‘Wow happens when creativity and technology come together’

Creativity can mean many things. But what is creativity in OOH? This was the question with which Dino Burbidge, CEO of Dionva based in the UK, began his very engaging session on the theme, ‘Unleash the OOH creative freedom, wow the world’ at the 18th edition of OOH Advertising Convention (OAC) organised at Hilton Garden Inn, Embassy Manyata Business Park, Bengaluru on July 26-27, 2024.

In a thought-provoking session that drew from a variety of contexts, Dino highlighted four important factors when considering creativity in OOH:  Art, Science Technology and Craft. He went on to elaborate how each was relevant and could be leveraged strategically to enhance the deliverables of OOH.

Art: Opening with an illustrative example of iconic artist Pablo Pikasso, Dino touched on the most important aspects of an artist’s life: Inspiration, Canvas, Tools,  Obligations, Style, Curiosity, Restrictions. He then  got right down to the OOH context using the same analogy.  After all, as he noted, those on the creative side of marketing are also artists in their own right.

Indeed, Dino opened up a fresh new perspective, a new line of thinking to look at OOH as an artist’s canvas and apply the same influencing factors that hold true for an artist.

Science: The scientific part quite obviously comes into play in OOH when we look at how marketing campaigns really work on the consumers’ minds and influence their purchase decisions. In the absence of a mechanism to measure creativity, Dino listed out the relevant aspects that could shape the effectiveness of a campaign and drive profitability. Creative execution was obviously among the top on that list. Further talking about OOH as an amplifier that could scale up the impact of a campaign, Dino said, “Make sure OOH is part of the creative mix across other media” and went on to the core of it: Creativity can enhance both effectiveness and ROI in an OOH campaign.

Tech: Quoting Arthur Clarke’s famous words, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” Dino set the stage to talk about an integral aspect of OOH, as of any other medium or industry today – technology. The crux of his message here was clear: Invisible technology heightens creativity. In fact, Dino succinctly summarised the role of technology in brand communications with these words: Tech is a tool and every tool has a job – find out who’s looking at the billboard.

Craft: This is more aboutticking all the right boxes on the execution checklistand Dinoemphasised what really works in capturing the attention of today’s consumers: Keeping it simple, short and clear.

Further taking the audience through some iconic campaigns, Dino threw the spotlight back on his central theme: Unleashing the creative freedom in OOH and left them with much to reflect on.