The Power of Static and Digital OOH with Samy Naidu

00:06:45 · S1Play from here

[00:06:45] S1: Yeah, Samy, thank you so much for unpacking that. You've said so many things that I want to actually double click on because I think, you know, you touched now on saying like, there is this feeling of static is dead, digital is everything and I think you know I didn't want to age myself but I've been in the industry long enough to have seen the rise of digital and I remember when digital first hit the market there really was this feeling of everything needs to be pushed towards digital now because it was the new thing, it was the latest and clients all wanted to know how many screens are there, can we get on the screens, what is available. So there was that surgence in the market. I also want to flag two years ago, Tom Goddard made the call to awake the sleeping giant of static out of home. And there are so many exceptional campaigns that have been executed using static as a primary channel, which I think, we have definitely seen that, you know, a lot of brands prefer to be in static. Some prefer to be on digital, some see the mix. I think in your answer, you've kind of given those nuggets of around, you know, what is the creative messaging going to be? What are you trying to communicate? Are we being tactical? Are we brand building? And you said it that it's around the combination. It doesn't have to be all static or all digital. There is this synergy where you can actually weave in the different options available to bring the campaign to life. And in some cases you might lean more towards static for certain reasons. And in other cases, towards digital, just depending on what your strategy is and what you're actually wanting to achieve. I love that you have touched on what you have. It leads me to the question I wanted to ask you around creative. The creative and out of home is such a huge piece of execution. You could have done all the best planning and strategy in the world to get the best sites that you needed or your site mix. But you know, what is actually going to go onto those sites carry such a huge weight for how successful the campaign actually is. And I wanted to ask, what is your opinion on the job to be done with regards to the artwork from a static perspective and the artwork from a digital perspective? Should they be the same? Should they differ?

00:08:45 · S1, Samy NaiduPlay from here

If so, how, how can you get the best out of both of the mediums by using your creative messaging? [00:08:51] S0: What what I'd like to start off with on preparation to... Of this interview, something like really struck me and it almost lit a light bulb for me is looking at static and digital with the analogy of a news story or news article. And you almost take each of those saying, in a news article, you have a headline, and then you have the story behind it. And if you look at both static and digital, ideally, static is the headline, and digital is the content and the story behind it. [00:09:27] S1: I love that analogy, by [00:09:28] S0: the way. [00:09:28] S1: I have never heard it framed that way before. I love that.

00:09:28 · S1, Samy NaiduPlay from here

[00:09:28] S1: I have never heard it framed that way before. I love that. [00:09:31] S0: Okay. So so meaning that, you know, with your brand being in in a static format in these environments, it creates the big bold messaging. And digital then brings in the product and pricing. It brings in the information that supports what you're almost shouting about in your static advertising. And I think they again... So number one, the idea is that both of those messages need to still talk about the same strategy or the brand execution of what you need to achieve. But both of them do two different stories in terms of one, grabbing the attention, and the second, informing you on the... On what that attention is about. And I think that's what's so clear. And then it's about the locality as well. Your your large format static or static is multiple executions throughout the consumer or customer journey or the audience journey. And then the immediacy of either the closing the gap in terms of place of purchase or place of attribution is where you push heavily your digital content to support that static execution. And I think that's how it should be looked at and how it should be strategized and placed. And that's my opinion on that. But yeah, I think it works so well.

00:10:58 · S1Play from here

[00:10:58] S1: Yeah, it's such a such a simple way of looking at it that I think really breaks it down so nicely from a brand building perspective. You know, while you were speaking, some campaigns come to mind for me around that I loved seeing them in static out of home. For example, you know, we've recently had the lurries here in South Africa and the Vaseline campaign that was awarded with the Gogul rubbing the Vaseline onto the grandchild's face. I mean, the visual of that from a static perspective was so powerful. I didn't need to see a digital ad complementing that to understand exactly what was happening and I think for me to your analogy that was the headline right? This bold image that is very clear what is happening just from seeing the image and I think that in some cases like that was the perfect use for, static out of home. Another example, again, to reference the lurries that have taken place would be the Spotify ad free listening campaign where it was around, you know, having goosebumps and then you saw a break in somebody's arm where the ad break would have been and then the goosebumps continue. And that was executed on both static and digital and I think that was exceptional to see in that the visual as a static you could understand what was happening but then the story was told a bit further using digital out of home so I think that that's a really good example of your headline and then the actual story behind it. So I just wanted to share those that came to mind for Yeah.

00:12:18 · Samy Naidu, S1Play from here

[00:12:18] S0: Yeah. Thought it was such a brilliant analogy when I read it as well. I think, you know, for those that sort of don't understand digital static and the complementary role they play with each other, this just brings it together so simply. [00:12:33] S1: You [00:12:33] S0: know, it's brilliant.

00:12:36 · Kirsty CarlsonPlay from here

[00:12:36] S2: Yeah, love that out of home as a medium can be used for storytelling. And I think you've explained that through that analogy, Your headline as being your static for the brand. And that's very much your brand building, building your brand equity, your brand saliency, and almost the always on holdings. You know, when we have these brands that have the big statics and they have all the key statics on roadside, you know, they have that as they always on and then you have that the rest of the article, as you said, as kind of the storytelling and is unpacking, you know, what needs to be said through the Desert of Home platforms. And what I think is so amazing is that we're, you know, we're no longer in the Desert of Home boom, it's boomed, we're here, you can find digital home in nearly every single out of home environment that there is, know, before it was just roadside, static or digital home. Now, know, it's commuter, static and digital home and it's in malls, you know, so it is the options are there. And that's why these brands are asking these questions. And they're asking, you know, what does the balance look like? What format should be used? What is performing better in these environments? And I think understanding that each has its own strategic abilities and capabilities, first and foremost, is so important. And then seeing how they complement one another and then making sure that you utilize and the right creative for the format so it's fit for format. But what I would love to ask you, Samy, is a lot of brands and some clients will feel that they don't like design of home or they don't prefer design of home because they have to share space. Know, some of the design of home that's in the market is loop based and it's buying, you know, one of 12, one of eight, 15 or thirty seconds depending on how it's packaged. And there's some clients who would prefer to have that static always on presence versus sharing a loop and don't see the value of Desjardins of Home because of that debate around that. And it's quite a contentious piece that you opened up the episode with earlier on. It's just that there is going have conversation about this. And I'd love to hear your opinion on what is the answer to brands when they are asking this and they're highlighting this as a concern for them?