Dubai’s media community is celebrating the launch of the latest BackLite invention, The Triple Crown. The new medium on Sheikh Zayed Road has a stunning view that crowns every advertising brand, and delivers its offering elegantly. We were curious to dig deep and discuss the innovative release with the masterminds of Backlite Media. BackLite’s History Headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, BackLite Media has been creating desirable experiences in Out-Of-Home advertising since 1996. BackLite’s main procedure involves a combination of smart technology, strategic thinking, and careful curation which assists brands reach their goals and own the OOH market spotlight. This tremendous success is only achieved because of the company’s understanding that sought after brands don’t happen by luck, they are actually created. Brands that do business with BackLite are seen, appreciated, and remembered by the right target segment, especially since BackLite’s core value is to maximize brand desirability, going with the brand motto; “Desirable by design”. BackLite’s Media Strategy 1. Location BackLite Media makes its services desirable due to a strategic dynamic which consists of 4 key factors; Location, Care, Association,and Insights. BackLite owns some of the most fascinating Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) advertising locations in Dubai’s prime Sheikh Zayed Road. The exceptionally designed sites in landmark locations really help bring the brand's creative visions to the spotlight, for example, Alexander McQueen’s last DOOH branding campaign, that reflected a minimalistic, contemporary, and creative advertising concept that was placed in Sheikh Zayed Road, and massively distributed. BackLite Media owns OOH placements that they named ‘The Desirable Collection’ since the prime locations are used by the majority of city residents, tourists, and business people. The company’s elegant, architecturally designed Unipoles provide the only large-format network which have all become landmarks of Sheikh Zayed Road, due to the quality of strategic locations and visibility. In this location, BackLite is also familiar with launching Digital Landmark Series’, Digital Icons with significantly impactful ads on premium digital sites. Some of BackLite’s Unipoles can be glanced with the knowledge of contracting brands including; Tiffany & Co., Hublot, & Omega. BackLite Media manages several OOH and DOOH destinations covering prime areas including; City Walk, The Beach, La Mer, and Al Seef areas. These areas are neighboring Dubai’s main arteries, such as Sheikh Zayed Road, JBR, and Jumeirah. These locations are heavily considered prime districts for high net worth Emirati OOH recognition due to the outdoor complex of shops, shopping malls, cafes, restaurants, as well as the city’s urban beach fronts. BackLite Media also showcases its advertising intelligence in malls through digital signage solutions to create exceptional value for advertisers. BackLite Media offers cinema advertising at Roxy and Novo Cinemas across the UAE which enables advertisers to engage with a captive audience, operating in high quality urban destinations to offer unique cinematic experiences with luxury features and cutting-edge technology. 2. Care After location, BackLite prioritizes making its brand desirable by care, reflecting that quality matters by delivering personalized services which show in the company’s long-standing client relationships. The OOH company gives advertisers the opportunity to get the best from their OOH messages by using 4 simple rules; using 7 words or less, producing a successful outdoor design that will catch consumers’ attention, keeping the message simple and precise, and last but not least, using large lettering which can be easily read from a distance. 3. Association BackLite maintains its success due to its third major priority which is making its brand desirable by association reflecting the selective brands chosen to be showcased at BackLite’s sites including; Louis Vuitton, Chopard, Porsche, Apple, Hugo Boss, Gucci, Damas, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Dior, D&G, Fendi, Omega, Versace, Bvlgari, Chanel, Hublot, Samsung, and various other global brands. 4. Insights BackLite’s fourth major element that defines the company’s media strategy, is being desirable by insights or expertise. BackLite uses data-driven OOH approaches, embracing technology and adopting new techniques making the most out of the agency’s sites. The company investigates audience demographics, impression counts, and flexible advertising techniques for the changing times. Speed, Agility, Targeting, and Dynamic Scheduling are the key factors behind OOH campaigns executed by BackLite Media. The Triple Crown BackLite Media has over 100 prime advertising locations on Sheikh Zayed Road, including the newly launched Triple Crown, with an official partnership with RTA. The Triple Crown represents everything BackLite Media is working to achieve as it is a mere demonstration of the company’s intent and an indication of the futuristic vision in concept. There might be a general misconception that The Triple Crown is the official crowning of the company’s 25 year anniversary, however, it is actually a game-changer for the OOH industry and media landscape in the UAE, representing a true shift to digital marketing, setting new OOH standards. According to BackLite, clients are embracing a new way to buy the 24-second slot in OOH. The Triple Crown is considered the first in The Landmark Series of screens, bringing the digital transformation to Sheikh Zayed Road. The Landmark Series has a further 6 screens to be launched over the next 6 months. For example, The Dubai Jawhara will launch in December and The Dubai Gateway will launch in Q1 2022. The Triple Crown has been named “The New Influencer of Dubai” with three connected locations inducing LED displays which are strategically placed. With a 700m² display area and colour capacity of 281 Trillion colours, The Triple Crown is placed between the Dubai Marina and Downtown Dubai, with over 350,000 cars passing each day in the most influential out of home advertising location. When asked to comment, James Bicknell, CEO of BackLite Media said “These screens are best in class and we are honoured to launch with such exclusive clients, Vacheron Constantin, Tiffany & Co., and the Saudi Tourism Authority”. BackLite & The Future of OOH/DOOH With BackLite’s innovative approach to OOH advertising, the future is bright (10,000 nits to be precise), especially for Digital Out-Of-Home. Data will also play a big part in the future since digitalisation has made this high reach medium even more accessible. With the appropriate data and use of programmatic platforms, ads can be easily bought online, with ads that can be updated in real-time. Creativeness can now be replaced automatically to respond to the external environment, maximizing the effectiveness of any ad placement. BackLite is also currently gearing up to launch Frame Breaker 3D, the inhouse solution to forced perspective 3D. James Bicknell Chief Executive Officer James has been with BackLite for over 20 years and has overseen the Company’s growth from its initial entry into the UAE to its present dominant position. As CEO, his insights help to guide the future growth of the Company. James Harrison BackLite Chief Commercial Officer James joined BackLite Media in April 2020 and has over 20 years of media expertise. Having predominantly worked in the UK, he has been responsible for the launch of key digital assets across the country, including the world-famous Piccadilly Lights. Most recently as CRO at Ocean Outdoor he was responsible for managing the process of modernising their revenue management platform to ensure compatibility with automation/programmatic trading strategy.
