Kerry Lee of Flock Associates: how outdoor can win a share of the social media experience
Kerry Lee, a consultant at integrated marketing consultancy Flock Associates, looks at examples from Warner Brothers, Mini and Nike showing how outdoor advertising can be integrated successfully into social media strategies.
All the coverage of the John Lewis Christmas TV campaign for the UK reminds us how other media can drive the talkability and social buzz that the spate of recent big Christmas TV campaigns have generated. The oldest medium is outdoor and there are some some brilliant examples of how outdoor has escaped its earthly bounds via social and other media.
Contagion – a real living billboard! that evolved over a few weeks, stopped passers- by in their tracks and the ‘making of’ video has clocked up over well over 500,000 views on YouTube.
BMW Mini – A great showcase of how smart use of digital banners is engaging, rewards customers, really delivers against a brand strategy and delivers a great reach socially too.
Nike – the park bench, not just re-enforcing the brand values but encouraging people to live the brand values. Globally recognised
Also notable are Jay Z, Bing and De-coded, TFL 100 and others (featured as videos on our Integrated Case History Channel).
Looking at all these great cases, they have quite a lot in common. Behind a clever creative execution is a simple core strategic thought that has been delivered in an impactful, engaging and memorable way. So memorable in fact they get talked about and shared and held up as examples of ‘how to do outdoor well’.
By ultimately driving the conversation into press and social channels they’re not just doing outdoor well, they start to become bigger than this; to become social currency. The campaign extensions give the poster reach far beyond the impressions that you would get from just buying the site itself.
Some may think that this is really just a case of ‘PR’ ing a good idea… but to really guarantee that your idea will stretch takes planning, thought and an integrated approach. Nike’s bench didn’t go global without the company and its agencies working hard behind the scenes to make it famous. This wouldn’t have happened if the marketing team had worked in silos or if their agencies didn’t work collaboratively and in an integrated manner.
