OOH and the modern day flaneur

The term ‘Flaneur’ was coined by the 19th century poet Charles Baudelaire to describe someone, (male, but today includes the female, ‘Flaneuse’) who casually strolls through cities as an urban spectator. Baudelaire would famously go on long walks through Paris to gather observations for party talk, essays, poetry and other intellectual ramblings. For hundreds of years since, adopting a flaneurs’ ‘mindful meandering’ attitude has not only helped people become attuned with their urban environment, but also become more creative.

In the 20th Century, Walter Benjamin saw the practice as the primary tool for interpreting modern culture.  He suggested that cafes, cinemas and shops were all just an extension of the street and applauded the development of ‘dream spaces’ such as leisure centres and department stores, all products of a new commodity culture. He referred to the power of advertising and its ‘dream-like’ quality, its capacity to link commodities to the human imagination, a vision akin to the entertainment value brands strive for in Out of Home campaigns today.

The modern day flaneur has adapted to conditions in contemporary cities, absorbing developments in digital and technology, finding new means of collecting, cataloguing and sharing information from the everyday. In his novel “London Orbital” writer Iain Sinclair introduced the notion of ‘eye-swiping’: scanning the urban landscape for creative material, as a method of engaging with and making sense of the city. He used it as a kind of visual collection and curation that appropriates what he sees into narrative gold. And with 94% of UK adults today owning a smartphone, capturing and sharing individual behaviours and emotions elicited by geographical environments has never been more prolific.

OOH advertising is a key feature within urban landscapes, evolving organically as cities developed to be where people are and where people go.

OOH advertising is a key feature within urban landscapes, evolving organically as cities developed to be where people are and where people go. Location serves as a powerful cue to trigger habitual behaviors and evoke memories, especially when those behaviors are rewarded or associated with strong emotions. The consistency of the context helps to reinforce these habits and memories, making them more robust and likely to occur without conscious thought.

For advertisers, this presents a unique opportunity. Using proven OOH creative strategies, they can effectively draw attention and engage consumers ‘on the go’ and consciously or unconsciously “eye-swiping”; ads designed to resonate with local culture, events or points of interest, using strong impactful messaging that provokes thought or humour, or appeals to increasing demand from Gen Z for brands to do the right thing. Creative OOH positively contributes to the overall urban experience, as evidenced in our recent research, Digital Natives in the Physical World.

With current Global unrest, city populations are increasingly aware of what’s going on around them and the impact of their physical surroundings. Advertisers can leverage situational awareness theory (which traditionally would have been a survival mechanism - improving our chances of making good decisions and taking the right course of action when it matters most) to be more strategic in their OOH ad design and placements, providing contextual cues and nudges for urban wanderers to notice, remember and act.

Discovering the hidden connections between the urban environment and how it interacts with a person’s inner landscape can also be explored through a fascinating concept called psychogeography. The goal of practising psychogeography is to experience a city directly, without technology distracting people from the experience, a requirement that OOH’s organic positioning within urban backdrops complements rather than jars.

The idea is to pay close attention to the architecture, street layouts, graffiti, signage, and how people interact with these elements. Notice what draws attention and how it makes people feel. Psychogeography isn't just visual; it's about engaging all the senses. Notice the smells, the textures of walls and pavements, the sounds of different streets, and the taste of the air, an OOH meditation if you will!

Considering urban culture is designed to move at breakneck speed, with productivity erroneously coupled with ‘busy’, it feels more important than ever to re-assess how we move about our daily lives and what we pay attention to. Johan Hari’s bestseller "Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention— and How to Think Deeply Again," explores how our attention is being compromised by various factors in modern society. He suggests that reclaiming our focus and nurturing our ability to enter flow states can go some way to combat the attention crisis we face today.

So perhaps Baudelaire had it right all along. Practising the daily art of Flaneurie; honing the ability to slow down and embrace both the natural and commercial wonder of an urban environment not only refocuses the mind but refreshes an appreciation of the familiar and creates a discovery of the new. Slow down to speed up… an oxymoron that really works.

Katy Hindley Group Innovation Director

This article was first published in Creativebrief - OOH and the modern day flâneur (creativebrief.com)