All I want for Christmas is OOH!

With Christmas just around the corner and a glass of mulled wine almost within reach, we’re taking a look back at the OOH campaigns from Christmas past that spread seasonal cheer.

Age UK: No one should have no one at Christmas

Age Uk

Festivities, food, family and friends. As soon as Christmas comes to town, it’s easy to be caught up in the celebrations and forget the alarmingly large number of elderly people who are alone at Christmas. Our award-winning digital OOH campaign created for Age UK in partnership with Grand Visual, spread awareness of this problem, using truly emotive creative.

Using geo-targeted digital OOH, the smart-linear campaign reminded those in neighbourhoods across the UK that there were older people nearby, at risk of being alone at Christmas. What made this campaign so powerful was the simple and effective use of OOH to raise awareness of a huge and sometimes forgotten issue in a contextual setting.

Lidl: Big on quality, Lidl on price

Lidl

This cheeky campaign for Lidl was a big hit with the public and national newspapers last year… and we can see why! “Taking over” rival billboards from the upmarket giants, budget-friendly supermarket Lidl, pasted their creative over campaigns to highlight their low-cost products. On top of that, the creative was also situated within 100 metres of competitors’ stores!

The OOH takeover was a part of the brand’s wider, “Big on Quality, Lidl on Price” campaign. It may have been a simple idea, but it had a huge impact on consumers. That year, Lidl reportedly poaching 58million of Christmas food spend from its rivals.

Waitrose: Snowed in

Waitrose

Despite its seasonal association, the last white Christmas in the UK was almost a decade ago, making snow during the festive period a rare occurrence. However, not even the elements were going to stop Waitrose from bringing the magic of a white Christmas to its consumers.

Playing on Ocean Outdoor’s large digital OOH sites, the supermarket’s TV ad, “Snowed In” would play every thirty minutes, with full audio. As the ad played out, artificial snow would accompany it, delighting shoppers. Planned by Talon and MGOMD, the unique, 4D campaign is another great example of the ability of digital OOH to deliver unique experiences.

The Grinch

The Grinch

The classic Christmas story of a much greener Scrooge, the Grinch is best known for his dry sense of humour and hatred of Christmas festivities. Harnessing OOH’s unmissable presence and the Grinch’s snarkiness, the campaign was a hit with audiences, receiving a huge amount of attention online. The campaign even won gold at the 2019 OBIEs.

Using a variety of OOH formats, the campaign’s shareability online (and perhaps using the brightest shade of green!) is what helped to gain this OOH campaign traction.

The core aspect that all of these OOH campaigns fully embraced was the emotions that surround Christmas. From Age UK’s campaign encompassing feelings of loneliness and empathy, to the Grinch’s meanness that heightens around the merry season – all of these campaigns drew inspiration from real-life emotions that audiences can relate too. This simple but crucial aspect is what truly made these campaigns great