Powerful Posters 2023

2023’s Powerful Posters

2023 has been an incredible year for Out of Home. New innovations, 3D at scale, augmented reality, projections onto landmarks, fantastic special builds, interesting experiential and well… a channel so good it’s now being faked. It tends to be these one-off campaigns and eye-catching executions that are most celebrated and become best-known. But the Powerful Posters series is about something slightly different. It's something that we (Ben and Colin) share. A love of... Really. Good. Posters. It is of course highly subjective to decide which are the best, but following a simple framework of: Simple, Striking, Succinct and Sensible, there is a criteria to be met. So we thought we'd take a little look back to see what we loved. Clear Channel alone have hosted circa 15,000 campaigns in 2023, with, at best guess, skywards of 40,000 different creatives. And the standard of work has been some of the best it’s ever been. A testament to the creativity in our industry. It would be impossible to call out all the fantastic work, however... After a year-long, weekly exercise of discussing and debating the work that we see, we got together to deliberate on, what is in our opinion, some of 2023’s Powerful Posters.

Colin Horan Strategic Client Partner, Clear Channel UK

Firstly, a brand we could both agree on. It has to be Heinz Just Absolutely, [seriously], ridiculously good from Heinz this year. There’s so much to like. From their co-marketing with Absolut, the nostalgic art direction on the new product launches, the powerful use of their many distinctive brand assets, to reinforcing their ad lines. Heinz seem to have been outdoor, everywhere this year. A superb continuation of their brand building, with some award wins at Cannes, and doing so with a fantastic new range of products Powerful Posters.

Grocery

Bakers, born and bred Any brand that’s pulling in Samuel L. Jackson to their posters has to make the list (otherwise I was slightly scared of what might happen!) Warburtons have delivered when it comes to big, bold, beautiful campaigns this year. They really know how to make the most of a poster: tight framing, great photography, witty copy and strong pack shots. Beanz needz warbz, and Heinz meanz beanz… Are we seeing an Out of Home 2024 collab in the making?

Nice nice baby! Muller are continuing the momentum from last year. In fact, the eagled eyed amongst you will have noticed that some of these creatives ran in 2022. For me that’s a positive (If it ain’t broke… etc). It’s about understanding what works and running with it, and whilst there is a different look and feel for each product, the desire to be simple and bold remains consistent. As for having ‘Rice Rice Baby’ out on the streets during footballs most talked about summer transfer... a masterstroke.

Finally, this year, there have been some incredible and hard-hitting campaigns aimed at behavioural and societal change. Out of Home is not only a Platform for Brands, but a Platform for Good. A place to communicate to and influence broad audiences - quickly, efficiently and together. It felt only right to share some of the brilliant, thought-provoking work that some of our charity, council and landlord partners have done. These are truly Powerful. Posters.

Charity & Public Sector

If looks could chill A colourful and fun campaign from the summer that really caught my eye by Inch’s, where the product is the hero. Simple posters, mouth-watering art-direction and clearly having fun in their copywriting. The campaign supports both on-trade and off-trade, with a side snack of user-generated content using social proofing to reinforce the brand's tone of voice. Beautiful work.

A lovely day for a… Voted Marketing Week’s Brand of the Year for 2023. Then reported that Guinness became Britian's most sold pint. The brand is absolutely killing it right now, and their Out of Home campaigns are a perfect reflection of their greatness. They have one of the world's most distinctive assets, and they certainly know how to use it. The ‘Looks like Guinness’ work is timeless, but the simplicity of the ‘Lovely day for a…’ stood out in the battle to own the summer drinking occasion.

Beers, Wines & Spirits

Never square It’s often said that the best of Out of Home takes advantage of the opportunity to surprise. Step in, Toblerone. A couple, on a horse, in a city, with a giant Toblerone. 100% not a square first date. Campaigns around Valentine’s and Christmas really stood out with an unusual lifestyle type imagery for the category. I also liked how the logo, and distinctive brand colours, became stronger with the later campaign.

Have a break When it comes to Out of Home creativity, keeping things simple, bold and distinctive to the brand is key. Kit Kat ticks all the boxes. Plus, they've added in a touch of emotion that chimes with their iconic strapline that's been running since the 50’s. What I particularly enjoy is that it complements the 'take a break from tech frustrations' TV ad, but remains true to the principles of effective Out of Home. Kit Kat later evolved this into a data-driven contextual execution, tapping into real-world moments such as the unpredictable British weather.

Confectionery

Should’ve gone to… Once again, this year Specsavers have continued to smash their Out of Home advertising… Alongside their business-as-usual store support, highlights this year have included: a new, brighter campaign focused on designer lenses and sunglasses; launching Nordic inspired frames with a nod to Ikea; the joy of every day sounds with typographic sounds and onomatopoeia taking centre-stage; but the best for me the ”don’t let your specs get in the way” contact lens trial posters. 3 perfectly captured moments, with great typography and relatable truth. Specsavers never fail to disappoint.

Giving a sausage Tesco is of course the UK’s biggest supermarket, but it’s their mobile division that I wanted to call out. The Telco market is a competitive space, where it’s often hard to create meaningful difference, but Tesco Mobile haven't been tempted to focus on product feature jargon. Instead, they kept it simple, crafted bold and playful copy that gives us a nod to the trust associated with the mothership.

Retail

A British original It would be hard to talk about Powerful Posters in 2023 without mentioning the Cannes-Lion-winning British Airways campaign, A British Original. A gift that keeps on giving with unbelievable copywriting – more than 500 unique executions celebrating all the reasons people travel, there truly is something for everyone: love, life, death, health, wealth, happiness, sadness, music, sport, pride. It’s got it all. Against popular opinion, I’d personally have loved to have seen the copy that bit bigger, to let more people easily digest and process how wonderful the creativity is.

Words to paint a thousand pictures They say a picture paints a thousand words, but perhaps the opposite is the case for Uber. A block colour and a handful of words lands the message beautifully for their two major campaigns this year, with my personal favourite being the recent Uber Trains launch. It very cleverly leaves room for the reader to work out the twist, helping strengthen the emotional connection and increase memorability. Their Uber Reserve product launch was also perfectly art-directed.

Travel

Sea it to believe it Smart copy and stunning imagery are at the heart of this wholesome campaign for the Sea Life Centres. The playful interaction between the sea life and copy is a delight, and the series is localised to certain centres to maximise attention with contextually relevant posters.

Turning the streets pink It’s hard to not mention Barbie, which saw the summer streets turn pink, and help create the highest grossing UK film in 2023. The hype started with the pink billboard that sparked an online frenzy. Then came the classic movie poster, but it was one with real standout. My colleague Rich Caddy, entertainment client lead at Clear Channel, said “it was unmistakeable and managed to convey the fun, surprisingly humorous tone of the film”. In just one of a plethora of collaborations, it even got Hellman’s to get in on the fun, reacting with their cheeky ‘shrimp on the Barbie’ poster which could have been a contender in the grocery category itself.

Entertainment

Bag some joy Greggs, the beautiful Northeast based bakery - represent! - has produced bags of joy this year with their posters. Engaging copy, creatives aligned to all-important category entry points and moments, with large, bright, high-contrast text. I also love the prominent positioning and size of the branding.

Mouth-wateringly good KFC let their imagery do the talking with beautiful photography that focuses on taste. Utilising their distinctive brand assets gives them to power to do less, but still leaves the audience with everything they need to keep KFC front-of-mind.

QSR