Top Creatives in OOH 2024: Rob Jackson

“We are in the business of the big idea, so ultimately see AI as another tool in the box when needed.”

by Amber Larkins, OOH Today

We are wrapping up our spotlights of the winners the Top 10 Creatives in Out-of-Home 2024. Today’s winner is the legendary Rob Jackson, Principal, Extra Credit Projects.

In addition to his name coming up in our survey nearly unanimously, many of his fellow top 10 winners mentioned Jackson’s mentorship.

Rob Jackson was once an illustrator for the US Navy. He was lucky to spend time with legendary creative mentors, including Lou Dorfsman and Milton Glaser. He loves learning, as evidenced by his many degrees in the arts. And by his agency, Extra Credit Projects, which has an educational theme.

He won many awards, from Communication Arts to Cannes Lions. He has won 21 OBIEs and been a finalist 58 times. ECP has won more than 300 local, regional, and national ADDY awards under his guidance. He was named a Silver Medal Award recipient by the American Advertising Federation of West Michigan for his lifetime achievements. In 2019, Jackson was awarded the Out of Home Advertising Association of America Ray L. Vahue Marketing Award of Merit, the outdoor industry’s top marketing award.

“We strive to be a media-agnostic, integrated agency, but outdoor has always been our first love, so the OBIE Awards mean the most to me and us,” Jackson said.

Jackson believes that design is both objective and subjective at the same time. He thinks they work with and against each other in creating big OOH ideas.

“Great outdoor is simple, conceptual, and finely crafted. It is the purest form of any brand—and when done well, everyone knows it the second they see it,” Jackson said.

Jackson says AI is clearly here to stay so we must make friends with it.

“We do not fear it, and tend to just look for the ways it can enhance our work and productivity,” Jackson said. “We are in the business of the big idea, so ultimately see AI as another tool in the box when needed.”

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