• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, February 21, 2017

Last October WPP’s OOH specialist Kinetic worked with Universal Pictures on a unique promotion for the upcoming movie “Girl on the Train” that induced subway commuters in the U.S.  to “snap to unlock” encrypted billboard ads, letting Snapchat users scan the content and “unlock” special, hidden filters created to gain further attention before the film’s debut.  The agency says that the promotion helped the movie top the box office charts in its first weekend of release when it earned $24.5 million.  

That promotion was one of several beta projects that the agency created for clients that combined OOH, mobile and social to capture the attention of consumers on the go with a call to action.

Now the agency is packaging up that planning and activation approach into a new model for brands it’s calling “Active Journeys.”

The model was developed by Lilliana Caro, Global CMO at Kinetic. In part it’s a response to the era of ad fraud and ad blocking, said Caro.  “We believe we need to reinvent the strategic planning process in order to ignite real-world actions,” she said.

Another beta project was devised for the launch campaign for Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in the UK. Digital vouchers were dispensed via Wi-Fi-activated ad content at numerous high-traffic OOH installations. The agency says that 70% of nearby audiences interacted with the ads with over 30,000 customers acting to receive vouchers.

The approach is intended optimize contextual messaging considering such variables as time of the day, social behaviors, weather and cultural moments (like movies) to target mobile and connected consumers with content and experiences that will resonate.

Caro likens OOH to “ecosystems where media and behaviors are determined by context.  By harnessing contextual variables and unleashing the interactive power of Out of Home, we can truly activate customer journeys.”

Mauricio Sabogal, Global CEO, Kinetic, submits that “What is of greatest value to brands is communication delivered, personalized and acted on at the place and time for which it was intended. With audiences who are increasingly on the move and connected, richer context data gives us the ability to respect their time and provide utility.”