There were two prestigious Cannes Lions for Gorillaz Presents, a collaboration between Ocean Outdoor, Google, Nexus Studios and Eleven Management which resulted in a Gold and a Bronze for the virtual band.

The winning campaign revolutionised the concept of musical performance, transforming two of the world’s most famous OOH spaces – Times Square New York and Piccadilly Lights London – into stages for ground-breaking performances of Gorillaz’s brand new track Skinny Ape.

The immersive live events used an AR activation featuring real time animations of the Gorillaz characters. Music fans in both cities used their phones to scan a QR code on the large format DOOH screens, allowing them to step inside the music video experiences to see Murdoc, 2D, Noodle and Russel playing their instruments atop the iconic skylines.

The production was awarded a Gold in the Digital Craft Lions category at Cannes 2023 and a Bronze in the Entertainment for Music Lions category.

Directed by artist and Gorillaz co-creator Jamie Hewlett and the Emmy nominated director Fx Goby, the ‘Skinny Ape’ performances were created by Nexus Studios and utilised Google’s ARCore Geospatial API, using AR to transform the landmark spaces into cultural experiences.

The OOH showcases were managed by OUTFRONT Media, one of the largest out-of-home media (OOH) companies in the US with the massive Northeast Domination in the epicentre of New York’s Times Square, and Ocean which operates the famous Piccadilly Lights on behalf of Landsec.

Ocean Labs managing director Catherine Morgan said: “These performances were a milestone in the evolution of digital out of home, bridging the physical and virtual worlds through music. Partnering with Google and OUTFRONT allowed us to push the boundaries of entertainment, using the fame of Landsec’s Piccadilly Lights as a portal to immerse audiences in a truly unique event.”

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