How Reactive Content in OOH Puts Brands in the Spotlight

Reactive brand messaging can be a compelling form of activation campaigns, if executed right. But get it wrong and the brand can appear out of touch. Let’s assess why reactive OOH works exceptionally well and what these campaigns bring to the table.

Humour will get you everywhere

The vast majority of reactive campaigns work because they are funny. However, getting the right tone is tricky yet crucial - get the humour right and you could have a viral sensation, overstep the mark and the campaign could do more damage than good.
Mini and Oreos are brands known to have successfully tapped into the public consciousness with comedic takes on major news stories such as the horsemeat scandal in Europe and the 22-minute-long power outage at Super Bowl XLVII.
Equally, Specsavers has repeatedly launched witty reactive content that fits perfectly with the brand voice, most recently taking aim at the Best Picture fiasco at this year’s Oscars. Crucially, the comedic tone and relevancy of the campaign have made it sharable because of the witty delivery, which perfectly matched the brand slogan - ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’.

Relevance builds resonance

Reactive content is not restricted to humorous ads. Hyper-contextual content is powerful because it resonates with the audience’s current state of mind. These campaigns go from one-way brand communication to a two-way conversation with their consumers.
This year’s Cannes Lions prize winner Helsinki Police Department campaign aimed at tackling unreported domestic violence in Finland. Police data was integrated into the campaign to deliver a message that drove awareness of the issue and encouraged reports. Within 48 hours of each report, posters were printed and hung in the neighbourhood of the attack. This strategic proximity placement made the messaging highly relevant, which made for a stunning campaign that brought home the immediacy and the impact of this issue.

OOH brings the wow factor to reactive content

The window of opportunity to deliver reactive campaigns is often small and requires a fast turnaround on creative work. However, this should not limit brands to using only social media or online campaigns.
Many brands like Lidl have challenged the preconceptions that OOH is not a reactive medium and have taken advantage of the flexible and fast delivery across both its digital and static formats. The resulting Wow factor of reactive OOH content brings that extra punch to its messaging.An integrated campaign that harnesses different strengths of traditional and digital channels has the best chance of delivering long-term brand building. The unmissable nature of OOH messaging adds to the shared experience among audiences.