Double Decker Bus Digital Screens: The Future of OOH
The Project X Newsletter: Volume XXVIII
You know the feeling you get seeing some new creative post on a perm… or when you see our new logo! A little refresh feels good after what 2020 dealt us. More to come on our new logo in the future but for now, it looks like somebody in Tampa Bay is feeling refreshed too.
Being the oldest quarterback to ever start a Super Bowl must come with some challenges but Tom Brady seems to have met them all head-on. Details matter when it comes to preparation and the players that are proactive in taking care of themselves are the ones that get shit done on Sunday, no matter their age. Pro athletes with long careers are the first people to acknowledge that they could not do it alone either. They play as one team and communicate openly and honestly with each other for the good of the team. While they might fail sometimes, they can always count on the team to be there to pick them up. How can you not be inspired by the courage shown by people who are not afraid to fail?
A Big Game Record in the Making
Once Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City and Tom Brady of Tampa Bay take their first snaps on February 7, they will become the first winning quarterbacks from the previous two Super Bowls to face each other in the Super Bowl, as noted by NFL Network's Rich Eisen.
The Reason Many in the Ad World Watch
Sure, the big game is about football but in the ad world, we know our favorite part of the game - the commercials. If you’re thinking of getting in on the action, ViacomCBS just confirmed a “virtual sell-out” this week of the $5.5 million per 30-second spots but they noted that “they can still make room for a few more spots”. Commercial inventory for the Super Bowl typically sells out 2 or more months prior to game day but due to COVID-19, there were a few challenges selling ad spots for this year’s big game.
Super Bowl LV: Media Landscape
Super Bowl LV will undoubtedly be much different than years past, but not just due to the global pandemic. While Media Week is going fully virtual, teams are only arriving in Tampa a few days before the event and the crowd is being capped at 20,000 (2020 attendance was 62,417). Social and political unrest and record unemployment are also contributing factors causing brands to pause and rethink their investments. While many big brands like M&M’s, Turbo Tax, Anheuser-Busch, Toyota, and many others will still be part of the commercial mix, and at rates similar to years past, there are others who are taking the year off due to the volatile climate and sensitive topics currently dominating the majority of conversations around the US.
When it comes to out-of-home specifically, there will naturally be a drop-off in ad signage/activations most notably due to the reduced attendance and crowd control. With a 66% decrease in game attendance, coupled with travel restrictions and guidance in place to reduce mass gatherings, the annual influx of tourists the host city usually experiences is not expected this year in Tampa. While available signage around the event will likely see an increase in occupancy this week and next, we won’t see the typical inundation of out-of-home ads usually associated with the Super Bowl destination.
Out-of-Home Spotlight: Double Decker Bus - Digital Flex Screens
Double Decker Bus Digital Flex Screens are a digital display embellishment that integrates seamlessly into your static bus wrap. They are made from ultra-thin led technology that is flexible in size and position. Digital Flex Screens are able to run just about any digital content from live streaming tv and social media feeds to day-parted copy and live data feeds. Contact us to discuss integrating this new technology into your next OOH buy.
Double Decker Bus Digital Flex Screens in the shape of a smartphone feature a new healthcare app.
Double Decker Bus Digital Flex Screen playing video content.
Campaign Freeze Frame
Sunkist is gracing the highways with their Navel, Cara Cara and Blood Oranges, Tangelos, Mandarins and Lemons that are bringing the vitamin C to a shop near you. It's kind of their thing.
Issa Rae teaches Creating Outside the Lines in her MasterClass. She inspires you from her perch on Sunset Boulevard to reach your creative dreams and never take no for an answer.
News & Views
Billboard in Los Angeles tells transplants that ‘New York is Dead. Don’t Come Back.’ (via New York Post)
It’s kind of a joke and kind of not, but this billboard was designed by a New Yorker so that tells you something. This group of New Yorkers is doing fine and doesn’t mind if you come back but they just wanted to let you know they are fine without you.
A QR Code Renaissance? (via Creative Review)
Now that we can scan QR codes with our phone cameras and the “scanning software” barrier has been removed, QR codes are so much easier to use. The Quick Response code is having a resurgence in these Covid times. In China, scanning codes enables everything from ordering food in restaurants and unlocking city bikes, to sharing contact details and making payments.
Douglas Coupland brings his prophetic slogans to Vancouver's billboards (via The Art Newspaper)
A series of prophetic slogans first conceived by Douglas Coupland nine years ago has finally come to his hometown of Vancouver in the form of billboards. The idea was hatched when Capture festival head Kim Spencer Nairn saw that several billboards in Vancouver’s new Arbutus Greenway—a kind of west-coast High Line built around defunct railway tracks—were sitting empty. Check them out here.
