Before you set fingers to keyboard (or speak to your chosen AI assistant) to create your submission(s) to this year’s Outdoor Media Awards, spare a thought for the judges of your undoubtedly brilliant work.
Not to feel sorry for them – they’ll have the privilege of behind-the-scenes access to the best of out-of-home insights and execution – but to get inside their heads. Wouldn’t that make your entry-writing easier and better?
It may sound as though we’re offering yet another AI tool, but, in fact, we’ve gone old school and simply talked to them on your behalf.
This year’s OMAs are all about celebrating work that “Outshines Ordinary”. So our judges have given us a peek into how they – and OOH – help brands do just that. Invaluably, they tell us what will make your entries “Outshine Ordinary” too.
Hear from the first cohort here; we’ll bring you more on February 26.
Entries for the 2025 OMAs, run by Clear Channel in partnership with Campaign, close on February 28th, 2025.
Carolyn Anderson, VP marketing – UK & Ireland, SharkNinja
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary?
To Outshine Ordinary, OOH must go beyond just being seen – it must be impossible to ignore.
OOH is a unique medium: it exists in the real world, in real time amongst real people going about their everyday lives. That means every campaign has the potential to disrupt, grab attention, and create unmissable moments that people talk about, share, and remember. Whether through jaw-dropping creative, dynamic digital activations, or immersive brand experiences, I will focus on how OOH surprises and engages.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
An extraordinary OMA entry in 2025 will be one that blends bold storytelling, an intelligent use of technology, and true cultural relevance.
To Outshine Ordinary, a winning campaign will:
Stop people in their tracks – whether through jaw-dropping creative or unexpected placements.
Spark conversation – the best OOH work doesn’t just exist; it gets shared and remembered.
Seamlessly integrate innovation –real-time interactivity drives stand out. The campaign should push the limits of what OOH can do better than any other medium.
Create an emotional or cultural connection – it should be relevant, timely, and resonant with its audience.
David Wilding, strategist, Group M
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
I tend to get excited easily and to ask "how does this work?" and "what are the sort of things you can do with this?". OOH is a fabulous train set in that regard - so many options for clever and playful stuff - always played out in public.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
I’m always attracted to entries that are brave enough to be as concise as they can be and use human language. To slightly adapt the words of Ronan Keating: “you say it best when you say as little as possible but still get your point across.”
Katherine Rutherford, senior marketing strategy manager, Marks and Spencer
How do you – with the help of OOH – Outshine Ordinary? 
The best OOH is about being relevant, in a specific location at a specific moment in time, to connect with an audience.
Surprise and disruption are key to Outshining Ordinary, as the interruption and recognition needs to happen in what is sometimes a busy or distracting physical environment, where it’s likely people are going about their day with very different mindsets and missions.
However, it doesn’t have to be complicated. For M&S, it can sometimes be as simple as showing up in unexpected locations and formats, such as flyposting or large formats wrapping buildings with our fashion collaborations to drive style perceptions.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
It’s hard, as sometimes the most compelling executions are the simplest and there are no set tick boxes. As a foundation, I would say the combination of creativity and contextual relevance with a layer of fun and playfulness and/or cultural relevance would be fantastic!
Oliver Shayer, omni-media director, Boots
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
For me, OOH advertising is a truly powerful way for brands to deliver bold, impactful messages that truly stand out. The best OOH campaigns combine creativity, storytelling, and striking visuals to capture attention and leave a lasting impression. By strategically placing ads in locations where they naturally connect with consumers’ daily lives, OOH creates genuine moments of engagement.
It’s not just about influencing immediate decisions but also about shaping long-term perceptions.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
An outstanding OMA entry for 2025 will push creative boundaries, showcasing how outdoor can deliver unique, impactful campaigns. It should leverage technology in innovative ways that feel intrinsic to the medium, rather than using tech for its own sake, and critically demonstrate clear, measurable impact. For me it’s about celebrating the bold potential of outdoor to connect with audiences and deliver results that truly stand out.
