Athletes & Billboards: the perfect match

It was just another day in lockdown when I happened to notice the brilliant, humorous Paddy Power ad with a serious message.

“Leaving the couch, remember the Crouch. Keep your distance, protect the NHS.”

This ad genius from the Paddy Power team got me thinking about the power and versatility of OOH when working with UK athletes.

Outdoor, OOH, billboards, posters – whatever the description – is a medium that has been used brilliantly by brands (and their agencies) to deliver iconic advertising with UK athletes front and centre of the thinking.

Athletes and OOH are a perfect match for bold brands wanting to deliver meaningful, increasingly data-driven connections.

We had a think about some of our favourite OOH ads that harnessed the power and profile of our brilliant UK athletes.

• The Public Health Supporter: Couch, Crouch Paddy Power
  • A clever way to introduce the 2 metre self-distancing rule in the current lockdown using a popular sporting figure

• The Gold Medal Winners: Royal Mail Stamps
  • Award-winning campaign to celebrate 2012 Gold medal athletes ‘live’ on high streets & London U/G.  Stamps with the gold medal-winning athletes were produced within 12 hours of their win and OOH helped drive the news, awareness and excitement.

• The Tournament Player: England Lionesses
  • Wishing the England team luck in the local communities they came from was a brilliant way to boost players confidence before a bog tournament and clever use of PR to drive awareness when expectations were riding high.

• The Everyday Athlete: This Girl Can
  • Using the everyday athlete to deliver an empowering message to the nation’s females.  This campaign broke all records and is seen as one of the most iconic of all time.  Used OOH effectively as part of its wider communications.

• The Human Billboard: Linford Christie and Puma
  • A huge PR stunt where the superstar athlete, Linford Christie, became a walking billboard.  One of the most talked about global sports stories of that year.

• The Lesser Known: Mike Edwards, High Jumper, Jacamo
  • The cool, credible British champion high jumper, Mike Edwards appeared in the fashion brand’s 2018 campaign.  The urban visuals made quite an impact and showed that less well known athletes in underdog sports can thrive in the OOH environment.

• The Patriot:  Wayne Rooney, England Footballer
  • One of the most controversial football World Cup ads of all time saw Rooney painted in red for the nation to see.  What OOH is great for – high impact, visually-arresting, headline-grabbing.  It did the job and more.

• The Champion of Purpose:  Captain Tom on Piccadilly site
  • The 100 lap legend who raised £30m+ for the NHS – immortalised on one of the greatest OOH sites of all!  The perfect site for a national treasure.

This selection makes us think why brands & their agencies don’t capitalise more on our nation’s amazing athletes for their OOH ad campaigns.

Brands don’t have to always use or work with the most famous or expensive talent either.  The stories and values of many of our unsung elite athletes are hugely powerful and authentic.  You’ve just got to want to find them, hear them and celebrate them!

Perhaps in 2021, which promises to be THE BEST YEAR of sport for generations (post-covid), we will see more of our brilliant athletes celebrated in style in the out-of-home environment.

And after all, it only takes a bold  idea to make a meaningful connection with the great British public.  Just ask superhero athlete, Colonel Tom, aged 100, about the Piccadilly Wall of Fame!

What athletes have we missed?  Any glaring omissions from our selection you can think of?  OOH is a mighty canvas so which athletes do you think deserve to be celebrated on it?