I was reminded of this quote from the legendary graphic designer earlier this week: “What I feel fortunate about is that I’m still astonished, that things still amaze me. And I think that’s the great benefit of being in the arts, where the possibility for learning never disappears, where you basically have to admit you never learn it.”

This week, I was amazed. Not easy to do for someone who’s been in OOH this long, but when I saw this ad for the first, and the fourth, time this week, I was equally amazed. If you live in the upper Midwest, particularly Michigan, you know the days leading up to today, the Winter Solstice, are the shortest of the year. It’s gray. It’s cold. And it’s basically dark at 3pm. But despite the lack of vitamin D, there’s an air about this season. It’s a festive time, it’s Christmas time.

Our agency, Extra Credit Projects, has created seasonal out of home campaigns for this client for about a decade. Over the past year, due to many factors, they took a break from outdoor to try new things. However, early in December, they realized the power of OOH was missing from their holidays. They called on us to put together a very quick integrated campaign, hoping that it wasn’t too late for out of home.

We have almost never run digital OOH for this client. Despite our industry rationale, studies on the media, and the attention-grabbing nature of the digital screens, they remained apprehensive of missing the rotating message, weary of the LEDs, and worrisome of the value.

But this time, between the schedule and pressure, the creative design, objective to find the right tool for the job, and even the weather, all roads led us to digital out of home. In the grayest of Michigan days, the result is an ad that stands out like the North Star. A digital delivery and placement that’s unmissable throughout the region and hits the sweet spot of the season.

So on the shortest day of the year, we retaught ourselves something we already knew, brought new light to our client’s message, and proved our mentor, the late Milton Glaser, was right again.

Merry Christmas, everyone, and may your digital OOH be bright.

Rob Jackson

Founder of Extra Credit Projects