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Pepsi Max Unbelievable, see full
campaign on page 165.
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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.