The Opportunity
With several nearby universities hosting open days, the stage was set for AXO Islington to put itself in front of exactly the right people at exactly the right moment. Prospective students and their families would be arriving in the area, weighing up their university options and, with them, their accommodation choices. The window was tight, but the opportunity was real: get in front of that audience boldly and early, and turn footfall into bookings.
Project
Islington OOH Campaign
Client
AXO Student Living
Expertise
Strategy
Media Planning
Activation
OOH Advertising
Art Direction
Campaign Creative
Media Buying
Bold creative.
Right place.
Right time.
Our Approach
We identified three tube stations as the sweet spot for the campaign: Finsbury Park, Holloway Road, and Archway. Each sits on the lines most used by students travelling to and from the universities closest to AXO Islington, making them not just high-footfall environments, but precisely the right footfall. Out of home, done right, isn't about reach; it's about relevance.
Rather than leaning on the building itself, we built the creative around the student experience: the energy, the independence, the social life that good accommodation enables. Bold, impactful, and full of colour. AXO's real advantages are genuine ones: affordability, bills and Wi-Fi included, communal social spaces, and great transport links, but this wasn't a price campaign. The creative spoke to the lifestyle, letting the practical benefits sit underneath the aspiration.
The Creative
A series of out of home posters designed specifically for the tube environment. The visual language drew on student lifestyle imagery rather than property photography, an intentional choice to connect emotionally with the audience and sidestep the building's aesthetic limitations. Colour-led, typographically confident, and built to stop people mid-commute.
The audience skews towards international students, particularly from East and South East Asia, while remaining broad enough to resonate with domestic students too. The creative walked that line, specific enough to feel relevant, open enough to include.
What We Delivered
Media planning and station selection across Finsbury Park, Holloway Road, and Archway
Full creative development: concept, design, and artwork for out of home formats
Campaign rollout coordinated with university open day schedules
Student lifestyle-led visual approach, connecting with both international and domestic audiences
