseys, one strip at
a time. My blood is red and black, and pure
genius. It wasn’t a poster, but it had thousands
and thousands of people staring at it for over
90 minutes, four weeks in a row.
On the other side of the Andes, a billboard
in Lima for the local University of Engineering
and Technology had been turned into a water
dispenser (pp. 116–117). Not through plumbing
but through, well, I don’t honestly understand
what. It had something to do with an air filter,
a condenser and a carbon filter. Anyway, the
end result was 96 litres of drinking water a day
served up to the world’s driest city, and a lesson
in why thirsty young Peruvians should choose
University of Engineering and Technology.
Okay, another ocean crossing, this time the
Pacific, which brings us back to Australia, and
work that ended up being the world’s most
awarded ever (I think).
Melbourne Metro Trains’ Dumb ways
to die had won everything at Design and Art
Direction (D&AD) and it was busy doing the
same in Cannes. Everyone knows the work
125 /

TELL ME A STORY | CONTINUED
...
so I won’t go on, but I’d like to point out one
thing. I think it told the world a story about
Australia. Here was a campaign singing about
all the horrible ways you can meet your maker.
It was such a happy song, and whether the
characters had been eaten, dismembered,
electrocuted or sawn in half, they kept on
dancing.
It’s the ‘never say die’ attitude, the belief
that ‘she’ll be right’ that couldn’t have come
from anywhere else.
ADVERTISER
Metro Trains Melbourne
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Street Furniture, Transit
AGENCY
McCann Melbourne
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2012
/ 126

GAYTMs
ANZ Bank
...
ADVERTISER
ANZ Bank
PRODUCT
Financial Services
MEDIA
Retail & Lifestyle
AGENCY
Whybin\TBWA Group
As the principal sponsor of the Sydney Gay and
Lesbian Mardi Gras, the ANZ Bank wanted to do
something special in 2014 to show its support.
The result was the transformation of the bank’s
inner-Sydney ATMs into dazzling GAYTMs.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2014
127 /

Recycle everything
New York City Department of Sanitation
...
ADVERTISER
New York City
Department of Sanitation
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Street Furniture, Transit
With a goal to double New York’s recycling rate
by 2017 and reduce the amount of garbage sent
to landfills, the Recycle everything campaign
demonstrated that cans, bottles and paper
can have a second life. The campaign featured
the first new recycling decal to be launched
in twenty years, appearing on public bins,
in apartments, homes and public buildings.
AGENCY
Grey
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2013
/ 128

Plan B
Transport for NSW
...
ADVERTISER
Transport for NSW
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Transit
AGENCY
Ogilvy & Mather
This multi-format campaign encouraged
people to actively consider how they will get
home after a night out on the town. It aimed to
educate on the numerous choices of alternative
ways of getting home and to encourage people
not to drink and drive.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
129 /

Love every second
Destination NSW
...
ADVERTISER
Destination NSW
PRODUCT
Travel & Tourism
MEDIA
Digital, Transit
AGENCY
BANJO
To promote Sydney’s unique tourism and
events experiences and attractions, this digital
media campaign used content generated by
Sydneysiders uploaded to key outdoor sites in
Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland featuring
people’s images of their favourite Sydney
events, places or experiences.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
131 /

What R U having?
Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
...
ADVERTISER
Parents and Friends
of Lesbians and Gays
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Billboard
The billboard promoted a website that hosted
a thought-provoking video about gay and lesbian
equality. At www.whatruhaving.org, the video
portrayed a young pregnant couple being told
by their obstetrician that they’re having
a lesbian – news they’re delighted to hear.
The video received 300,000 views in a month.
AGENCY
Steve Minon in Exile
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
View campaign video.
/ 132

...

INTERACT WITH
ME
135 /

SECTION 04
Interact with Me
...
THE SOCIAL SWIPE
Kolle Rebbe GmbH
...
GOOGLE PLAY
Mark (M&C Saatchi)
THE POWER OF A COIN
Kolle Rebbe GmbH
...
BLOWING IN THE WIND
Åkestam Holst
THIS IS A BENCH.
THIS IS A BEDROOM.
Spring Advertising
...
WITCHES OF EAST END
Pearl Media
WRITE YOUR OWN ENDING
VCCP
...
/ 136

VARIOUS CAMPAIGNS
BMF
...
GAME OF PHONES
Havas Worldwide Australia, One Green
Bean and Starcom MediaVest
. . .
TRAVEL WISCONSIN
Laughlin/Constable
SGIO – OPINIONATOR
Whybin\TBWA Group
...
UNBELIEVABLE
AMV BBDO
HALO 4 CAPTURE THE POSTER
Soap Creative
...
137 /

The social swipe
MISEREOR
...
ADVERTISER
MISEREOR
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Retail & Lifestyle
The social swipe is the first interactive billboard
to accept credit cards, making donating easier
than ever before. A credit card swipe through
the poster donated ¤2 to MISEREOR and
triggered an interactive experience; the card
cut a slice of bread from a loaf; illustrating that
the money donated was providing a daily meal
for a family in Peru.
View campaign video.
AGENCY
Kolle Rebbe GmbH
COUNTRY
Germany
YEAR
2014
/ 138

