a prize of £100,000 in free media. The competition has run for the past 14 years, with the winners split between commercial brands and charity work, all sharing £500,000 worth of airtime across multiple Ocean Outdoor locations. As for the 2023 competition, Ocean Outdoor recently announced its winners. Brands such as EE and Moonpig were just some of those who scooped awards, alongside advertising partners including ACNE London and Creature London. First prize in the brands category went to EE and creative agency Saatchi and Saatchi, which worked on the ‘Free Field Trips’ project. Using technology from The Loop network, children were able to take part in a World War II-themed interactive walking tour using mobile interactivity, haptics, and Augmented Reality. AI Equation Another leading name in this sector is Clear Channel, which, like Ocean Outdoor, has a large number of locations across the UK. One of the recent stand-out campaigns featuring Clear Channel centred on the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Working with biscuit brand Belvita, Clear Channel ran the ‘Give A Smile’ campaign across eight of its Malls Live interactive screens in shopping centres around the UK. Shoppers were invited to smile at the screens; as they did, images on the screens smiled back. Smiles registered were converted in donations made by Mondelez/Belvita to food partner charity, Fareshare UK. Such was the impact of the campaign that it generated more than 10,000 smiles across two weeks. “Everyone came together for this crossmedia campaign run by Publicis’ Spark Foundry,” Clear Channel says, adding: “The application worked seamlessly and had many people smiling in the office during the testing phase. “Its success means that it may not be the last time you see this campaign and I’m looking forward for it to be back on Clear Channel screens soon.” Also from Clear Channel was an interactive run in partnership with both Historic England and Photoworks. ‘Picturing High Streets – Bus Stop Stories’ invited passers-by to submit a photo of their favourite bus stop story by posting on Instagram using #PicturingHighStreets. A total of ten winning photographs were selected from the campaign and showcased on Clear Channel’s DOOH screens across England as part of a summer outdoor exhibition. The photographs were also entered into the Historic England Archive, the nation’s archive for England’s historic buildings, archaeology, and social history. Martin Corke, chief marketing officer of Clear Channel, says: “Clear Channel proudly operates more than 20,000 bus shelters in the UK. In many ways bus shelters are the unsung heroes of our towns and cities yet they are the backdrop to many of our daily journeys and experiences. “We believe that there are many positive and fascinating bus stop stories to be told and we are launching this competition to help uncover and celebrate them.” ► TMW Unlimited and the Trussell Trust were among the winners in the 2022 Ocean Outdoor Digital Creative Competition 55 Issue 251 - February / March 2024 email: news@signlink.co.uk DIGITAL AND INTERACTIVE SIGNAGE ► Clear Channel and Belvita ran the ‘Give A Smile’ campaign across eight of its Malls Live interactive screens in shopping centres around the UK ▼ ‘Picturing High Streets – Bus Stop Stories’ offered people the chance to have their pictures featured on digital screens across the country
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