Journal

Tube trains with eyelashes. Giant barbies. Handbag cars. Hot air balloon beers. The past 18 months have seen the advertising industry and its’ consumers fall in love with CGI led Fake Out Of Home concepts. The goal? To create VFX/CGI content that is shareable, giving viewers a real ‘did they actually do that?!’ experience. The bolder, the cleverer, the better – and the more viral. We’ve seen many attempts, monitoring what brands and agencies are putting out that falls under FOOH.

Our take? The more photorealistic, the better. That doesn’t just mean crowds of people staring and point at an object that will later appear though the mastery of VFX; though this certainly helps. It also means that the CGI object itself is executed flawlessly. The lighting of the item matching the lighting of the footage it’ll be integrated into. Shadows being cast and reacting as they would in real life. Motion feeling organic, affected by its’ surroundings and only taking the artistic license so far. The success comes in the conversation around the piece – debating over whether a brand has managed to pull off such a stunt or not.

For a brand like Brewdog, their goal was impact, disruption and a sense of their trademark rebellion. When filming the footage that we’d use for the Wingman Tower Bridge piece, our concern was making sure we saw the bridge open to allow our true-to-size CGI hot air balloon through. The day the piece was shared on social media, it was a happy coincidence that earlier in the week, Tower Bridge had been stuck open; causing mammoth traffic through the city’s centre. Comments flooded in requesting if Brewdog had engineered this as a PR stunt, unable to discern with an untrained eye whether the giant hot air balloon had actually made its’ way down the Thames. The result? Brewdog’s most viewed piece of content on their Instagram.

Impact does, undoubtedly, have a bearing on ROI. But a viral piece, though always welcome, isn’t always necessary. When McCann came to us to work with them on the announcement of the Nespresso x Liberty collaboration, beauty and consistency with the rest of the campaign was key. From simulating flower trails and coffee movement, to matching colours with a bespoke print and flowers to shapes used across other angles of the collaboration, our CGI piece needed to balance fun with sophistication.

A well-executed CGI or VFX piece can have just as much impact by harmonizing with a brand’s overall marketing strategy. Whether the aim is to generate ROI, build brand awareness, or create visual spectacle, CGI and VFX are vital tools in any modern advertising arsenal.

Key things to consider when planning a FOOH campaign:

• Photorealistic CGI is crucial to making FOOH campaigns believable and engaging.
• VFX can be used for both disruptive, viral campaigns (e.g., Brewdog) and luxury, cohesive content (e.g., Nespresso x Liberty).
• Proper integration of CGI with real-world elements like lighting and shadow elevates the overall quality of the campaign.

In the world of advertising, the bolder and more photorealistic the CGI and VFX, the greater the potential for audience engagement and viral success.