Suzy Ryder, chief executive, OMD UK
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
I think OOH is a super media channel for surprising and delighting audiences. The opportunity to make someone smile, through a custom format or a witty one liner, is how OOH helps brands outshine the ordinary for me.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
Leveraging all that the channel has to offer, with purpose and impact. Showing how OOH can help brands move at the speed of culture, and of course, make me smile.
Felipe Guimaraes, deputy executive creative director & partner, BBH London
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
OOH is the ultimate place for brands to be their most iconic. Being such a reductive media space, it needs to really leverage what a brand has to offer. The ultimate question is: how do you become attention-grabbing by leveraging the iconic part of your brand?
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
Simple and bold is everything OOH needs to be. We have entered an era in which press ads have become OOH. We see hundreds of words, multiple logos, and information that would require a good half hour to take in. Win me over in five seconds; that is what great OOH needs to do.
Katie Jackson, chief marketing officer, Channel 4
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
OOH is always evolving, which is what makes it such a brilliant channel for bold, inventive and interesting ideas. All too often, outdoor is treated as a reach-driving lever on a plan, but there’s so much more to play with to drive provable effectiveness; it can be immersive, provocative and create proper talkability when done well.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
Creativity, innovating outside of the expected, trying something new and making smart, timely use of physical or cultural context. But it can’t be trying too hard, and it must be true to the brand and the idea it’s trying to convey. I want to be left thinking, “I can’t believe I’ve never seen anyone do that before”.
Matt Mint, executive director, MG OMD
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
Over the past seven years leading the Specsavers media account, I've helped deliver some of the most iconic OOH and effective executions in the industry; breaking the rules on what has been done before to surprise and delight people and the industry.
We have been able to Outshine Ordinary because OOH has boundless opportunity; its backdrop is literally the world around us and that provides the perfect canvas for culturally and contextually powerful work. With the right insight, imagination and ambition, you can quite literally stop people in their tracks in a way that no other medium can. And that's why I'm so excited to be a judge again this year.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
I'm going to be looking for three things in each of the entries: an understanding of your audience and why OOH was the right choice; imagination in delivering the work to Outshine Ordinary, and a focus on understanding the effectiveness of OOH.
Katie Lee, chief operating officer, Wavemaker UK
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
OOH is a chameleon. It enables brands to have strong body language that flexes depending on what that brand is looking to achieve. Whether that’s creating hype for an entertainment brand by doing something unexpected or using stature to ensure a financial services brand stands out from the competition. OOH can flex its infrastructure in a way that’s very powerful for brands and unlike many other channels.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
A clear reason WHY they have used the channel, demonstrating that they have used it to best effect and shown how it has integrated into a broader campaign. I’ll also be looking for innovation within the channel as long as it’s clearly linked to the insight and, of course, creative thinking that ensures the brand stands out. All topped off with results that prove it worked.
Daniel Tapia, media planning, strategy and investment lead, Amazon Prime Video
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
To promote the next must-watch movie or TV shows, OOH is the perfect platform to seamlessly integrate into customers' daily lives, connecting with them precisely when they're planning their entertainment.
In today's competitive media landscape, OOH stands out. Whether it's captivating commuters on their journeys or grabbing attention during social outings, OOH delivers impactful visuals that build anticipation before they settle into their TV evenings.
OOH also offers unparalleled versatility. Imagine immersive OOH experiences that transport customers into new fictional worlds ahead of a new TV show's launch, or dynamic DOOH campaigns that build anticipation ahead of the new Champions League game.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
A campaign that deeply understands and resonates with the target audience and seamlessly integrates in its environment with smart use of creative and media. This requires innovative thinking, engaging storytelling, and a strategic approach to audience planning. It is also crucial that it leverages a diverse media mix, beyond OOH, to amplify reach and maximise brand impact.