139 /

Google Play
Google Australia
...
ADVERTISER
Google Australia
PRODUCT
Entertainment
MEDIA
Digital
AGENCY
Mark (M&C Saatchi)
Labelled as a world first, this interactive digital
outdoor campaign for Google was launched
across major Australian airports to promote its
new Google Play shop. Utilising NFC, QR Code
and Red Crystal technology, travellers tapped
or scanned their mobile device to take control
of Google Play’s content across several
platforms and genres.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
View campaign video.
/ 140

The power of a coin
MISEREOR
...
ADVERTISER
MISEREOR
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Retail & Lifestyle
AGENCY
Kolle Rebbe GmbH
A billboard was turned into an interactive
web-linked donation box to raise awareness
that even a small donation can make a big
difference. When a person donated ¤2, the
various MISEREOR aid projects that the
donation would help fund would come to life
on the screen.
COUNTRY
Germany
YEAR
2012
View campaign video.
/ 142

143 /

Blowing in the wind
Apotek Hjärtat
...
ADVERTISER
Apotek Hjärtat
PRODUCT
Health & Beauty
MEDIA
Digital
AGENCY
Åkestam Holst
To introduce a new line of hair-care products,
digital screens on a Stockholm subway platform
were fitted with ultrasonic sensors that reacted
to the arrival of trains. This created the illusion
of a woman’s hair blowing in the wind from
the turbulence caused by the train’s arrival
or departure. This one digital panel went viral
online in over 190 countries, capturing over
2.5 million unique views.
COUNTRY
Sweden
YEAR
2014
View campaign video.
/ 144

This is a bench.
This is a bedroom.
RainCity Housing
...
To help communicate the specialised
housing and support services for the homeless
provided by RainCity Housing, two transit
bench installations were created. The first
transformed into a temporary shelter for
those in desperate need. The second was
printed with UV and glow-in-the-dark ink
to change the message at night.
ADVERTISER
RainCity Housing
PRODUCT
Public Interest
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
Spring Advertising
COUNTRY
Canada
YEAR
2013
145 /

INTERACT WITH ME
John Purcell, Commercial Director,
Operations & Business Systems, oOh! Media
...
“Don’t just talk to me, interact with me!” is
something that consumers are increasingly
demanding of brands.
With the rapid introduction of digital
technology and innovation, Out-of-Home
(OOH) advertising has led the way in bridging
the connection between brands and the
consumer. No longer do marketers use OOH
solely to gain a large brand presence. OOH
is now also able to deliver unprecedented
interaction between consumers and their
brands while they are away from home.
In recent years, we have seen some
of the world’s leading brands embrace the
new OOH offerings to engage with consumers
on an unparalleled level. Take, for example,
Google, HP and Microsoft who are increasingly
becoming bigger spenders in OOH. Why?
Because they seek to engage consumers with
innovations that match their brand’s positioning
and benefit from the two-way communication
that continues well beyond their first contact
with the OOH advertising face.
Last year, Google ran an OOH advertising
campaign in airports where consumers could
take control of the digital advertising panels
utilising NFC and QR technologies. In this
world-first campaign, travellers used their
smartphone or tablet to interact with the
Google Play store via the digital advertising
panels (p. 140), accessing content across several
genres such as Tweens, Professionals, High
Octane and Kids. Android phone users could
download selected books, movies, music,
magazines or apps directly to their phone
using the OOH provider’s free airport WiFi.
But OOH’s interaction potential does
not stop with what’s accessible via our
telephones or tablets using QR and NFC
technology. We have seen a range of other
innovations across all OOH assets that take
the connection between brands and
consumers beyond brand building to deep
engagement.
In shopping centres, the industry has
seen the introduction of technologies that
generate greater connection through sound
and scent. We have also introduced ‘digital
targeting’ technology that makes messages
more relevant and engaging based on factors
such as time of day or temperature. And
we have seen the introduction of advertising
panels that dispense products, vouchers
or information to the consumer.
One of the best examples of the level
of interaction the dispensing units generate
is a campaign by Meat & Livestock Australia
(pp. 152–153) where recipes were dispensed
to consumers with the push of a button. This
campaign, which distributed more than
20,000 recipes per month from 10 panels,
is a classic example of how engagement drives
sales: shoppers gained cooking inspiration from
the panels, and then purchased the ingredients
they needed.
We are also seeing greater engagement
with people for both static and digital
billboards via integration with social
media channels, where OOH drives social
conversation and vice versa. While still in
its early days, we have helped clients integrate
the most traditional media with new media
to amplify campaigns beyond what either
medium could otherwise offer.
One example of how social media can
integrate well with OOH is Virgin Mobile’s
recent Game of phones campaign (p. 158).
A purpose-built dynamic messaging platform
developed by the OOH provider enabled
Virgin Mobile to send real-time messages to
the participants on the digital network which
helped drive social gameplay and conversation.
Another example saw the rollout of interactive
touchscreen technology that allowed passers-
147 /

