Magnet #10

 Today marks ten wonderful weeks jam-packed with industry news, so here’s to many more.

Enjoy.

OOH- The world’s first liquid billboard

At the beginning of the month, to promote and launch its new inclusive, full-cover swimwear collection, Adidas revealed the world’s first ever liquid billboard in Kite Beach; one of Dubai’s most popular public beaches. 

Adidas and its agency Havas Creative Dubai unveiled the ground-breaking activation of a 5-meter high and three-meter deep swimming pool. Content from the liquid billboard was aired directly onto a digital screen above the renowned Dubai mall ice rink, next to the Adidas flagship store, allowing shoppers and mallgoers to enjoy the unique experience.

 To reinforce the brand’s global attempt to ensure that sport is welcoming for all, women of Dubai were invited to participate by taking a dive ‘beyond the surface’.

  The empowering women who took the public dive into the liquid billboard included Adidas’ ambassador and amputee triathlete Dareen Barbar who is also a Guinness world records title holder as well as Adidas ambassador Raha Moharrak, the first Saudi Arabian woman to climb Mount Everest.  All in all, the liquid billboard is a dazzling dive for new forms of OOH advertising, and it shows a brand genuinely trying to ensure they stick to their mottos.

Data: Ad diversity

New research by System1, ITV and DECA has proved the positive impact diverse representation has on both long- and short-term advertising effectiveness.

Advertising featuring underrepresented and diverse people not only performs above average with the general population, but drives a major boost in engagement and effectiveness among the represented groups. The ‘Feeling Seen’ report shows an uplift in performance across both long- and short-term metrics, and the 30 diverse ads analysed in the study claimed an average rating of 2.8 for long-term brand growth potential among the nationally representative sample group. A “modest” score, but it’s slightly higher than the UK norm of 2.1.

 Kate Waters, director of client strategy and planning at ITV and president of WACL says: “What this research proves is what we’ve always known to be true but haven’t been able to quantify – seeing yourself on screen, if you’re in a typically underrepresented group, makes you feel great and that translates into an effectiveness dividend for advertisers.”

Advertising technology: 3D activations

Earlier this month,  video of a 3D Giant Billboard in Japan went viral after the  Shinjuku cat attracted attention online with users expressing their amazement at the technology.  Shown between advertisements, the realistic cat came to life on a 1,664-square-foot curved LED screen in the Shinjuku district. The 4K-resolution display shows the cat walking around high above the city as it audibly meows.

 After this, IWC ran striking 3D creatives on the famous Piccadilly Lights. The DOOH ad shows The Big Pilot watch, (which retails at £10,900), appearing to break free of the screen and rotate both horizontally and vertically in a space in front of the Piccadilly Lights.