Verizon 'The Reset' | Motion OOH

As a leading telecom and tech brand, Verizon has a lot at stake in convincing Avid Gamers that Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband is truly distinct. But as more brands enter the space, the more they’re met with skepticism and frustration—especially brands without a gaming history. Verizon couldn’t just appear with a list of RTBs trying to sell gamers on service. First Verizon needed to prove it was a true community insider, understanding the frustrations of lag and the joy of nerding out over favorite games.

So we put our efforts and ad dollars toward two high-impact DOOH boards that conveyed the familiar frustrations of lag in ways only gamers could appreciate.

Inspired by our hero spot, “The Reset,” in which laggy network issues are transposed onto the real world, these context-aware digital billboards were designed to blend into their surroundings—so we could make it look like the building itself couldn’t load due to lag.

We chose ads in some of NYC’s most iconic, recognizable areas: Penn Station and Bryant Park. After a few moments of glitching back and forth in fits and spurts as if stalled and stopped by a spotty connection, the piece snaps back into crystal clarity—the kind provided by Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband. The visuals and messaging work together to depict the kind of lag-related frustrations gamers experience on a daily basis, then reassure them that gameplay is more seamless over 5G