INTERACT WITH ME | CONTINUED
...
ABOVE
Pepsi Max Unbelievable, see full
campaign on page 165.
/ 148
by to take a photo of themselves ‘raising their
hand’ in support of the Australian Literacy
& Numeracy Foundation’s Wall of hands
campaign, which seeks to close the Indigenous
literacy gap. The images were broadcast onto
big digital screens and tagged to the individual’s
social media accounts where they could then
proceed to make a donation to the cause.
Globally, we have seen other leading
campaigns that are stretching the boundaries
of the once static medium. Take Pepsi Max’s
Unbelievable (p. 165) bus shelter campaign
in the UK. From inside the shelter it showed
the actual streetscape but, with the integration
of augmented reality, it also showed an
‘unbelievable’ event – from a giant robot crashing
through the road’s brickwork to a passer-by
being abducted by flying saucers. Another
campaign, for H&M’s new Isabel Morant
fashion line, gave consumers a sneak peak of the
collection hidden behind frosted OOH panels
when they tweeted the dedicated hashtag.
While all of these examples are exciting,
we expect to see the introduction of new
technologies and out-there thinking by the
advertising industry push interaction through
digital to even higher levels.
From a technology point of view, we
continue to see new innovations and maturing
technologies becoming increasingly viable
to roll out on a more significant scale. Of these
various technologies, the biggest game changer
in the near future will be the large-scale
rollout of touchscreen panels. As we all know,
the advent of smartphones and tablets has
delivered an expectation – especially for the
younger generation – that any screen requires
one touch to access information. Some of our
trials of touch-enabled campaigns demonstrate
that the engagement levels are much stronger
than for any other innovation. Then there
are new, but as yet unproven, technologies
that could potentially deliver even greater
engagement, such as Bluetooth Beacons that
send messages to a consumer’s telephone
within close proximity to the advertisement.
And watch out for facial recognition that will
tailor marketing messages based on specific
demographics. It is, however, early days for
these technologies and concerns whether they
can deliver real interactivity still need to
be addressed before they can be rolled out.
Ultimately, no amount of investment
in digital or new innovations will drive
engagement without strong creative. If OOH
is to continue growing, the real challenge
the industry needs to remain focused on is
encouraging and developing good creative.

Witches of East End
Lifetime
...
ADVERTISER
Lifetime
PRODUCT
Entertainment
MEDIA
Digital
To promote Lifetime’s new series Witches
of East End, an interactive gesture wall was
installed at Columbus Circle subway station in
New York. Using a gesture recognition enabled
camera, a giant eyeball followed passing
commuters. If a commuter looked at the wall,
the iris of the eye would explode with flying
crows. Commuters could also use their hands
to control two fire embers to incinerate
a decaying forest.
AGENCY
Pearl Media
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2013
149 /

Write your own ending
Bookworld
...
ADVERTISER
Bookworld
PRODUCT
Recreation & Leisure
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
VCCP
This campaign promoted Bookworld’s
Christmas competition by filling bus and tram
stops with books. Staff were on hand to remove
the glass covering the shelves at selected sites
in Sydney and Melbourne to allow commuters
to take books home with them.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
View campaign video.
151 /

Various campaigns
Meat & Livestock Australia
...
NFC/QR Code and retail dispensing technology
was used by Meat & Livestock Australia to
promote its beef and lamb products. The
campaigns allowed people to download recipes
to their smartphones or print out recipes while
shopping. The recipes were changed depending
on the weather.
ADVERTISER
Meat & Livestock Australia
PRODUCT
Food
MEDIA
Retail & Lifestyle, Street
Furniture
AGENCY
BMF
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
BELOW
Nothing beats beef
OPPOSITE PAGE
Lamb is for lovers and Easy lamb roast
/ 152

