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Digital out of home will lift creative standards says Adshel boss

Atkinson

Atkinson

The new digital out-of-home network around 14 central Sydney stations will be a boon to Australian creativity according to the CEO of Adshel Rob Atkinson.

In recent years Australia has performed poorly in creative award shows in outdoor media categories, with only Dumb Ways to Die picking up Gold in Cannes last year, while Leo Burnett Sydney got silver for its Coca Cola Small World Machines execution.

But, speaking to Mumbrella at an event to officially launch the 186 digital display boards around the city-centre stations Atkinson said: “Anything new different and challenging normally brings out the best in people so I’m expecting to see some really innovative and engaging creative from those creative agencies that get it and really want to be a part of it. It’ll improve creativity across the board.”

He said part of the challenge for the company, which picked up the real estate as part of last year’s tender process, was now to educate agencies and clients about what can be displayed on the new boards, which allow moving images and interactive touchscreen capabilities.

Atkinson added: “You’re still delivering huge audiences so you can deliver both the broadcast and narrowcast message through a digital screen. We’re one of the few if not the only medium which is still a broadcast medium so it’s a great opportunity with huge numbers, but you can change it as often as you like but you can change context and be in real time depending on your circumstances.

“Out of home has been seen as a bit inflexible because of the timescales, but it’s opened up now so people can start a campaign on any given day. It can be three days a week, it can be one day if necessary which is a specific day or event.

“We’ll start to see our client base broadening, and appealing to those sectors like retail, FMCG, automotive, finance and media and they will start to increase their spend.”

He said the new boards represented a “substantial investment” for the company, and should last between five and seven years before they need replacing.

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