Big, bold and memorable. There’s no escaping the sheer size, scale and impact of the iconic BFI IMAX on London’s super premium outdoor ad scene.

Take the moment Heinz’s famous Salad Cream sashayed its way onto the rotund, LED powered mighty banner which dominates London’s Waterloo.

The mere sight had one distinguished commentator rummaging through his kitchen cupboards for his bottle, his clear acknowledgment of the IMAX’s emotional impact helping to sell out the space for the rest of this year. Thank-you Dominic.

The Power of the Product and the Platform

Since Ocean started managing the IMAX ad canvas (back in 2006), the location has attracted a rollcall of other prestigious brands like Apple and Huawei, who recognise the brand building power of landmark advertising locations. Both of these brands are returning with slots in the run up to Christmas for reasons which are entirely obvious.

The impact of size, scale and OOH location on brand fame and sales is measured in research we recently conducted around Landsec’s new Piccadilly Lights one year after their relaunch.

That research, carried out by Opinium, details how super premium OOH drives brand recall and positive association and shows why advertisers should invest more in brand building campaigns.

According to our study:

• 55 percent of respondents said they perceived the advertisers to be global industry leaders.
• 68 percent said they perceived the advertisers to be first class in their sector
• 48 per cent said they felt more confident about the brand

Independent verification for OOH at scale comes from the ad industry itself. Take Paul Jordan, creative director of McGarryBowen, who saw the Piccadilly curve and wrote: “They instantly make me want to buy a Coke.” (source: Posterscope).

In other words, OOH at scale makes people want what you are selling.

In the Right Frame of Mind

Another big advantage of the IMAX is that it has four traffic and pedestrian facing frames on a super busy junction which registers 4.1 million impacts per fortnight.

The entire canvas is enhanced by Ocean’s Edison technology. That’s 48,000 LEDs which allow advertisers to enhance their creative with superb colour displays and special effects.

Who can forget the moment McDonald’s transformed the IMAX into a Big Mac to mark its 50^th birthday? It was a move which played to the emotional elevation delivered by unique architectural locations which register an index of 168 versus standard formats.

And as we have previously established, strong emotional response drives memory encoding which correlates with subsequent purchase behaviour.

We can see from Heinz Salad Cream’s saucy serving how iconic pack shots and user generated insights drive intent to purchase.

As Reema Khehar, business director at Starcom, observes: “Heinz Salad Cream on the IMAX. The meeting of two icons brought to close a sensational summer for Salad Cream which reaffirmed the nation’s overwhelming fondness for a 100-year brand. This was a magnificent celebration of versatility, simplicity, accessibility and popular appeal. Bringing all that to life at such scale and impact delivered the best possible cream of the campaign.”

Having failed to locate his store cupboard staple meanwhile, the distinguished correspondent we mentioned right at the start went off to the shop.

Job done.

To find out how the super-premium advertising and the IMAX can drive you brand fame in 2019, contact Danielle Finch on danielle.finch@oceanoutdoor.com

For a copy of the Piccadilly Lights attitudinal study, contact Liliana Teixeira on liliana.teixeira@oceanoutdoor.com.