Aaron Poole, marketing executive, PML Group with this week’s Out \ Look on Out of Home
Lovely Day for a Drop
Guinness is abundant on Outdoor this cycle with the return of Summer Drops, now in its third year, running alongside the broader Lovely Day for a Guinness fare. The activation pairs one of the most recognisable pints with the thrill of a real-world reward, working with festivals like Forbidden Fruit and All Together Now and artists such as Fatti Burke to build cultural currency alongside physical presence. Prizes include exclusive experiences, merch, and golden-ticket entry to some of the summer’s hottest events to those who successfully score part of the ‘drop’.
Planned by PHD and Source out of home, the campaign’s LIVEPOSTER-enabled countdown mechanic is what adds a new sense of urgency for 2025. Beginning 24 hours before each drop, dynamically-enabled DOOH formats start the clock. Once it hits zero, it’s go time.
Driving IRL to URL is Outdoor’s unique facility to drive digital action in the moment. It’s an approach backed by research: our IMPACT Attention study shows that 65% of people are more likely to recall a digital OOH ad that changes in real time, and 54% say they’d stay longer to see how it ends. Real-time relevance doesn’t just catch the eye, it earns a second look.
Neuroscience data from The Moments of Truth also show that when content lands at a relevant time or place (like sunny weekends for alcohol brands), brain response can jump by over +248% in approach and emotional intensity.
And that attention can quickly turn into action. According to The Point of Search, mobile searches prompted by OOH are 38% more likely to result in a purchase than those triggered at home, particularly when the creative taps into category need states or offers a clear call to action like a countdown or a location-specific hook.
OOH Celebrates 30 Years of the Dublin Literary Award
Dublin City Libraries is live this cycle with a creative-led DOOH campaign celebrating 30 years of the Dublin Literary Award, one of the world’s most prestigious literary prizes.
The campaign transforms each of the 29 previous winning novels into a single symbolic visual. Created by Core Creative and illustrated by Ciaran Moran and Emmet Mullins, the series is appearing across Digipanels throughout Dublin’s city centre. The concept is deliberately minimal: no blurbs or titles, just one carefully chosen image to represent each story – a revolver, a ribbon, a keyhole. As a collection, the panels form a visual archive of the moments, themes and ideas that have shaped the award over three decades.
“Right from the start, we wanted to keep things simple by using one colour palette and one smart idea that would say it all,” said Moran. “So, we dove into the stories, picking out the strongest, most memorable symbols.”
The 30th and final panel, representing this year’s winner, will appear later this month following the official announcement on 22 May during the International Literature Festival Dublin.
“We were delighted with both the volume and quality of the sites PML Group managed to work into the campaign, many of which were in prime, high-traffic locations,” says Jo Mullins, business director at Core, “It wasn’t an easy task to co-ordinate 30 pieces of creative, but Digipanels were the perfect medium to showcase as many illustrations as possible”.
The non-traditional campaign stands as a powerful example of what Out of Home can do when it’s used not only as a media platform but as a cultural one. According to our IMPACT Attention research OOH is highly effective at delivering public-facing messaging. Audiences trust what they see in these environments, particularly in central city formats, where credibility and attention intersect.
From a creative point of view, the campaign also reflects principles identified in our Creative Elements study. Visual clarity, concise messaging and bold central imagery are proven to drive attention and recall. In this case, those same techniques are applied to a cultural narrative rather than a brand one, but the effect is just as strong.
Its timing adds another layer. The campaign aligns with Dublin’s literary calendar and its status as a UNESCO City of Literature. This echoes insights from our Moments of Truth research, which shows that contextually relevant DOOH creative leads to stronger emotional response and improved memorability. When a campaign shows up in the right place at the right time, it resonates more deeply.
More information can be found at https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/
McVitie’s Celebrates Digestive Centenary
McVitie’s has taken the biscuit back to Outdoor this cycle, raising a toast (or maybe a teacup) to 100 years of the chocolate digestive. Planned by PHD and Source out of home, the campaign rolls out across classic and digital formats nationwide, with high-footfall placements in malls, transport hubs and commuter corridors.
The campaign is a celebration of a much-loved product that has stood the test of time, paired with some smart media thinking to mark the moment. At Connolly Station, the vinyl-wrapped pedestrian underpass brings a light touch of innovation to the mix. Messaging like “In 1925 we re-invented the wheel” and “Our lightbulb moment was a biscuit” sits playfully alongside a floating chocolate digestive, as though the brand is toasting its own legacy while staying in on the joke.
The campaign runs in tandem with the UK execution that leans more heavily into spectacle, including immersive chocolate tunnel takeovers and decked-out buses. The Irish approach delivers visual impact and broad reach, while giving a nod to the brand’s cultural place without overplaying it.
And it’s a good example of how even subtle touches can boost campaign impact. Our IMPACT Attention research shows that 85 percent of people say innovative OOH formats like wraps, projections or sensory builds are more likely to grab their attention. A further 84 percent agree that these formats make a brand feel more forward-thinking.
It’s also worth noting that biscuits fall into one of the many FMCG categories where OOH pulls real weight. In our study 61% of consumers said that OOH influences their decision to buy a product or service, with that figure climbing even higher among 16 to 24 year olds. For heritage brands looking to stay front of mind in-store, that final nudge on the street still matters.
“We worked closely with the team in Source to deliver on an innovative campaign that centred around the history of McVities as a much loved biscuit brand in Ireland,” says Fiona Quinn, account director at PHD. “They created an immersive plan with a wide range of formats in high footfall locations to ensure stand out and generate impact. We’ve loved working with the them and we have been excited to see it all come to life.”
“The McVitie’s Chocolate Digestive is an incredible product,” says Barry Cogavin, Head of Ireland, pladis UK and Ireland. “It has been loved by generations and remains unchanged for decades. Being the custodian of a brand with the heritage of McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives is a great privilege as well as a great responsibility. This is an amazing campaign, our biggest ATL investment dedicated to one brand, and we are very excited to see it unfold.” McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives are a €10 million brand in Ireland and the brand has continued to grow at 18% in the last year [NielsenIQ and Kantar 52 weeks to 24 March 2025]. “McVitie’s Chocolate Digestives have long stood the test of time and will continue to resonate with consumers in Ireland for decades to come,” adds Barry, “because in Ireland, we love a cup of tea, and this iconic biscuit has brought little moments of happiness to so many people’s tea-break through the years.”
