Ocean Outdoor’s 2023 digital creative competition opens with a £500,000 prize fund

Entries are now invited for Ocean’s annual digital creative competition which fosters bold, original ideas in premium digital out of home (DOOH).

This year a £500,000 prize fund is available for six winning concepts which will be chosen by a panel of independent expert judges drawn from across the industry. Previous winners over the past 14 years have gone on to win six prestigious Cannes Lions.

There are two free to enter award categories – one for brands and a second for charities.

Agencies, brands and creatives are invited to submit original ideas, six of which will appear on Ocean’s premium full motion digital out of home (DOOH) network in multiple retail and city environments including St James Quarter Edinburgh, Westfield London, Westfield Stratford City and Canary Wharf.

The competition also gives agencies and creatives the chance to secure a slot on the prestigious Piccadilly Lights in London, operated by Ocean on behalf of Landsec.

Last year’s winners included EE and Saatchi & Saatchi London for an innovative data driven campaign to help make the streets of Manchester safer for citizens at night and TMW Unlimited which teamed up with The Trussell Trust to drive real time donations to foodbanks struggling to meet local demand.

This year, entrants are asked to leverage the evolution of DOOH by harnessing its creative and technology potency to tell universal stories, prime and amplify campaigns and deliver impacts beyond the physical screen alone.

Ocean Labs’ suite of progressive tech also includes audience and vehicle detection, live localised data and connectivity, live video streaming, augmented reality, mid-air haptics, dynamic full motion content, interactive retail showcases and dual world campaigns linking real world DOOH with the gaming and metaverse economies.

Entrants are also invited to develop ideas using DeepScreen™ Alive, Ocean’s innovative 3D activation packages designed to unlock commercial advantage using real time, immersive audience entertainment.

Ocean’s head of brand and events Helen Haines said: “Large format premium DOOH offers a wealth of opportunities for live entertainment, novel experiential experiences and the opportunity to build brand value at scale, well beyond the physical screen alone. Equally, DOOH has a unique, personal relationship with the communities it serves, as last year’s winners demonstrate.

“Our awards consistently raise the bar, showing what can be accomplished when you put DOOH at the centre of your media plan.  It’s one of the most amplified and shared communications channels across earned and social media, propelled by technology like DeepScreen™ Alive. Imaginative big screen ideas are what we are looking for and if you win, we will work to make it happen.”

To keep the entry process simple, concepts should combine jpeg images or a short video with a written narrative of 200 words. Entries will be judged by an independent panel of experts. 

Entries close on September 1 and the winners will be announced on October 11 at a live event hosted by Ocean at Frameless in London.