February 2024

Some of the most memorable marketing campaigns in recent times have also been amongst the most effective.

It’s all about making the most of outdoor media’s superpower – impact.

Because when you bring an idea to life in an high-profile location, you can bypass some common barriers to being noticed, build trust with consumers, and draw a direct line between communication and advertising effectiveness.

That’s our business model at Phantom Labs. More importantly, it’s the way brands around the world are driving sales.

Just ask the vampires.

Advertising effectiveness starts with enormous ideas.

In the UK, Kantar asked 750 consumers for their feedback on outdoor advertising campaigns. Some of the star performers were idea-driven campaigns from Ocean Labs.

For instance, Arla’s Lactofree milk brand was promoted with a gigantic milk carton protruding from the billboard. Milk-like liquid poured from the nozzle into a giant glass. It was a traffic-stopper, and so were the results.

The Arla ad made the top 5% of all ads for the communication of its lactose-free message. 37% of people interviewed said they would definitely tell others about the ad.

Encounter with a vampire.

In another Ocean Labs spectacular, the BBC launched its new Dracula series with two immersive billboards that used ingenious artwork created by evening shadows. (Vampires only emerge at night – geddit.)

Along with a spotlight and cleverly placed stakes, the installation included a glass box so you could break the glass “in the event of vampires.” With a time-lapse video that was viewed more than seven million times on social media, and over 40 articles in the press, this campaign brought Dracula (back) to life.

Closer to home, our Phantom Labs team have been busy on a bunch of high-impact installations

We helped Amazon Prime launch the new season of The Boys with a burnt-out car and lasers – and went viral worldwide. And we recently enabled Netsafe to waste scammers time, and Garage Project to showcase its zero-alcohol beer while building its brand in the under-served Christchurch market

That’s the ‘getting noticed’ part of the brief. But what about getting results?

Experiential means effective

There’s a growing body of evidence that meeting a brand through an experience can significantly improve customers’ perception of that brand.

One study summarises it beautifully:

“Marketers who have implemented experiential marketing in their mix report a 32% increase in event attendance, a 56% increase in leads, a 70% increase in click- through rates, and a threefold increase in opened emails. Forty-seven percent of brands therefore report an ROI for experiential activities between 3:1 and 5:1, with 29% of them above 10:1.”

As we’ve seen, a highly creative installation, such as the ones showcased above, can generate an emotional bond that feels real and exciting to minds exhausted by the constant bombardment of digital adlets. By delivering an experience, advertisers turn passive viewers into engaged customers.

You’re creating unique content for your brand, which you can then send further out into the world with social media and other digital tools. You can also give people the chance to sample your product.

It’s the difference between storytelling and story making.

Bringing it all together with Phantom.

The way we see it, marketers have the ability to create truly memorable experiences when they leverage outdoor media.

And here’s where our billstickers step up to the mark.

You need visibility – because there’s no point being highly creative if nobody gets to see your amazing idea. So Phantom gives you access to a network of sites seen by millions of eyeballs every week. From K Road to Dunedin, we’ll place your special build where it’s most likely to get noticed.

The second key ingredient is strategic nous. At Phantom, we don’t just put up posters – we help marketers connect with customers. Our account managers love putting together a strategy that maximises your impact by tailoring poster sites to your audience goals, and then delivering within your budget.

Last but not least, there’s the practical ability to pull off a special build. We’ll help you brainstorm and extend your ideas, and then bring in the artists and construction experts to deliver it without a glitch.

Your creative ideas. Our street-level smarts.

That’s how you deliver experiential advertising in 2024.