Onepointfive’s Rob Pryce picks his Desert Island experiential Ads

The sun’s been beating down so long that the incessant heat feels like it’s baking me dry. Starting to resemble a human crisp, I think I might be starting to lose my mind…

I’ve got questions. Big ones. Is the AI boom actually real, or just a very slick hallucination? Are Spurs really in a relegation battle? Have brands finally realised the impact experiential can have, choosing to spend their dollars here rather than funnelling it all into TV ads and OOH or am I dreaming? And – slightly more concerning – is Donald Trump President of the United States… again(?!) or have I finally lost it?

Anyway. Before I start interviewing coconuts for a second opinion, I try to reframe things. Because let’s be honest – this is a pretty decent problem to have. Stranded, yes. But stranded somewhere that looks like your screensaver – there are worse places to spiral. And maybe that’s the point. Maybe getting dumped here is a timely reminder, reinforcing my beliefs that stuff that sticks, the stuff that makes you actually feel something, tends to happen in real life. It’s not skippable, not scrollable, not optimised within an inch of its existence. Just..experienced.

Which gets me thinking… some of the most impactful campaigns I’ve seen aren’t just watched. They’re lived. Shared. Bumped into. Talked about afterwards in the kind of way that makes metrics look a bit..inadequate.

So as I lie here, slowly merging with the sand, I can’t help but wonder: if experiential is where the magic actually happens, why aren’t we fusing it together with traditional media more often?

Desert Island Ads
Camden Hells

Love the gamified element if this ad – making a potentially passive form of media more experiential… plus the tongue in cheek copywriting really hit home with my humour! At a time when this probably typified a lot of boardrooms during COVID, I thought the script was genius.

Microsoft XBox

One I was lucky enough to have played a part in. I loved it because it made an OOH campaign truly integrated and created a Big Brother moment online. The production, logistics (and health and safety considerations!) that were involved behind the scenes on this one were next level. Slightly sadistic concept, but it definitely caused quite a storm at the time.

Pepsi Max

Not really sure how real or staged this was, but the reactions are gold. I’m a big fan of tech being used, if there is actually a need for it – and in this OOH example it was executed brilliantly to drive an “unbelievable” experience on the ground, that was then amplified online.

Nike

I’m going to cheat a bit with my last experiential ad, because they were both delivered by Nike and under the same premise. Turning disused spaces into something for the local community to benefit from. Anyone who knows me, knows the fact that I’m a big fan of turning derelict land into meanwhile sites. Brands have the opportunity to do more for good with the budgets they have – and I’d love to see more of them leaving a lasting legacy like these two examples. No one likes the circus rolling in to town, just for it to leave the next day…

Rob Pryce is onepointfive cofounder + director of creative and production.