Gridlocked drivers in Melbourne and Sydney can soon distract themselves from their road rage with giant 3D billboard ads for deodorant.
The ads, designed by oOh! Media and printed by Opus subsidiary Cactus, add 2D and 3D extensions to the standard billboard shape, along with lighting and LED panels, to make them more engaging, and are strategically positioned at bottlenecks to give drivers plenty of time to look at them.
A Dove campaign advertising its deodorant by promoting awareness of the damage caused by shaving features a giant 3D shaver, made out of polystyrene foam, which extends beyond the billboard’s boundaries, while Lynx’s ‘Make Love Not War’ campaign spruiks its new Peace fragrance, and has an image of a life-size helicopter protruding from the billboard, blurring the visual lines between reality and the ad to make the helicopter appear to be hovering above it.
Cactus general manager of strategic development Keith Ferrel says the company has been making 3D billboards for a while when demand arises.
"The results are really good when done right, but you need a creative client or agency to make it happen. It's another opportunity for people to do something different and get noticed," he says.
"oOh! Media are quite creative and willing to push boundaries to get more consumer engagement. It's a win-win when it works because clients are more likely to invest in print.
"We have been getting a lot of interest from this campaign and we're prepared to give anything a go to help our clients get results."
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The Lynx billboards will appear at Taylor Square in Sydney and Melbourne’s City Link, supported by four large format billboards across the two cities.
The giant Dove shaver will stand by Parramatta Road in Camperdown and on Melbourne’s Kings Way to spearhead a national billboard campaign.
oOh! Media head of production John Purcell says the extensions and other production techniques added extra impact and memorability to the billboard campaigns and bring advertisers’ visions to life.
“Both of these special builds add impact, and help make the campaign memorable to the consumer as they drive by,” he says.
“These campaigns exhibit techniques we have spent years refining, as we continue to trail blaze new innovations to ensure billboard campaigns are even more impactful and stand out.”
oOh! Media has recently built more than 20 new billboards across Queensland and NSW, including three on the Gateway Motorway, the Pacific Motorway and Breakfast Creek Road in Brisbane; and one on Sydney’s M2 freeway.
Billboard group director Noel Cook says the company is building more on an almost daily basis.
“We are always looking for new opportunities across all of our environments that will help advertisers reach the growing audience of Australians who spend more time away from home,” he says.
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