Announced today, Talon is the headline sponsor of the Campaign Tech Awards 2023.

Talon 2023: Headline Sponsor of Campaign Tech Awards

Open for nominations now, the Campaign Tech Awards exist to celebrate and showcase the companies that represent the industry’s trailblazing thinkers, imaginative clients and cutting-edge technology.  Championing the collaboration between agencies, brands and the technology communities, and recognising the outstanding work produced together to drive the creative industries forward.

The awards honour successful innovators, celebrate amazing work, and stimulate even more ingenuity right across the marketing, advertising and media industries.

By embracing a technology-first approach to Out of Home, Talon have developed market leading proprietary AdTech platforms that have revolutionised OOH planning, buying, execution and measurement. Ada, our Data Management Platform enables behavioural audience-based planning and has been proven to deliver better short and longer term brand metrics. Atlas, our intelligent, automated digital OOH buying platform delivers 100% optimised programmatic OOH campaigns that generate more effective outcomes for our clients. And Plato, our in-house planning tool, automates campaign planning and buying for speed and precision.

Our technology platforms help our clients get the most from their outdoor campaigns –  sponsoring the Campaign Tech Awards is a perfect fit for Talon, elevating the amazing work being powered by technology across the wider media industry.

Nominations are open now, closing 22nd February. We look forward to celebrating with everyone at the awards ceremony!

campaigntechawards.com

As Talon approaches its 10th year, it is the perfect time to revitalise the Talon brand – including a fresh new look that will be applied to every element of the business. Coming soon!

Our Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Sarah Parkes, shares a sneak peek of Talon’s upcoming brand transformation. 

Talon has changed a lot in the last nine years, from our humble beginnings as an independent challenger brand in the UK OOH specialist market to where we are now – the largest independent global OOH agency with an ever-increasing international footprint. And our growth ambitions don’t stop there… 

We’ve invested in our people, in building market leading proprietary technology and this year we’ve invested in our brand too. You’ll have seen a taster of our new look and feel when you first visited the website and you’ll spy our new logo across our social channels. In the meantime, here’s a quick behind the scenes of what to expect when we officially launch our new brand by the end of the year. 

We are Talon 

If you’ve met us in real life or on Teams, you’ll know our mission is to drive the growth of OOH – supporting the transformation of OOH from a legacy medium to one that is highly effective, data driven, creative, and most importantly, measurable and effective for our clients. 

We’re growing fast, and our new positioning and website will support us on our journey – whilst championing the people who have made Talon what it is today.  

We’ve re-booted our brand look, feel and tone of voice to take Talon’s unique energy and spirit out into the world, and will start to bring the Talon global family together with one voice – including Grand Visual and Plexus which will rebrand to Talon International.

It’s everything our clients and agencies love about Talon – collaboration, bold adventurousness, relentless creativity and innovation – translated into new brand colours, a new logo, and a new website.  

We’re excited to share this next exciting step with you, but for now watch this space and begin to imagine what’s possible when we “think outside”. 

Talon’s CEO on Growth and Collaboration

“The Only Way is Up for Out of Home!” – Barry Cupples, Group CEO Talon

Talon had an incredible time hosting a live recording of the Behind the Billboard podcast and an important conversation between Cephas Williams & Barry Cupples on the LBBonline – Little Black Book & Friends Beach, alongside joining in at Stagwell’s Speaker’s Lounge, a fireside chat with the DPAA on Yahoo Beach, attending events and catching up with clients and industry friends over lunch. Take a look at our behind-the-scenes roundup from Cannes in 2022.

In the words of our CEO Barry Cupples, “we’re just in the room as Out of Home expert’s trying to grow the category.”

Cannes was a brilliant opportunity to connect with our industry peers and begin to work together to grow the medium.

There are huge opportunities for brands to capitalise on OOH’s renaissance and the smart opportunities OOH can offer to reach consumers at scale. The time is now to further collaborate and educate advertisers and agencies on the fantastic results OOH can deliver.

Here’s to Talon in Cannes 2023!

London, 15th July 2022: Frank Bryant, one of the founders of Talon Outdoor who set up and built the business alongside Eric Newnham and James Copley in 2013, has stepped down from the board with immediate effect.

Founder of Talon Outdoor, Frank Bryant, Steps Down from Board

Following the recent announcement that Talon has secured investment from Equistone Partners Europe, Frank has decided that this is the right time for him to step down from Talon and enjoy a well-deserved retirement.

As one of Talon’s founders, Frank played a pivotal role in growing Talon from inception to the leading independently owned global Out of Home (OOH) agency. His incredible passion and energy for OOH have been vital to establishing Talon’s culture and success – providing clients access to the best planning and service the industry has to offer.

