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There’s a new prize up for grabs at the Outdoor Media Awards this year. The Social Impact Award will reward where out of home is used to drive positive social change within UK communities, whether environmental, charitable, or driving inclusion and diversity.
In celebration of this – and to find out more about what makes our 2019 OMA judges tick – we’ve asked them to tell us the things that make them go OOH.
Personal insights into things that delight, inspire, comfort, or maybe surprise them, and how out of home can make them feel good too. We’ll be running their answers over the next two months.
The Outdoor Media Awards, run by Clear Channel in partnership with ±±¾©Èü³µpk10, reward excellence in OOH advertising, from the most memorable, strategic and innovative campaigns to the brilliant people involved in creating them.
They are free to enter and winners will be announced at an evening ceremony on 11 June at The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel.
Entries are open until Friday 22 March. See all categories and enter .
Nick Ashley head of media and campaign planning, Tesco
Probably not the 1990s track from C+C Music Factory, but hmmm…, things that make me go OOH are my son pulling off an amazing save for his football team, my daughter serenading us with her flute, both of them knowing every word to the latest hit on Capital Radio, having heard it just once. This all happens in a small area of south-west London. That’s when I go OOH about out of home, when it’s relevant, local, and most importantly has context – not just an ‘audience’.
Henry Daglish founder, Bountiful Cow
Outdoor is in my blood; my father was once managing director of More O’Ferrall. I will always remember outbuildings at our family home consisting purely of plywood from old 48 sheet panels... they never created the best or most sturdy building material.
But now I’m blown away by the technology and the quality of what can be done. I genuinely think brands are only starting to exploit these new capabilities and when you combine that with the fact that it is really the last true broadcast medium, that’s when I start to think... OOH!
David Grainger head of strategy, Starcom UK
The simplicity of the perfect pop song; from The Undertones to Dua Lipa. What’s the secret to their creation? The best ones just seem to ‘appear’. Noel Gallagher wrote Supersonic in "However long it takes six guys to eat a Chinese meal". The same is true of the best posters; they grab you instantly because they’re based on gut instinct, unfettered by copy testing, and are the inscribed equivalent of just three chords and a hook.
Vicki Maguire chief creative officer, Grey London
The wit of Macca Ds, the ‘Oops’ of O2 and the ‘fuck you’ of an OVO [Energy]. They’re the ideas that smack you in the face and stay with you long after you’ve walked past. That’s what makes me go OOH.
Eleni Sarla chief client officer, Havas
Monday night yin yoga makes me go OOH. Releasing my tired body into poses elicits more oohs, ahhs and ohms than I’ve experienced in a lifetime.
The brilliance of London theatre. A world where the actors are performing just for me. That makes me go OOH. With out of home, inject some colour into London, use an illustrative style, or long form storytelling on a cross track; animate it, keep it brutally clean, repeat it. If it overwhelms, I love it.
Ann Wixley executive creative director, Wavemaker UK
Things that make me go OOH... Something that I’ve not seen, heard, thought about or felt before – whether that applies to a person, fashion, an artwork, a piece of music, a way of thinking or a different point of view.
OOH that makes me go OOH... I love work that helps to reframe how to think about OOH. For example, the notion that billboards look at us (with cameras and sensors) as much as we are looking at them, opens up new creative opportunities.