153 /

INTERACT WITH ME
Leo Roberts, Group Marketing Manager, Integrated
Marketing Communications, Coca-Cola, South Pacific
...
We all know that the world of marketing
communications has changed. Scratch that.
We all know that the world of marketing
communications is constantly changing.
It’s not fixed, it’s dynamic. It’s that dynamism
that inspires us. It’s that dynamism that
infuriates us. Just when we think we know
how to act, we actually need to react. The
pace of change is phenomenal. It’s hard to
fathom. In many ways, it’s overwhelming.
But it’s also very, very exciting.
There are a lot of factors that contribute
to this change, but there is no doubt (in my mind
at least) the greatest single factor influencing
the evolution of marketing communications
today is technological advancement. Not
only have the opportunities for marketers to
connect their brands and ideas with consumers
exploded but also, and perhaps more
importantly, consumers can now choose the
way in which they connect with brands. That’s
the fascinating bit!
Every marketer today knows that
consumers are no longer powerless recipients
of our messages. We know that they can easily
shun our advances if they so choose. While
this is important to note, the more important
fact is that it is just that, a choice, and it does
not necessarily have to be the outcome. Yes,
consumers can now time-shift their way to
a commercial free Utopia (I know I often do)
but, at the same time, technology has opened up
a myriad opportunities. It allows us to partner
with consumers. It facilitates and encourages
participation in our brands and ideas and,
ultimately, it enables us to harness them as
distribution partners.
So what are some good examples?
The fact is there are quite a few but
I’ve selected three of the most recent and
my personal favourites.
The first, New Zealand’s Powerade
challenge, has technology absolutely at its heart,
in this case, Radio-Frequency Identification
(RFID). The campaign was specifically
designed to encourage consumer interaction,
with the ultimate aim of integrating Powerade
into the training regimes of our consumer
target. We designed a fully interactive outdoor
fitness course along the Auckland foreshore
where people could train. Large-format
billboards were then placed along the course
that, using RFID, communicated personalised
messages of support to each individual. The
results spoke for themselves and are probably
best evidenced by the fact that the Powerade
challenge is now in its fourth year and consumer
participation continues to grow.
Another example is from Fanta. Given
we wanted to reach teens, we knew that our
communications absolutely needed to be fun,
participatory and interactive. Technology was
again at the heart of this campaign, in this
case a mobile application. Along with a series
of games, the application was designed to
allow consumers to interact with the outdoor
elements of the campaign. The introduction
of image recognition technology made the
Fanta characters appear to jump from the
outdoor panels and be caught within the
application. The result was that, instead of just
communicating at teens, we used technological
innovation to encourage them to lean into the
campaign, to actively choose to participate and
to have fun with the brand and its idea.
The final example is Coca-Cola’s 2011
Share a Coke campaign. For this, we took our
iconic Kings Cross outdoor site and, through
the application of different technologies,
used it to launch the campaign in a truly
participatory way. For three nights, consumers
were able to text their name, or the names
of their loved ones, and see them ‘magically’
appear on the iconic billboard. Through
155 /

INTERACT WITH ME | CONTINUED
...
technology, we partnered with people. We
handed our sign over to them and encouraged
them to get involved. Ultimately, we delivered
a branded experience that not only disrupted
but created excitement and engaged. Most
importantly, the intent of the campaign and
what is at the heart of the Coca-Cola brand was
delivered, that being: enabling a connection
with the world and those around us.
These three examples are just a small
demonstration of how we have used technology
to enhance our outdoor communications. They
also demonstrate our intent in this area and,
more broadly, across all connection points.
There are a lot more examples such as Coca-
Cola’s Small world machines campaign (right),
which used vending machines with cameras
and 3D touch screens to stream live video
between India and Pakistan. And we are not
the only organisation seeking to embrace the
constant change that technological advances
create. While at times this change can be
challenging, we choose to accentuate the
opportunities. Why? Because this is how a real
connection between a brand, its idea and
a person is created. It’s also what makes the
job so exciting.
ADVERTISER
Coca-Cola
PRODUCT
Beverages
MEDIA
Digital
AGENCY
Leo Burnett Sydney
COUNTRY
Pakistan & India
YEAR
2013
View campaign video.
/ 156

157 /

Game of phones
Virgin Mobile
...
Virgin Mobile Australia’s Game of phones
was Australia’s largest ever location-based,
alternative reality mobile app. Played by almost
40,000 Australians in the three weeks it was
live participants competed to win travel prizes
worth over $200,000.
ADVERTISER
Virgin Mobile
PRODUCT
Telecommunications
MEDIA
Digital
AGENCY
Havas Worldwide
Australia, One Green
Bean and Starcom
MediaVest
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
View campaign video.
/ 158

Travel Wisconsin
Wisconsin Department of Tourism
...
ADVERTISER
Wisconsin Department
of Tourism
PRODUCT
Travel & Tourism
MEDIA
Street Furniture
This campaign saw six Chicago bus shelters
transformed to feature Wisconsin holiday
activities. The bottom half of the panels showed
a classic summer activity such as water tubing
or fishing, while the top half of the panel had an
adhesive mirror so that people waiting for the
bus could see themselves reflected enjoying the
fun summer activity.
AGENCY
Laughlin/Constable
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2012
159 /

SGIO – opinionator
Insurance Australia Group
...
ADVERTISER
Insurance Australia
Group
PRODUCT
Insurance
MEDIA
Retail & Lifestyle, Street
Furniture
To launch its new car insurance package,
SGIO’s campaign enabled customers to engage
with an interactive LED panel and vote on
which element of a car was most important
to them.
AGENCY
Whybin\TBWA Group
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2013
/ 160

