Is Digital Street Art the Next Frontier for Brands?
Our thumbs are almost leading lives of their own. Continuous muscle contractions, pushed by unstoppable curiosity. Or boredom, perhaps.
Sometimes, however, thumbs stop for a moment. They did for me—and many others I know—once I discovered the phenomenon of digital street art in my feeds.
A small number of talented creators are blending urban settings and wild digital imagery in their videos. The results are mesmerizing, mind-blowing, addictive. I can't get enough.
Yes, there's AR. But it's not the same
Digital street art makes the whole world a canvas, with creators adding a layer of high-end VFX on top of 10- to 15-second videos of cityscapes. Buildings change shape in fantastical ways. Vistas utterly transform. It's a boulevard of constant surprises.
Such executions don't require special lenses, VR goggles or QR codes. TikTok, Instagram and YouTube make the work instantly accessible.
@3dshane For @Bashparis #bashFW23 #print ♬ original sound - Shanef3d
Don't get me wrong, AR can be captivating. It's been around for a long time, and the tech is getting better and better. Snapchat keeps improving its lenses, Google Pixel is pretty advanced, and Google and Adobe just launched a new Geospatial creator.
That's all fun and promising. But the quality doesn't quite compare to the pulsating pavements in my feeds.
VFX and motion design have long been the exclusive domain of specialized studios. But that's changing. 3D mapping software is now so widely available, almost anyone with enough motivation can create digital art from their bedrooms.
And this community fosters itself. "How I made this" tutorials regularly get more views than the originals, as creators unbox the innovation and inspire experimentation.
@hati.hati.mas Jackpot! 💰 Haspa verlost eine Goldmünze im Wert von ca. 1.000€ auf der #OMR23! 🤩🪙 Einfach einen der 5 großen Coins finden und mit #HatiHatiHaspa und @Hamburger Sparkasse auf Insta posten! Bis zum 10. Mai 2023 um 15:59 Uhr im Feed hochladen und du bist dabei! Die Teilnahmebedingungen findest du auf haspa.de/tnb-omr (Link in Haspa-Bio). #hatihatihaspa #haspaxomr #OMRFestival #OMR #Fortschritt #Freiraum #MehralsGeld #MeineBankheißtHaspa ♬ Originalton - Hati.Hati.Mas
Digital street art is still fairly new, but I see it as a rising trend and opportunity for brands. The mixed reality premise should drive storytelling. Whether for a sneaker drop, a car launch or showcasing luxury goods, the combination of everyday locations and surreal visuals should combine to grab viewers' valuable attention.
Connecting to culture and delivering unexpected experiences is what great brands do. As yet, however, few advertisers have embraced digital street art.
That will change. It's unexplored territory, but loaded with thumb-stopping (and eye-popping!) potential.