In addition to building up Talon’s market-leading client-service offering, Frank is well known for his dedication to charitable causes and has been the driving force behind Talon’s charity work, raising a staggering 2 million to date through the industry-renowned annual “Talon Turns” parties and other fundraising efforts. The long-term partnership he established with FAB (Families Activity Breaks) has also positively impacted the lives of many military families.

The UK business has a strong and dedicated leadership team led by Global CEO – Barry Cupples, supported by the wider team of talented, passionate and creative professionals, who will continue to drive the business forward.

Frank Bryant said: “I’m happily stepping down from the board to enjoy retirement. Talon has been an unbelievable success since we came into the market and I’ve loved every minute of building and growing the business to its key leadership role in Out of Home. I’ve had the opportunity to work with a fabulous team of individuals which has been a privilege and honour to do. I wish Talon and the entire team continued success and I know the business will continue to grow and thrive under its current leadership.”

Eric Newnham, Talon co-founder, said: “Thank you Frank for being a brilliant partner and colleague. You have been superb at helping us take Talon to the heights we now enjoy and I wish you all the best in your retirement.”

James Copley, UK CEO, said: “It has been an incredible 10 years. Frank has played a huge part in Talon’s success; both in the early days and then driving further growth over the last few years. His commitment to charitable causes has been inspirational, and we will continue his legacy with the Talon Turns events. On a personal level, Frank has been a brilliant business partner and friend and I have enjoyed the best 10 years of my career working with him.  I wish him the very best for his well-deserved retirement.”

Barry Cupples, Global CEO, adds, “Frank has been an inspirational leader – his contribution has spanned every aspect of Talon’s phenomenal growth since start-up. As an advisor to the board, Frank has provided invaluable counsel as we successfully navigated a tumultuous few years. We are in a fabulous position to continue the incredible work done by Frank in nurturing talent and developing our management. He is a rare breed and a lovely person to boot. He will be sorely missed but we absolutely understand his position and respect his decision as he departs on the highest of notes.

Only in OOH: Pushing Creative Boundaries of the Advertising Canvas

The power of creativity to break through the clutter and capture consumer attention is undeniable. In late May, Netflix launched a global activation for the fourth season of its popular series, Stranger Things. The activation, which opened up a virtual portal to the ‘Upside Down,’ took over 15 landmarks across 14 countries, including the Empire State Building in New York City, Bondi Beach in Sydney, Duomo Square in Milan, the Gateway of India in Mumbai, and the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain. The placements were big, bold, and visual spectacles that could only be possible in out of home (OOH).

An Airbus campaign, developed in collaboration with Talon’s award-winning digital OOH creative and production agency Grand Visual is another prime example. The creative execution projected a commitment to sustainability on the 2,700-plus foot tall Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai. There’s also PUMA, who in collaboration with Talon America, Havas Media Group, Grand Visual, and Nowadays, rolled out a cutting-edge digital OOH (DOOH) campaign to promote the launch of NBA superstar LaMelo Ball’s first PUMA signature basketball sneaker, MB.01. The award-winning advert appeared on DOOH bus shelters throughout New York City, which were outfitted with augmented reality (AR) technology and took passersby on an otherworldly journey.

Such campaigns underscore how OOH can serve as a veritable blank canvas with endless creative possibilities. The opportunity to capture the attention of audiences in their surroundings is what sets OOH apart – and creative is a proven competitive advantage. The world’s biggest brands are increasingly bringing the creative, immersive, and experiential capabilities of OOH to the next level.

What’s more is that these brands and their OOH partners are getting recognized for their creative excellence. At Cannes Lions, an international festival of creativity, OOH took home 48 Lions awards, including the top Grand Prix honor for ‘Liquid Billboard’ by Havas Middle East, Dubai, Cultural Insight for adidas. The world’s first swimmable billboard was created to promote the brand’s new inclusive, full-cover swimwear collection. With this single billboard, adidas reportedly reached 300 million people in over 50 countries. This campaign exemplifies the undeniable strength of OOH to help brands engage in-the-field and swim to victory.

Designing these types of one-of-a-kind executions begins with visually bold and creative storytelling to bring campaigns to life. And when combined with the latest in digital OOH innovations and emerging technologies like AR and virtual reality (VR), brands can enter the next dimension with campaigns that deliver powerful larger than life moments. What’s more is that great creative can also be a location driver, spark buzz, and deliver measurable results.

Elevating OOH creative begins with understanding the facts:

By its very nature, DOOH offers a lot of flexibility and limitless capabilities in terms of creating compelling advertising. And those attributes offer advertisers the chance to build everlasting moments, powerful statements, and lasting impressions.