In William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, its heroine Rosalind flees persecution in the Forest of Arden. In the forest, she encounters a variety of memorable characters, notably the melancholy traveller Jaques, who speaks one of Shakespeare's most famous speeches: “All The World’s a Stage”.

The message was simple. If all the world's a stage, then all of its inhabitants are actors. And in the five hundred years since Shakespeare penned this play, the world’s stage has changed a lot.

It’s bigger. Busier. And now, people aren’t the only actors performing. Brands are too.

And they’ve been performing for longer than you may think. 

Roaring into life  

The first outdoor ad appeared in 1830 as a roadside billboard for Barnum’s Circus, featuring eight tigers circling a rather taken aback ringmaster. These large and colourful posters quickly captured attention - leading Barnum to invest in spaces for his posters in other towns before his circus came through, effectively drumming up excitement for his travelling troupe.

The public performances of brands have evolved considerably since then. More formats. More screens. More measurement. But what remains true since the days of Barnum is that outdoor advertising is at its best when it pushes boundaries. 

So how can we empower brands to stand out? 

Bridging the gap 

Great work happens when people are inspired. And for a brand to inspire a customer, someone must first inspire a creative - the people with the imagination behind the brands.

Creatives need to be involved in planning for outdoor, and the nuances of designing specifically for the channel. This can be a challenge for a new generation who (naturally) spend a lot of time working on ideas for online platforms and social media.

But this challenge is exciting. Stepping out of a comfort zone, and into out-of-home, is an opportunity to produce work that will be seen by millions of people in public environments.

With that in mind we’ve devised a strategy here at Global to do just that. We’re joining forces with world-class organisations to provide creatives with the skills, knowledge and experience they need to shape the next era of outdoor.

We’ve just announced a totally free masterclass programme, ‘Creating Impact With Outdoor Advertising’ we’ve created workshops to inspire and teach creatives from all backgrounds and generations, and we’ve launched competitions for creatives to win ad space on the London Underground. And we’ve got more to come, so stay tuned.

When done right, outdoor advertising becomes part of culture. Its stature and visibility in public spaces means it has the power to stop people in their tracks and inspire action.

So what does this look like in practice? Here’s just a few of my favourite campaigns that demonstrate how powerful outdoor can be with considered craft and ingenuity.

From Barnum’s to British Airways   

McCain Foods took to the London Underground with an OOH tunnel transformation as part of their 'Let's all chip in' campaign, highlighting how a regenerative farming approach can help prevent staple foods (like potatoes) from dying out. One of these simple steps is for farms to sew beautiful wildflowers like those in the creative as they encourage birds and insects. It was a beautiful way to bring attention to something like potato farming.

Outside of the tube, we recently worked with fresh fish brand LEAP to create the UK’s largest roadside animatronic billboard at Waterloo - the UK’s busiest train station. It featured the iconic singing and dancing Big Mouth Billy Bass, and saw the giant, animatronic fish serenading passers-by - delivering an unmissable message to consumers en-masse.

Last year, Havas London’s campaign for TheWayBack - an initiative designed to help those living with dementia and Alzheimer’s - won our Look Ahead competition, a partnership with Contagious and TfL. The creative featured time-travelling commuters on the screens alongside escalators on the London Underground. That campaign truly raised the bar for creativity in outdoor and showcased the power of the digital ribbon screens perfectly.

And talking of award-winning work, British Airways won a D&AD Pencil for its “A British Original” campaign - a campaign with over 500 unique creatives showcasing the many reasons people chose to travel, all specially designed for billboards and buses across the UK. 

Taking the stage 

To summarise, it’s been over five hundred years since Shakespeare penned As You Like It. And almost two hundred years since Barnum’s circus pioneered outdoor advertising.

The stage has changed a lot. But the recipes for success are still the same.

Creativity is a powerful competitive advantage. Through outdoor, brands can build awareness at scale - and programmatic technology is empowering brands to deliver ever-greater targeting and personalisation.

But creative ideas must always come first.

Great work happens when brands marry innovation and creativity to make extraordinary advertising that moves people.

The stage is set. The audience is ready. Are you ready to perform?