ABOUT

Idea
Every agency advises their clients that if they advertise during a downturn they will gain market share versus competitors who don’t. But few agencies take their own advice.

The exception was global agency LONDON Advertising, who proved a point by creating a major advertising campaign for itself, combining TV spots with super premium digital out of home (DOOH) screens in high impact locations to grow its own brand awareness.

Approach
Launched on the first working day after the easing of lockdown, the eye-catching campaign was a call to arms to all businesses to get Britain going again.

Ten TV ads voiced by the Hollywood legends Helen Mirren and Liam Neeson appeared on 9,000 Sky News spots, together with super-premium digital posters planned by Ocean Outdoor across its UK portfolio.

The creative approach to both media demonstrated the three criteria LONDON Advertising believes work must satisfy to be effective:

• Is it simple?
• Does it stand out?
• Can you remember who it’s for?

A lot of advertising fails to do one, two or all three of these things.

They also set out to demonstrate that it’s the size of the idea that matters, not the size of the production budget.

“Advertising Legend” Rupert Howell (Founder HHCL, MD ITV) said: “This is the first time I have seen an ad agency do a major campaign like this for itself. The ads are bloody brilliant!”.

Results
With the easing of lockdown, LONDON Advertising created a timely reminder that as people are increasingly back on the streets now is the time to advertise.

The campaign demonstrates the importance of combining TV and premium out-of-home campaigns to promote brands, delivering an outstanding set of results.

It’s a fact that large format out of home builds brands and brand fame.

But to measure effectiveness, pre and post campaign Populus awareness polls of UK ad agencies were conducted among more than 2,000 members of the public.

The polls revealed that post campaign brand awareness rose by an impressive 50% in just a month, making LONDON Advertising six times more well-known than other highly established agencies.

In addition, the campaign generated more than 30 articles and interviews in national TV news, national and trade press, leading to a 3,000% increase in visitors to the agency’s website.

LONDON Advertising’s founder and CEO Michael Moszynski said: “Personally I believe there is a big job to do to convince clients to stop putting all their money into digital and use outdoor to actually get their messages noticed!”