Creativity is what does creativity does – magic

Almost 10 years ago British Airways literally created magic when they rolled out the iconic,  Cannes  Grand Prix winning, ‘Magic of Flying’ billboard campaign. They had digital billboards in London’s busy Piccadilly Circus and Chiswick areas on which was projected the dynamic image of a child pointing towards the sky whenever a BA flight flew overhead. The exact route of the flight would be displayed on the board every time a BA plane flew.  The sheer imagination and tech-backed planning it must have taken to execute a campaign of this kind is what creativity in DOOH is all about, and this was the point  Liam Rushforth, Co-Founder and CEO of UK-based Flux, made in his talk on the theme ‘Unlocking the creative potential of DOOH’  on Day 1 of Outdoor Advertising Convention 2023 held on July 28 and 29 in Delhi.

When it comes to DOOH, creative use of technology can indeed redefine the very scope of the medium and enhance the impact it can create. As Arthur C Clarke said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” 

Having developed the Flux platform – blending creativity with the latest in Digital OOH technology for the past 8 yearsand working globally with the world’s biggest advertisers and across 250 publishers – Liam could draw on his insights and experience to talk about the creative dynamics of DOOH, including the challenge of delivering data-driven content to digital sites. 

Liam began by drawing on the example of the British Airways campaign and shared how it inspired his own interest in the medium, “Having seen a campaign of that kind, I couldnt help thinking, every time I saw a DOOH screen, that it could be doing so much more – not only for the audiences, but also for the brands.” 

Liam then took the audience through his own journey with DOOH, sharing how technology can help meet each brand’s unique campaign objectives in the most creative manner. In the process he threw the spotlight on ROA – Return on Attention – basically the reward the audience expects for giving their attention to a brand and which, according to him, is the metric by which creativity in a DOOH campaign can be evaluated. He then brought in the need  for the ‘DOOH Tool Box’ – basically all those tech elements that help deliver the required experience in a campaign – from 3D, motion and Generative AI, to programmatic,  mobile data, audience recognition, QR Codes and dynamic content optimisation.  

Liam then took a deep dive into other campaign case studies to show how true creativity is about relevance and interest, and how by harnessing data and leveraging moments, brands can enhance both these aspects for their audiences.