Outdoor media owners commemorate Coronation weekend

Multiple outdoor media owners are running special imagery and messages for the Coronation Day on 6 May and through the long weekend.

The big four out-of-home media owners—Clear Channel, Ocean Outdoor, JCDecaux and Global—are all running variations of imagery supplied by the Cabinet Office, approved by Buckingham Palace, similar to what they did after the Queen passed in September last year.

OmniGov and Posterscope negotiated a campaign across multiple media owners.

These screens will be seen by millions over the long weekend. Havas Media Group carried out a nationally representative survey of 1,270 GB Citizens which found 56% were actively planning on joining in with the Coronation celebrations.

Most were planning on celebrating at a party with friends and family (29%), followed by 19% saying they would be joining in wider festivities over the long weekend. 15% said they would be celebrating at a local street party while 11% will be joining in festivities with their wider community, such as at local schools.

A smaller proportion live in London and plan on “lining the streets” (5%) and some who do not live in London will travel to the capital to do the same (4%).

Many will see the 16-foot installation of a Crown at Marble Arch, near Speakers’ corner, close to where the ceremony and processions will be shown on four large screens in Hyde Park on 6 May.

The giant special build weighs 300kg with 36 different coloured glass stones and will be on display until 11 May. There will be a QR code with more information about Marble Arch’s royal connections.

The installation was coordinated by Marble Arch London BID, a collective representing 200 member businesses in the area.

JCDecaux UK will run multiple executions of the creative campaign from the government, as well as installing giant St Edward’s Crowns on three bus shelters along Oxford Street for Transport for London and New West End.

The three installations were created by JCDecaux UK’s Creative Solutions team.

JCDecaux UK is also running a UK-wide charity campaign for Eden Project Communities to encourage people to come together as communities to celebrate the Coronation this weekend.

Mark Bucknell, JCDecaux UK chief commercial officer said: “Crowns, community and creativity are top of mind this week as we count down to the Coronation. Once again Out-of-Home is playing a central role as the nation celebrates its most significant moments – reflecting the public mood and reaching people when they are out and about.

“As the latest figures from WARC show, Out-of-Home is the fastest growing medium for 2022 and is predicted to be the fastest growing for 2023. It’s no surprise that this week, Out-of-Home is the medium of choice capturing the spirit of the nation once again as brands get creative with campaigns  including giant crowns on Oxford Street via our Creative Solutions team and brand campaigns from Tesco, Waitrose, Fortnum & Mason, Jack Daniels among many others.”

Clear Channel UK will run the government-supplied Coronation design between Saturday and Monday, on top of a charitable campaign from Friday to Monday for education organisation the Ideas Foundation.

Children and young people across the UK have been invited to create digital posters around the themes of diversity, sustainability, and community, with a small selection being chosen to be shown across Clear Channel’s outdoor advertising sites over the weekend.

On Coronation Day itself, Ocean Outdoor will be running a screen domination of Coronation artwork across its full digital out-of-home estate in 14 cities between 11am and 2pm.

The exception to this is Piccadilly Lights which will have different content displayed at different times throughout Coronation Day.

Between 10am to 3pm Ocean and its landlord Landsec will be running a screen domination on the Piccadilly Lights.

Then between 10am to 12.30pm, the Piccadilly Lights screens will carry a single Coronation message where commercial advertiser full screens will play out every 10 mins in their usual rotation. Coronation content will replace the usual patchwork.

Finally, from approximately 12.30 to 3pm, Piccadilly Lights will display an image of the newly crowned King direct from the ceremony which will be supplied by PA Media. During this period there will be no other commercial content on the screen.

Ocean has also been running messages promoting volunteering to mark the Coronation across its screens in 14 UK cities. Spots for The Big Help Out initiative will run across its digital screens in 14 UK cities from 24 April to 8 May

Outdoor advertising contractor 75Media, which has most of its billboards across the North of England including a roadside billboard portfolio in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London, will strategically place its own designed commemorative Coronation billboards in high-traffic locations across its digital and large format screens.

“We are thrilled to be able to celebrate this historic occasion through our network of digital billboards,” said Katy Conway, marketing & communications director at 75Media.

“We believe that our design will capture the attention and imagination of the public and showcase our commitment to creating innovative and engaging advertising campaigns.”

Finally, Transport for London has changed some of its logos at key stations around the event and interchange stations on the London Tube, Overground and bus stops to commemorate the Coronation.

Its round logo has been crowned with a likeness of St Edward’s Crown which will be used on Coronation Day to crown the King to create “a Crowndel”.

There will also be Coronation bus wraps on five buses along routes 390, 160, 11, 87, 148, 111.

The bus wraps will be in five different colours: red, dark blue, cyan and pink.

There will also be commemorative covers on 20 Santander Cycles, including two e-bikes, in three different colours, available to hire during the Coronation weekend.