161 /

INTERACT WITH ME
Luke Chess, Creative Director,
MJW Australia
...
Every year, approaching Australian
television’s ‘night of nights,’ the Logie
Awards, a promotional competition is run
– the prize being a seat for you, the average
punter, at one of the tables among the stars
on the night.
I imagine this would be thoroughly
awful. After all, you’d be sitting there as ‘the
competition winner’ among a group of A, B
and C-list celebrities, not because you’d worked
to get there, or were a genuine part of that
community, but only because you’d bought
a certain magazine or called a 1900 number.
After a cursory chat establishing your complete
lack of credentials, I reckon you’d be ignored
by all; overlooked and lonely for the rest of the
evening. “A competition you say? How lovely.
Anyway Rove, as I was saying …”
Which brings me, in a roundabout way,
to the subject of advertising.
There’s currently much agitation among
marketers and ad types, particularly stimulated
by the impact of digital technologies, about
the relative merits and features of ‘bought’
vs ‘earned’ media.
Now it goes without saying that digital
has affected practically every industry on
earth. Photographers no longer use film.
Libraries have done away with books. Bank
robbers no longer use masks and crowbars etc.
And while the impact upon advertising media
is perhaps more subtle, it’s equally forceful.
As we know, access to the ears, eyeballs
and brains of ‘consumers’ (referred to from
now on more correctly as ‘people’) has become
democratised. Via web, mobile, or invisible
codes that materialise only in a virtual
world, practically anyone can now start
a conversation. And with a smartphone in the
pocket of nearly every Australian, practically
anyone can participate.
This means that to any real degree the
only distinction between ‘bought’ and ‘earned’
media exists on a brand’s balance sheet. People
know not and care not for the difference. They
simply experience the clamour of thousands
of voices wanting their attention. Howard
Gossage’s oft-quoted observation from half
a century ago has never been more relevant:
“Nobody reads ads. People read what interests
them. Sometimes it’s an ad.”
Sitting in the public spaces of
Melbourne’s Federation Square during the
2011 Melbourne Writers’ Festival, which would
interest you more? An expected advertising
message on the enormous billboard opposite?
Or a clever short story embedded into your
phone’s WiFi selection options – DRAGON
SLAYER PURSUED BY ANIMAL RIGHTS
ACTIVISTS – to promote the festival? (Along
with many other stories that made up the
festival’s Wi-Fiction campaign.)
When a company doesn’t even need to
pay for bricks and mortar stores – as Chinese
retailer Yihaodian proved by opening 1,000
virtual ones in augmented reality overnight –
why should they pay for any media to promote
themselves?
The answer is, like winning that Logies’
competition, paid media at least guarantees
a seat at the table. And visibility is still crucial
to making an impact – it’s just that it’s no
longer sufficient (if indeed it ever was). When
you’re appearing in paid Out-of-Home (OOH)
advertising nowadays, it’s not enough to be the
most interesting poster in town. You need
to be more interesting than the skywriter
overhead, the bus driving past, the smartphone
in my hand … or, perhaps, more interesting with
the smartphone in my hand.
In the US, clothing behemoth GAP now
supplements its traditional bus stop ads with
163 /

INTERACT WITH ME | CONTINUED
...
ABOVE
Smart ideas for smarter cities, see
full campaign on pages 114–115.
geo-targeted coupon offers embedded into
your ‘Words With Friends’ games on your
smartphone: “Hey, you’re in the area, why
not pop in?”
Adidas Japan, promoting a World Cup
qualifier, encouraged people to ‘throw in’
a soccer ball to star player Shinji Kagawa,
with the action played out on a giant screen
in Tokyo. The resultant goal was credited
to Kagawa and the thrower, using the latter’s
Facebook profile.
Of course, OOH interactivity isn’t limited
to your smartphone. It can involve bespoke
technology of the highest level, such as when
Coca-Cola created a high-tech eye-to-eye video
link between India and Pakistan to help the
citizens of these international rivals share
a human moment (and a Coke) (pp. 156–157).
Or, it can involve lo-tech smarts, like IBM’s
French billboards that can function as a seat,
a shelter or an accessibility ramp (pp. 114–115).
Clearly, the challenges that growing
magnitudes of interactivity present are not paid
media’s alone. Spare a thought (but only a very
small thought) for the organisers of the world’s
advertising and design award shows, such
as Cannes Lions. Their categories are eating
each other. OOH ideas are also promotional
ideas are also mobile ideas are also PR ideas
are also design ideas… so an increased number
of categories is resulting not in more winners,
but often in the same winners across multiple
categories.
This reflects the desire of marketers and
their agencies to find ever newer and fresher
ways to interact with people, and to be first
to market with them. This, in turn, reflects
people’s desire to interact in interesting new
ways, not the same old ones.
Hence, today’s successful marketers
look to build experiences that cut across the
arbitrary intersections of ‘media’, ‘digital’, ‘PR’,
‘advertising’ and ‘design,’ visualising brands
not as a series of discrete media campaigns, but
rather as ongoing stories that people can and
will dip in and out of. Ultimately, the desired
result for a brand, outdoors and elsewhere,
must be meaningful interaction.
A prime OOH site gives a brand
a desirable and prominent seat at the table.
But it’s what a brand does, on that site and
in the rest of the world, which determines
whether it actually participates in any
conversation.
/ 164

