The Best Yet In Every Regard
Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
The UK out of home industry needs to wake up, take notice of what Ocean Outdoor are doing, pat them firmly on the back and then bl***dy well join in; promoting digital and all that it can do for advertisers and brands.
Quite frankly it seems as if these guys are leading the pack when it comes to digital initiatives and if proof were actually needed, you need look no further than the 321 people who turned up early Thursday morning at London’s IMAX to see first hand the shortlist (and the winner of course) of their Art of Outdoor Digital Competition.
Tim Bleakley, CEO told us “This year’s Art of Outdoor digital competition was the best yet in every regard, not only was the audience made up of a wide community from creative agencies, media agencies, outdoor specialists, landlords, screen suppliers, clients, investors and journalists but each year, this competition produces Cannes Lion finalists and winners”
He continued “The quality of this year’s entrants is absolutely no exception and reflects the seriousness that the creative community now attaches to the potential of digital out of home. This year also saw the first entries from media agencies, once again signalling a convergence of disciplines.
Competition entrants were judged by a panel of industry experts for their visually stimulating and innovative approaches, using digital techniques including full motion, layering, subtle motion, time sensitivity, augmented reality and data streaming.
Rich Sutcliffe, Digital Development Director at Brand Republic which partners Ocean Outdoor in the competition told us “The depth and spread of this year’s entries is matched by the quality and strength of the big creative ideas coming through. Getting into the final set of winning entries this year was a tough call, but the scale of the winning ideas ticks all the necessary boxes and exploits the unique nature of digital outdoor”.
Tim said “Our top four winners are all game changing campaigns which demonstrate the immediacy and relevance of knock-out installations which are simple, strong, highly scalable and likely to catch fire through their amplification well beyond their chosen sites.”
The competition, now in its third year has gone from strength to strength. 370 people registered this year, with 321 turning up on the day which was twice the number from last year and ten times the number that wet and windy day in Westfield back in October 2010 (click here) when it all started!
As we will be updating readers on a number of new initiatives from Ocean Outdoor in the next few weeks – including plans for a very exciting ‘OceanLabs’ that was mentioned during the morning (see pic above), Tim’s turn of phrase ‘The Best Yet In Every Regard‘ might just well refer to his business as well as this particular annual competition.
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