Britt Soeder, managing director, iProspect
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
OOH remains one of the most powerful marketing tools for creating memorable experiences. The moments when an ad stops you in your tracks – whether through its concept, message, or execution – are unforgettable. The Bridgerton living billboard for Netflix is a perfect example. It wasn’t just an ad; it was an immersive experience that transported viewers to Regency-era Britain. The attention to detail and creativity aligned perfectly with the brand, creating something visually stunning and deeply engaging. It went beyond traditional advertising, making the experience something viewers couldn’t "unsee" and couldn’t forget.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
The power to surprise lies in creating moments that are unforgettable – beyond just the visual. It’s about crafting experiences that engage on a deeper level, leaving a lasting impression in both mind and heart. Whether through clever use of technology or simple, unexpected creativity in an unlikely place, the best moments are those that feel genuine and real. They don’t need to be big or flashy; sometimes, the most powerful experiences are the subtle ones that surprise and resonate long after. It’s about creating something unique that stays with you, in your head and your heart.
Steve Ray, head of planning, Mindshare
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
Among the daily barrage of ordinary, great advertising continues to stand out. Research we undertook for Mindshare Trends revealed that people will go out of their way to experience brand activity if it involves immersive technology and OOH is a leader in building a canvas for immersive media.
We are helping brands Outshine Ordinary by harnessing tools like 3D, AR, and interactivity to create advertising that people actually want to see. And ads that people want to see are ads they are more likely to remember next time they’re in the supermarket aisle.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
I’m always looking for three things in award entries when judging. I want to see something that embraces the full potential of the channel, in this case outdoor. I want to see something that proves how it helped a brand grow. And, most importantly, I want to see something I wish I’d thought of!
That means an OMA entry that Outshines Ordinary is going to have a brilliant “a-ha moment” and leverage all that OOH is good at – creative impact, ubiquitous appeal, simplicity of execution – turning that into a great idea that delivers measurable results for the brand. Not too much to ask?!
Emily Fairhead Keen, group head of strategy, Havas Media Network London
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
Think about how to be more Superhuman with OOH.
It’s a canvas built to show off Superhuman spectacle and showmanship and, with new uses of technology, increasing scale and precision, OOH has the power to deliver a transcendental form of communication.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
A combination of human insight, creative flair, meaningful difference and a memorable story I can recite two weeks later (and wish I’d written).
Will Spence, chief executive officer UK&I, Initiative
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
Initiative helps brands Outshine Ordinary every day through Fame and Flow. This is our philosophy that explains how media and marketing work: brands that want to maximise their investment into media need to both think about maximising the impact of building brand fame and optimising customer flow, as well as considering how all aspects of the marketing ecosystem interact and amplify each other. You need Fame and Flow to grow!
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
Entries that Outshine Ordinary will need to be overflowing with outstanding originality, optimism, and clearly identify overwhelming opportunities. Only the few that overcome obstacles, offer up the most organised and open-minded of observations, and orchestrate ongoing and outstanding outcomes will take home the top prizes. Otherwise, you risk being outpaced, overlooked and outshone.
Sharon Lloyd Barnes, commercial director and inclusion lead, Advertising Association
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
We used OOH to help promote the second All In Census in 2023, when we were asking everyone with a role in UK advertising and marketing to take part in this important survey. With the help of Talon and the industry’s OOH media owners, we were able to target specific creative hubs such as Warren St, Southbank, Farringdon and Paddington. It was a brilliant way to convey the immediacy and importance of the All In Census.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
A brilliant creative idea that uses the medium in a clever way. OOH has the power to amplify incredible creativity, especially with the ever-evolving innovation in tech.
Jordan McDowell, strategy director, McCann Manchester
How do you – with the help of OOH – help brands Outshine Ordinary? 
Day to day, I help brands Outshine Ordinary by leveraging creativity, storytelling, and immersive brand experiences. OOH’s unique power lies in its ability to merge creativity, technology, and real-world interaction, enabling brands to stand out, inspire, and leave a lasting cultural impression. By crafting visually stunning and memorable campaigns, we transform everyday spaces into canvases that captivate audiences.
What would make a 2025 OMA entry Outshine Ordinary?
As with all advertising, we must earn our attention. So I'm looking for entries which understand the power and scale of OOH, which leverage aesthetic and bold creative; and which employ smart planning and shrewd use of their brand's distinctive assets. I'm looking for something that would stop me and make me look. Or better yet, stop a customer and make them look.