Unbelievable
Pepsi Max
...
ADVERTISER
Pepsi Max
PRODUCT
Beverages
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
AMV BBDO
As part of the Pepsi Max Unbelievable
campaign, an ‘unbelievable’ experience was
brought to its audience with an augmented
reality bus shelter. By mapping 3D animations
over a live HD video feed, unsuspecting
commuters were pranked with alien invasions,
runaway tigers and a giant pedestrian-grabbing
tentacle. People’s reactions were captured and
shared on YouTube, receiving millions of views.
COUNTRY
UK
YEAR
2014
View campaign video.
165 /

Halo 4 – capture the poster
Microsoft Xbox
...
ADVERTISER
Microsoft Xbox
PRODUCT
Games & Toys
MEDIA
Street Furniture
AGENCY
Soap Creative
For the much-hyped release of the Halo 4 video
game, an interactive scavenger hunt on outdoor
panels was created that saw fans racing across
Sydney and Melbourne in a bid to take home
a highly coveted autographed Halo poster. Fans
competed to be the first to tap the NFC sticker
on the panel in which the poster was housed.
COUNTRY
Australia
YEAR
2012
View campaign video.
/ 166

...

SCAN ME
169 /

Scan Me
...
HUMOUR ME:
SELL ME SOMETHING:
TELL ME A STORY:
The great Kiwi honesty test
Boundary Road Brewery
...
View campaign on page 14–15
Luna Corona
Corona Extra
...
View campaign on page 83
Mad Men Season 5 teaser
AMC
...
View campaign on page 107
#Liveyoung
Evian
...
View campaign on page 36–37
Rabbit pizza
Hell Pizza
...
View campaign on page 89
Portable water generator
The University of
Engineering and
Technology
...
View campaign on page 116–117
The fastest way to
transfer money
Western Union
...
View campaign on page 92
What R U having?
Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays
...
View campaign on page 132
/ 170

INTERACT WITH ME:
The social swipe
MISEREOR
...
View campaign on page 138–139
Blowing in the wind
Apotek Hjärtat
...
View campaign on page 144
Game of phones
Virgin Mobile
...
View campaign on page 158
Google Play
Google Australia
...
View campaign on page 140–141
Write your own ending
Bookworld
...
View campaign on page 150–151
Unbelievable
Pepsi Max
...
View campaign on page 165
The power of a coin
MISEREOR
...
View campaign on page 142–143
Small world machines
Coca-Cola
...
View campaign on page 156–157
Halo 4 – capture the poster
Microsoft Xbox
...
View campaign on page 166
171 /

Index
...
NUMERIC
#Liveyoung 36–37, 170
18 Feet & Rising 5, 65
A
A-Class 58–59
AC Nielsen 6,7
Adams Outdoor Advertising 68
Adidas Japan 164
Adshel 5, 119
Advertising Standards Bureau 5, 23
AJF Partnership 42
Akestam Holst 144
ALDI 88
Allegra 31
AMC 107, 170
AMV BBDO 39, 165
ANZ Bank 5, 127
Apotek Hjartat 144, 171
Aspen Pharmacare 35
Atkinson, Rob 5, 118–120
Australian Literacy & Numeracy Foundation 148
B
Bag some dinner 68
BANJO 87, 131
Barnes, Catmur & Friends 14, 89
Benylin mucus monster 41
BETC 37
Big questions 98–99
Bloodhounds 16
Blowing in the wind 80, 144, 171
Bluetooth Beacons 148
BMF 88, 152
Bonds –Boobs 20–21, 109
Bookworld 151, 171
Boundary Road Brewery 14–15, 170
Break free orthopedic rehabilitation 28
British Airways 80
Bulldozer 99
Bundaberg Rum 82
C
Can 109–110
Cannes Lions 5, 125, 164
Caro, Jane 5, 44–46
Casteel Heating, Cooling & Plumbing 34
Chess, Luke 5, 162–164
Chick-fil-A Restaurants 18
Church of Sweden 99
City of Milwaukee Health Department 102
Clear Channel Outdoor 34, 121
Clemenger BBDO 20, 56, 58
Clingy animals 17
Coca-Cola 5, 155–156, 164, 171
Colman, Ben 5, 64–66
Concussion rehabilitation 29
Come to play 84–85
Common Ventures 100
Commonwealth Bank 109–110
Connect better 60
Corona Extra 83, 170
Coulson, Ben 5, 78–80
Cramer-Krasselt 83
D
Dallas Morning News 16
Dare fix’ll fix it 42–43
DDB Melbourne 81
Destination NSW 8, 131
Diageo Australia 82
Disney Theatrical 90
Disneyland 7
Don’t miss out on summer 31
Dove 8, 66, 72
Dove is different 66, 72–73
Dumb ways to die 119, 125, 126
E
Easy lamb roast 153
Ecomotivation 112–113
Economist 39, 40
Evian 36–37, 170
Expedia 49
Extra Credit Projects 28
F
Facebook 109
facial recognition 148
Fairway Outdoor Advertising 68
Fanta 155
Fast front pages 104–105
Fastest way to transfer money 92, 170
FCB Mayo 116
FedEx 71
Forster, E. M. 46
Foundation 58
G
Game of phones 147, 158, 171
GAP 163
GAYTMs 5, 127
Genesis Fitness Club 50
Glue-it 26
Glue Society 76
Google 147
Google Australia 140, 171
Google play 140–141, 147, 171
Gossage, Howard 163
GPY&R 111
GPY&R Australia and New Zealand 5, 79
Grand theft auto V 75
Great Gatsby 62–63
Great Kiwi honesty test 14–15, 170
Grey 128
Group Lark 5, 109
H
H&M 148
Halo 4 – capture the poster 166, 171
Happy Meal 69
Havas Worldwide Australia 158
Hear the rumble? Feel the wind? 35
Hegarty, Sir John 1, 5
Hell Pizza 89, 170
History of the Big Mac 69
Honesty Box Cider 14–15
HP 147
Huntley, Dr Rebecca 6–7
/ 172

