Passengers passing through Wellington Airport during the months of June and July are in for quite a shock as they encounter what appears to be a colossal troll causing chaos on the departure boards.
This unexpected sight marks MediaWorks, and New Zealand’s, inaugural venture into a full motion 3D effect billboard, promoting Wētā Workshop’s Auckland tourism experience – Wētā Workshop Unleashed.
The instalment features Jeff the troll, an iconic character featuring in the Unleashed experience, who can be seen rearranging departure screens. Jeff appears on prime billboard locations at Wellington Airport from June 2 and Newmarket train station in Auckland from June 6.
MediaWorks Outdoor Director Brad Morgan says Wētā Workshop was a natural partner to showcase this new capability in New Zealand.
“The technology has been around a little while overseas but we haven’t seen it in New Zealand yet and so we were keen to execute it here.
“We started talking to some of our agency partners first and foremost and then we found a happy marriage with New Zealand’s most famous and most respected animators in Wētā Workshop, so who better?
“It’s exciting to be able to do it with creative pioneers that are well and truly Kiwis and Aotearoa’s best
and finest.”
The screens work like regular digital billboard screens, but the focus is on how the creative content is presented.
Factors like sight lines, viewing angles, and shadow depth are taken into account to enhance the visual experience, relying on the treatment of the creative content rather than the special features of the screen itself.
It is also hoped that the displays will attract more attention than regular digital billboards.
“Overseas research has shown that with 3D animated anamorphic creative, you get a much higher brain response than just static content, whether that’s 3D or regular static content,” says Brad.
“It’s certainly more eye catching, it’s way more memorable and incredibly shareable. It’s more opportunity to be impactful for our clients, for the right type of brands that can leverage their 3D capabilities best to promote their product and brand.”
Wētā Workshop Co-Founder Sir Richard Taylor says the new 3D billboard platform was a perfect place to showcase the breadth of expertise across Wētā Workshop.
While most of these 3D billboards work well because they are located on a corner of a building, in this case the opportunity came about in creating the illusion that the public are looking up into a space to get the three dimensionality of the environment.
“The quality of the technology has to be very high definition and that’s what MediaWorks has offered. They’ve offered creatives like us the opportunity for a raw canvas onto which we can paint an idea. It’s been a great exercise in conceptualising and making something quickly,” Richard says.
Annabelle Wilkinson from MBM says 3DOOH offers an exciting opportunity for advertisers in NZ.
“Wētā Workshop has set the bar high with this incredible promotion. We think it’s going to spur some serious creativity from brands wanting to engage with their audiences in this new format,” she adds.
The MediaWorks billboards will showcase the new 3D effect advertising for four weeks in June and July as Auckland’s Wētā Workshop Unleashed continues at Sky City.
This article was originally published in the June/July 2023 issue of NZ Marketing. Click here to subscribe.
