Getting the Story Straight with DOOH Why DOOH needs to see things from consumers' perspective

Derek Thompson CREATIVITY, DOOH, MEDIA OWNERS

As John Lewis has long demonstrated with its Christmas ads, people love stories. Throughout human history we have gathered together and shared tales – they captivate us and move us. It could be argued that storytelling is our oldest art form. Even cave paintings, such as those at Lascaux in France, thought to be 20,000 years old, convey more than just a set of images.

Good stories make sense.

 They needn’t be long. While Mark Leach’s novel, Marienbad My Love, stretches to 2.5 million words, one of the world’s most famous stories is a six-word gem from Ernest Hemingway: For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

 DOOH can bring advertising stories to life, but the story remains paramount. Whether it’s a straightforward product display and brand statement, or a more complicated ad sequence, it’s important that the creative side of DOOH isn’t secondary to the technology.

Case Study – Close Encounters of the Merged Kind?

Here’s some footage of DOOH in situ, in this case by Ocean Outdoor but it could be any one of several DOOH media owners.

The transition between adverts can lose up to a second from the end of each advert, which may not seem significant on paper but can have quite a visual impact for a ten-second ad.

This is particularly apparent at the 21-second mark, where the Nike Air Vapormax shoe (available at a Jo Sports near you…) morphs into – and obscures – the mountain scenery that establishes the trailer for Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express. Maybe if it had been Nike’s 1988 Air Stab sports shoe (yes, really) that would count as a synergy!

Joking aside, OOH and DOOH do more than just display the brand – or they should do. A successful campaign encompasses the commercial design team and the technical team, working in harmony, so that the design and vision remain consistent throughout the delivery to create revenue.

The agency creatives and media owners need to know that casual shoppers and targeted customers alike are viewing their ads as they were intended.

The only way to ensure that happens is by getting out there and seeing the ads on the ground, from the consumer’s perspective.

Site Audits provides that local observation, insight and intelligence. We can tell you which ads are working effectively and which, frankly, are telling the wrong story altogether.

Unlike newspaper and TV advertising, OOH and DOOH has the flexibility to deliver site-specific advertising, potentially for hundreds and maybe thousands of panels, visible every second of every hour of every day. It makes sense to ensure you’re getting what you’ve paid for.