I
I want a strong baby 102
IBM 7, 115, 119, 125, 164
Icons 30
Ig2 31
iiNet 60
IKEA 67
Insurance Australia Group 160
iPod Silhouette 66
Ipsos 7
Isabel Morant 148
J
Jam&Co Design 120
Johnson & Johnson 41
Jolly, Fiona 5, 22–24
Just Do It 65
JWT Manila 30
JWT Perth 74
K
Kansas City Royals 84–85
Kettle Chunky 87
Kolle Rebbe GmbH 138, 142
L
Lamb is for lovers 153
Lark, Andy 5, 108–110
Laughlin/Constable 159
Leading Edge 5, 39
Leo Burnett Belgrade 113
Leo Burnett Sydney 82, 156, 171
Leo Burnett Toronto 67
Lifetime 149
Lion 42
Lion King 90–91
Listen for free 76–77
Live to deliver 70–71
Liveyoung 36–37, 170
Love every second 8, 130–131
Lowe Thailand 17
Luggage tags 48–49
Luna Corona 83, 170
M
M&C Saatchi 5, 110, 125
Mad Men Season 5 teaser 107, 170
Made in the dark for a better taste 61
Magners 61
Mandela tribute 119, 121
Marcel Worldwide 122
Mark (M&C Saatchi) 140
Marlboro Man 65
Marsh, Nigel 5, 38–40
Maruri Grey 26
Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital 28–29
McCann Melbourne 25, 126
McCann Worldgroup 92
McDonald’s 5, 68–69
Meat & Livestock Australia 147, 152–153
Meerkats 60
Mercedes-Benz 58
Metro Trains Melbourne 119, 125–126
Microsoft 147
Microsoft Xbox 166, 171
Mind and Mood Report 7–8
MISEREOR 138, 142, 171
MJW Australia 5, 163
mobile devices 8, 109, 140
Moldrich, Charmaine 4–5
Moroch 68
N
National Geographic Channel 106
Near Field Communication (NFC) 5, 109, 140, 147,
152, 166
Never hide 122–123
New South Wales Health 111
New York City Department of Sanitation 128
News Corp 104
Night-time economy 81
Nike 65
Nothing beats beef 152
O
Ogilvy & Mather 49, 115, 129
Ogilvy CommonHealth Sydney 35
One Green Bean 158
oOh! Media 5, 147
Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising , 7, 23, 39, 45, 66,
109, 119, 125, 147, 163
Out-of-Home (OOH) industry 5
Outdoor Media Association (OMA) 5, 23
P
Pacific Brands 20
Pantone 32–33
Paradise Outdoor Advertising 50
Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays 132,
170
Pearl Media 149
Pepsi Max 8, 148, 165, 171
Perfect Aussie Christmas 88
PHD 71
Plan B 129
Portable water generator 116–117, 125, 170
Power of a coin 142–143, 171
Power of colour 32–33
Powerade challenge 155
Purcell, John 5, 146–148
Q
QR Code 109, 120, 140, 147, 152
Quench your curiosity 82
R
Rabbit Pizza 89, 170
RAC Insurance 74
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) 155
RainCity Housing 145
Ray-Ban 122
Real. Good. 69
Recycle everything 128
Red Brick Road 61
Red Crystal 140
Richards Group 16, 18, 107
Roadshow Films 62, 86
173 /

