Normally I can’t say that I enjoy standing on the platform at Waterloo, waiting for a faulty train to run through the station to allow another train to come and pick me up & whisk me to sunny Fitzrovia. But this morning, thanks to some clever advertising, I didn’t mind being delayed at all.

The reason for this was that I was standing opposite what I’ll call a digital poster (I’m sure that there’s a ridiculous trade term for these, but I’m guessing that this is what consumers would call them if asked): rather than the standard fare for these formats, where lazy advertisers just roll out sub-standard TV fodder, this ad was interactive & engaging. It started with an image and a question, like the one at the top of this post. I took a photo but was a bit slow on the draw, so missed the question that went with the image of a homeless person: Pity or Pitiful?

This screen was then followed by one which had two opposing quotes from, I assumed, members of the public – one showing pity for the subject of the photo, the other scorn. It then closed on a screen showing what proportion of Londoners agreed with each suggestion.

As my train pulled into view, I scribbled down the URL for the campaign and made a note to check it out once at my desk. What I found both pleased and intrigued me. The site, Time To Consider, poses a number of questions around fox hunting & homelessness, but also industrial farming techniques & the military. It then allows people to support one of two propositions for each, and encourages people to comment on the topics. Fox hunting seems to be the one that has stirred the most debate, with over 400 comments and counting.

All in all then an excellent example of using interactive media to challenge & engage with consumers. The only question left to me was who the bloody hell was the campaign for? Well, a quick whois check shows that the domain is owned by a certain CBS Outdoor, the company responsible for all the ad placements on the Tube. I can only assume therefore that they’re using it to show exactly what can be done with a bit of creativity and some clever media, which I can only applaud as so much of the ‘digital’ advertising on the Tube is utterly pointless: digital escalator panels which are no different from posters, except that they have pixels. Oh, and they’re less inventive than most posters, making no use of the opportunities that the technology opens up.

Hopefully CBS Outdoor’s campaign will encourage advertisers to be a bit more inventive and challenging in the way that they use these placements, especially as I’m guessing that prices for these spots are at an all-time low. And if they want any further inspiration, they could check out this excellent presentation on Digital Outdoor: it even includes a BBC World campaign in New York which is might similar to CBS Outdoor’s Tube on. Well, as they say, talent imitates, genius steals.

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