Build it. Beat it. is a winner in Ocean Outdoor’s annual digital creative competition

Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) has outgrown its current treatment facilities for children facing the most rare and difficult-to-treat cancers which is a problem because cancer is the biggest killer of one to 14-year-olds in the UK.

Build it. Beat it., an interactive digital out of home (DOOH) campaign from Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity (GOSH Charity), enlists two of the hospital’s young patients to help support its efforts to raise £300 million to build an urgently needed new Children’s Cancer Centre.

Originally conceived by Open Creates, the DOOH idea was a winner in Ocean’s annual digital creative competition which seeks bold original new work, presented in association with Campaign.
The campaign plays delightfully with the breadth and scale of the Four Dials, Ocean’s 17.3m wide by 6.7m high curved screen at Westfield Stratford City London to dramatise how seriously ill children have outgrown the space they are being treated in.

Using Ocean’s DeepScreen® format, the 3D work sees patients Otto, (9), and Sumayyah, (11), try to clear the screen by pushing one section, and then another out of the frame, with no success. They scratch their heads, confused about how they can make more room. The copy then expands, getting even bigger as the GOSH patients become frustrated and give up. They are having fun, being playful, but there’s a tension as they struggle to make any headway.

As audiences watch, they are invited to scan a QR code and donate to help Build it. Beat it. When a donation activates a code, a CGI visualisation of the Children’s Cancer Centre springs into life, a direct impact of their support. The children run out of the new building and towards us with a personal thank you message, joyfully breaking out of the screen, making full use of the 3D effect in a public display of gratitude and engagement.

The campaign runs for three days (6 to 8 June) as a daily nine hour domination (10am to 7pm), supported by GOSH Charity ambassadors and fundraisers in the experiential space beneath the screen and wider signposting on other Ocean screens within the Westfield Stratford City destination.

Abena Bentum, head of committed giving at GOSH Charity, said: “After months of hard work, we are thrilled to see our creative advert come to life on the big screen. Working collaboratively with creative agency Open on the initial concept, we were really excited to enter the Ocean Outdoor competition, which pushed us to think big and explore new technologies to help share our message. It’s a fantastic opportunity to highlight the hospital’s urgent need for more space to help deliver more breakthrough therapies for children facing the most rare and difficult-to-treat cancers.

“Our interactive advert, featuring two incredible patients treated at GOSH and supporting our Build it. Beat it. appeal, uses innovative Deepscreen® technology to impactfully demonstrate that we have outgrown our home and need a cutting-edge new facility to help drive transformation in children’s cancer care and save more lives. Complemented by a team of fundraisers who will be on the ground while the advert is running, we hope to raise awareness of our appeal and inspire the public to donate to make our vision of a new Children’s Cancer Centre a reality.”

Ocean UK marketing director Marie Le Hur said: “The idea of young patients moving the creative around to try and create more space plays beautifully with the screen’s proportions. The message is simple and our competition judges liked how it manifests donations in real time. It’s about normal kids that need some help, something we can all get behind.”

Ocean’s 2024 digital creative competition is now open for entries. For further information visit https://oceanoutdoor.com/digital-competition/how-to-enter/?. The closing date is 23 August.