McDonald’s served up the best recalled of the 1,000-plus out of home (OOH) campaigns tracked by PML Group and Ipsos B&A last year, and once again took the award in the dining category of the 2024 Impact Awards, beating competition from within the QSR and fast food sectors. Media was by Zenith. The Chef sauce campaign fronted by football legend Paul McGrath and created by Havas with media by OMD won out in the general food category.
Tayto was the winner in the confectionery and snacks category with its festive multi-format ads rolled out by Publicis and Starcom. Colum Harmon, marketing director, PML Group, said the campaign generated strong awareness at a time of year when the battle for consumer attention is so high. PepsiCo’s use of OOH in the first refresh of the 7Up brand in more than seven years was the best in soft drinks, marking another win for OMD.
Diageo and PHD took the honours in the low and no alcohol category with Guinness 0.0. Retail is the biggest-spending category on OOH. The awards recognise supermarket activity as well as more general retail campaigns. Irish multiple Dunnes Stores was the most recalled OOH activity last July with its multi-format campaign for Double Savers. The campaign was bought by Carat with creative from The Public House.
Life Style Sports’ campaign grabbed attention during cycle 23 at locations where footfall was high, driving mental availability as festive shopping kicked off. Disney+ ranked highest in the entertainment category with a campaign booked by Zenith. In the telco category, Vodafone, through Carat, leveraged their association with the Ireland rugby team in the run up to the World Cup, focusing on ties between players and fans with #TeamOfUs.
With evocative creative, AIB understood the value of visual storytelling coupled with impactful copy on high impact formats. It was a potent mix that proved most effective in the finance category and saw the bank and Starcom take the award. An Post followed last year’s success with more of the same as the Tin Man Christmas creative again proved engaging. Starcom also shared in this category victory, with creative by Accenture’s Droga5.
In the personal care and wellness category, Nurofen triumphed thanks to its bold purple creative which two in every three respondents said was unmissable on high-impact, wide-reaching formats while live during cycle 20. The campaign was created by Core Creative and planned by Zenith. Harmon said that the winning campaigns were not only excellent in their own right, but combined they show how best to deploy the power of OOH.
Full awards rollcall @ https://pmlgroup.ie/content/impactawards2024/