Index (continued)
...
R (CONTINUED)
Roberts, Leo 5, 154–156
Rockstar Games 75
Royal Automobile Club of WA (RAC) 8, 74
Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children 100
S
San Remo 56
Schick 30, 47
Serve Marketing 102
sex in advertising 23–24
Sexpo 24
SGIO – opinionator 160–161
Share a Coke 155
Should’ve gone to Specsavers – Australian Open
25
Slingshot Production 90
Small world machines 5, 156–157, 171
Smart ideas for smarter cities 114–115, 125, 164
Snack Brands Australia 87
Soap Creative 42, 166
Social swipe 138–139, 171
Specsavers 25
Spinal cord rehabilitation 29
Spotify 76
Spring Advertising 145
Starcom MediaVest 158
Steve Minon in Exile 132
Suimin – An Asian takeaway in your pantry
56–57
Sunlight 17
T
Taubmans Endure 120
TBWA Shanghai 68
Teen pregnancy, stop ignoring it 103
Tha cowz 18–19
There’s a page for that 67
Think your teen life won’t change with a baby? 103
This is a bench. This is a bedroom 145
This way. It’s time 50
touchscreen panels 148
T (CONTINUED)
Transport for NSW 129
Travel Wisconsin 159
U
Ultimate Survival Alaska 106
Unbelievable 8, 148, 165, 171
United Way of Greater Milwaukee 102
University of Engineering & Technology 116, 125,
170
Unmemorable celebrities 26–27
V
VCCP 151
Village Roadshow 62, 86
Vip mobile 113
Virgin Mobile 147, 158, 171
Vizeum 41
Volkswagen 65
Volkswagen Polo 39
Volvo 39
W
Wall of hands 148
Walz Tetrick Advertising 85
We need your help 100–101
We won’t wipe out your wallet 34
Welsh, Ben 5, 124–126
Western Union 92, 170
Westpac 81
What are you doing to yourself? 111
What R U having? 132, 170
Whybin\TBWA Group 127, 160
Wisconsin Department of Tourism 159
Witches of East End 149
Wolf of Wall Street 86, 119
Workshop 72
Would you kiss you? 46–47
Write your own ending 150–151, 171
Y
Y&R New Zealand 47
Y&R Shanghai 33
Your baby’s not a baby anymore 103
/ 174

...
175 /

Acknowledgements
...
All books are a collective effort and this
book is no exception, with myriad individuals
and organisations making significant
contributions.
First and foremost, we would like to
thank the OMA Board Members for their
wisdom in encouraging, supporting and
funding the development and production
of this book.
To our valuable members, we extend
our gratitude for their generous assistance
in seeking out the best creativity that our
industry has to offer, and for sending us more
amazing images and campaigns than we had
available pages.
Special thanks to all our contributing
writers – some of the most formidable minds
in Australian advertising – for taking time
from their incredibly busy schedules to stop,
pause and consider a response to our topics.
In particular, our warmest thanks to Rob
Atkinson of Adshel , Jane Caro, Luke Chess
of MJW Australia, Ben Colman of 18 Feet &
Rising, Ben Coulson of GPY&R Australia and
New Zealand, Fiona Jolly of the Advertising
Standards Bureau, Andy Lark of Group Lark,
Nigel Marsh of The Leading Edge, John Purcell
of oOh! Media, Leo Roberts of Coca-Cola and
Ben Welsh of M&C Saatchi.
We were also privileged to work with
the very clever Dr Rebecca Huntley, Executive
Director of the Ipsos Mind and Mood Report.
A warm thanks to Rebecca for her insightful
foreword and for her support on this project
from the outset.
No book on Out-of-Home advertising
would be complete without contributing
voices from within its own ranks.
Thanks to the OMA project subcommittee:
Matthew Byrne ROVA Media,
Max Eburne JCDecaux, Nick Errey oOh! Media,
Richard Herring APN Outdoor, Julie Jensen
and Charmaine Moldrich Outdoor Media
Association, Jane King Adshel, and Charles
Parry-Okeden Executive Channel.
Huge thanks to our design team,
Thursday Design, for their unwavering
commitment – proof of their hard work now
sits in your hands. And our gratitude to our
alert editor David Hely who did wonders with
our words.
Without a doubt it is the staff who
have worked long and hard to deliver this book;
they have painstakingly labored over it with
precision, enthusiasm and dedication. Thank
you Ti-Ahna Firth, Julie Jensen, Charmaine
Moldrich and the rest of the team at the
Outdoor Media Association.
Getting this quality of publication is
not an easy task but one made easier by the
wonderful printing prowess of Imago Printing;
in this fast-paced digital world there are some
of us who still relish the joy of a book that is
immaculately printed.
A massive thank you to our friends
at the Cannes Lions International Festival
of Creativity, CLIO Awards, The International
Andy Awards, OBIE Awards, our international
counterparts and the local and international
advertising agencies and clients for providing
us with access to the many fantastic pieces
of creative work in their possession. We were
heartened by their generosity and willingness
to collaborate. Without this support we simply
would not have been able to show off the
remarkable calibre and diversity of creative
work in OOH the world over.
And thanks to you, the reader, for turning
each page. We hope this book inspires and
encourages you to embrace the power of OOH
with all your creative might.
Remember: it’s big, it’s bold and it
will get noticed, so make your Out-of-Home
campaign count!
/ 176