‘OMO’s Out of Home’ campaign by Edelman won gold in Experiential Pop-Up at The Drum Awards, transforming billboards into interactive play spaces in Istanbul to address the decline in outdoor play among Turkish children, sparking engagement and reinforcing the brand’s commitment to children’s wellbeing.
OMO’s Out of Home was born of a unique set of tensions and challenges – for parents and for the brand itself.
Like in many countries, children living in Turkey’s major cities today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation. Rapid urbanisation in cities like Istanbul has significantly reduced opportunities for spontaneous outdoor play. A 2020 survey captured this dramatic shift: while 83% of Turkish parents played outdoor regularly during childhood, just 19% of their own children do today. A 2023 survey on the decline in outdoor play concluded the rise of gated communities, a sprawling car culture, and redeveloped streets and communal spaces had significantly limited places where children could engage in outdoor play.
This kind of outdoor play is not only deemed to be a human right by organisations such as UNCRC and UNICEF but is known to be fundamental to a child’s development, long-term health, and success in later life. Whether fostering emotional resilience, or triggering cognitive and socio-emotional development, outdoor play is nature’s way of helping children’s bodies and minds to grow well.
For OMO, this wasn’t just a societal challenge—it was a brand crisis.
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Despite holding market leadership, OMO was losing emotional ground. In two years, its meaningfulness score had dropped 4.3%, while challenger brands were gaining momentum fast, both in hearts and in market share.
To stay ahead, we needed to show parents why ‘Dirt Is Good’ still mattered—making it feel fresh, locally resonant, and emotionally relevant in today’s world. The task wasn’t just to remind families about OMO, but to give them a reason to believe in our brand beyond the product itself.
Our approach had to resonate with two key audiences:
We knew that simply advertising wouldn’t be enough. In a cluttered category where competitors were rapidly gaining ground, we had to make people feel the brand’s purpose, and create relevance for it into their lives.
So rather than just talk about the importance of outdoor play, we made it happen. By reimagining OOH advertising, we made OMO’s message visible, functional, and interactive, creating an experience that kids could engage with—reinforcing parents’ emotional and practical reasons to choose OMO over cheaper competitors.
We gave parents a reason to believe that OMO stands for more than clean clothes—it stands for better, more fulfilling childhoods.
OMO believes that Dirt Is Good. The brand has been encouraging outside play for 20+ years. But in Turkey, while playing spaces were disappearing, outdoor advertising space was increasing.
We created an outdoor campaign to get kids Out of Home. Instead of buying ad space to tell people that kids should play outside, we used our media spend to make it happen, turning the city into a playground.
We transformed billboards into interactive play spaces. From football goals to basketball hoops and slides, we created spaces that encouraged kids to play—and measured our success in dirt.
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Blending function with purpose, OMO didn’t just talk about ‘Dirt is Good’—we put it in action, giving children more places to play on and reminding parents why getting dirty is essential for childhood development.
Our Out of Home campaign took place in the city of Istanbul where talk of lacking outdoor play areas was prevalent.
In three separate locations across the city where play areas did not exist, we transformed outdoor advertising spaces into unique active play zones, including:
The campaign did more than capture attention—it sparked real play and changed minds.
Over 16,800 children engaged with our play installations, generating 569 hours of outdoor activity—253 hours of which would not have happened otherwise. Nearly half of the children said they wouldn’t have played outside at all without the OMO initiative.
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Parents saw the value too. 90% said the campaign felt personally relevant, and 88% agreed OMO was doing something no other brand would.
This emotional reconnection boosted business too, driving a +24pt uplift in purchase intent and an +18pt uptick in brand consideration.
By redefining ‘Dirt Is Good,’ the campaign restored meaningful differentiation in Turkey, created a scalable blueprint for broader global action wherever childhood is being paved over, and reignited OMO’s role as a proactive, culturally relevant brand committed to supporting the wellbeing of urban families.
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Edelman
Edelman is a global communications firm that partners with businesses and organizations to evolve, promote and protect their brands and reputations. Our 6,000 people...