Why are FMCG brands increasingly embracing special builds?

By David Hill, Senior Producer

This year it seems the FMCG category has unleashed a wave of creativity, with 44% of all Clear Channel special build campaigns in the first half of 2024 being FMCG. While it’s always been a popular choice, this rapid rise has raised the question: Why are FMCG brands increasingly embracing special builds? 

Mind bending builds 

Product advertising, which is inherently linked to the FMCG category, lends itself to playful OOH installations to highlight key product details in spectacular fashion. What other media channel can you peel, bend and flip to create instant impact?

The physical medium mixed with the tactile nature of FMCG products, makes it the ideal playground for creative marketers to think up dramatic installations to highlights distinct product features, as demonstrated by the bending billboard of Müller Corner and the recent peeled poster for Babybel. Using these as a source of inspiration, I’d like to think marketers are sat in a room somewhere analysing product features thinking: ‘I wonder if a billboard can do that too?’ 

Rise up above the rest 

Out of Home has always been a key channel for FMCG due to its brand building strengths. Now more than ever, broadcast reach is being combined with statement special builds that can enhance this effect in key business metrics. No where is this needed more than the FMCG category where its crowded and full of often homogenous, relatively low-priced products that need to compete with other brands and own-labels.

Consider a can of tomatoes, to most audiences it’s a small, inexpensive item on their shopping list, where there’s little differentiation. Therefore, a brand like Napolina needs to distinguish its products and emphasise quality - a goal that special builds achieve with six times greater efficiency, according to The OOH Playbook*.

By literally putting their product on a pedestal (or Romanesque column), Napolina was able to achieve this with their ‘Not So Humble’ special build that towered over the billboard frame. As the research suggested, the campaign successfully shifted audience perceptions as ‘recognisable’, ‘high quality product’ and ‘worth paying more’ and was acknowledged at this year’s OMA awards by winning Gold in the Brand Building category. 

_{*Kinetic, Clear Channel & JCDecaux - The OOH Playbook}

Owning the Moment 

Aligning with cultural moments is a fast track in driving mental availability among consumers. FMCG brands can be clever in the way they do this by using data to target audiences and connect with category entry points – the more direct approach is to make a bold statement through special builds. Müller is a brand experienced with special builds, having previously capitalised on the synergy between product advertising and spectacular installations.

This year, they aimed to strengthen their successful partnership with football player Declan Rice and dominate the moment surrounding the Men’s Euros tournament. It needed something special to cut-through the noise and standout among the other FMCG brands that flock to the summer of sport. The answer was a creative installation that was head and shoulders above the rest.

Watch the campaign in action below!

First published in Little Black Book.

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