The #PiccadillyOn campaign was devised by Engage Works for Landsec
UK - Engage Works, the full service creative technology agency, reports that it worked behind the scenes with Landsec, the UK’s largest listed commercial property company and owner of London’s Piccadilly Lights, to create an innovative charitable campaign, #PiccadillyOn, to mark the build up to the switching on of the famous Light’s on 26 October, following nine months of renovation work.
The #PiccadillyOn campaign was devised by Engage Works for Landsec, with the intention of creating a community spirit ahead of the launch, whilst raising money and ‘bringing colour to life’ in aid of Barnardo’s – the UK’s largest children’s charity and Landsec’s national charity partner for 2017.
Launched on 15 September, #PiccadillyOn invited people from around the world to sponsor a unique colour ‘chip’ for a minimum donation of £2. The chips formed part of a 3D countdown clock, before being the central component of a spectacular three-minute launch film, screened during the 26 October switch on. The creative was, until then, a closely guarded secret.
Linking to Just Giving to facilitate donations, Engage devised the concept and ran the campaign, building and maintaining the campaign’s micro site and creating a promotional video and the spectacular launch video that was screened immediately after the lights were powered up.
Screened immediately after the switch on of the Piccadilly Lights’ huge new greater-than-4K (5490 x 2160 pixels) 8mm pixel pitch Daktronics LED screen – the largest screen of its kind in Europe at 17.56m high by 44.62m wide – the Engage Works-produced #PiccadillyOn video utilised all of the sponsored colours and was live streamed on Facebook and YouTube across the globe.
“We were delighted to be asked by Landsec to come up with this very worthy campaign,” comments Engage Works founder and group CEO Steve Blyth. “As we continue to work with developers on experience-led interactive marketing suites, it was nice to be able to work on a purely digital online campaign.”
The lights were switched off in January for renovation work – the longest period in darkness since the Second World War. The Piccadilly Lights’ original patchwork of screens has been replaced with the single, state-of-the-art digital display. Sub-dividable into six full motion segments, it allows advertisers to stream live videos and lifestyle updates.
(Jim Evans)

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