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As Ocean and Landsec renew their long term partnership, what will the year bring for the world’s No 1 advertising DOOH destination?
It’s safe to say that the scale and presence of the Piccadilly Lights has helped shape and redefine modern Out of Home, pushing its creative and technical brilliance to new heights.
With its game changing capabilities, Piccadilly Lights is the only Digital out of home (DOOH) asset bought by the world’s most prestigious brands, making it the ultimate performance platform. The personification of Ocean’s Ask for it By Name®.
Home to long term partners Coca-Cola and Samsung, the marquee asset has accommodated hundreds of campaigns from global brands since its relaunch as a single 783.5m2 curved screen in October 2017.
But what does a modern day Piccadilly placement mean for brand partners?
Rich in history, rich in potential
Owned by Landsec, the London landmark remains instantly recognisable even though it has been through many changes in its 117 year history. Immortalised in numerous song lyrics and on film, the site is testament to the enduring power of the poster and now the creative potential of DOOH.
Sitting on the cusp of upmarket Mayfair, the flagship stores of Regent Street and Soho’s entertainment district, Piccadilly is evolving once more, led by the arrival last year of Landsec’s experiential space, The Venue, which sits underneath the screen.
For brands, the combination of livestreams and 3D content on the big screen together with experiential pop ups below presents a heady opportunity for Piccadilly takeovers in the heart of the West End.
Download The Priming effect
Piccadilly Lights gives brands a premium canvas to tune into the times or do something disruptive, using a high profile public space that will prime other media and what comes next.
Various studies show that large format digital (LFD) ads have a positive effect in priming smaller formats later in a campaign (source: Ocean Neuroscience studies). In TV, it’s efficient to start a campaign with as much peak as possible. The same is true in Out of Home (OOH). The more high-impact LFD you have, the better. The fact that it primes other media is even more reason.
Beyond the screen
One of the most photographed London hotspots, it is in social media where the extra gains are made. Ocean Labs’ tech can live stream creative work and events, allowing savvy clients to prime their social assets immediately, rather than days later. One recent 3D DeepScreen® campaign delivered 600,000 digital impressions in a week. It’s about realising the added value of the wider media moment by producing work that people will come and see, talk about and share.
Win, win
Ancestry® turned the clock back on the famous landmark, taking Piccadilly back in time from full motion to the age of neon and all the way back to a time when there were no lights, the Blitz forcing a 10 year switch off. The Old Piccadilly Lights was a beautifully thought through campaign from Anomaly. A winner of Ocean’s annual digital creative competition, it went on to take a highly deserved Silver Cannes Lions.
Download In hot pursuit were virtual band Gorillaz who performed their track “Skinny Ape” in augmented reality (AR), uniquely leveraging the physical architecture, OOH and Google’s Geospatial API to blur the lines between a physical, digital, and virtual activation. Clever stuff from Nexus Studios and Ocean Labs which picked up a Gold Cannes Lion along with other industry accolades.
Download Sign of the times
One of the most familiar residents is Coca-Cola, which took its first sign at Piccadilly Circus in 1955. Since the site’s relaunch after Ocean was first awarded the sales and marketing contract in 2016, the drinks giant has used the location to reflect the zeitgeist, using AI and other techniques to connect with audiences. The Piccadilly Lights has also been deployed to mark a number of important causes and occasions, emerging from all the lockdowns as the nation’s noticeboard.
Download Never a dull moment
2017 – Piccadilly Lights enters a new era after a nine month redevelopment period. The distinctive heritage patchwork is retained, six brands rotating positions around the screen every 90 seconds. Each brand takes a full domination 40 second hero slot every 10 minutes. The reboot turns one of London’s most famous landmarks and tourist attractions into an enabler for global brands to communicate with global audiences.
2019 – In a world media first, the first film trailer for the highly anticipated 25th James Bond movie, No Time To Die, is released on the screen. Within 24 hours, the amplification effect of Piccadilly via earned media news coverage and comment, reaches far beyond those seeing the trailer first hand.
Download 2020 – Inspirational extracts from HM The late Queen’s message to the nation appear on Piccadilly for the first time in her (then) 68 year reign. An extraordinary reference point in extraordinary times, pictures of the headline moment are shared across the world and feature in TV documentaries.
Download 2021 – Live from Mars, the landing of the NASA Perseverance Rover is livestreamed as it happens. Extraordinary broadcast footage connecting the two planets takes just 10 minutes to travel all the way from Mars to Piccadilly.
Download 2022 – Following a 2 -1 win against Germany, England’s Lionesses celebrate their UEFA victory with a highly deserved Piccadilly takeover. Will they be able to repeat their epic victory in Switzerland this July?
Download 2023 – Ocean and Branded Cities elevate their pan-Atlantic sales alliance by bundling their top five top OOH locations in LA, Times Square and Piccadilly into one of the most premium OOH packages in adland. The United creates the ultimate Superbowl moment.
2024 – Landsec launches The Venue. Its new interactive experiential space in the centre of Piccadilly Circus hosts events and livestreams, creating memorable, shareable moments, attracting influencers, and delivering millions of online hits via multiple social channels.
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