The Piccadilly Lights are a familiar sight to any tourist, local or commuter.

Turning 118 years old this year, they are one of the most well known out-of-home locations in the UK and always popular with tourists.

Under the lights there is The Venue at Piccadilly Lights, an experience space that allows brands to set up live experiences and amplify their message using the Lights.

Ben Padley, head of consumer at Landsec said he counted at least 18 tourists taking photos on the short walk from the Landsec offices to the The Venue. And official stats from Landsec show one in five people take a picture of the Piccadilly Lights.

I was taken round on a tour of the space before sitting down with Padley to discuss why The Venue at Piccadilly Lights is the “pinnacle moment” of any campaign strategy

Ben Padley, head of consumer at Landsec explains that the Piccadilly Lights and The Venue can be used as a “pinnacle moment” in any campaign strategy.

He says: “It’s the epicentre of some of the big campaigns that we see when brands come to market. A good examples is the  HBO launch. They spent a great deal of time and effort on a national coordinated campaign, because they were launching at a point in time to drive the app, the new service, a couple months ago.”

However, it can also be used as an amplifier as well.

He highlights the ability for consumers to move between the physical and digital has become ingrained in the way consumers behave.

He says: “It’s not about passive content anymore, it’s about content that really people respond to.”

“It’s the way that the brands use the content- the migration from static printed outdoor to digital interactive, which allows for so much more. Brands have used the platform to either drive a social interaction or a social extension, so content plus amplifications with social, a live event, or a cultural moment.

One of the experiences Landsec had worked on at The Venue and the Piccadilly Lights was for David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday with the BBC. Padley highlighted that it had seen over  1.35 billion and reached audiences in over 100 countries.

He explains that when brands work with the Lights and The Venue in tandem on something that is culturally relevant, “the experience amplifies itself”.

Another example he gives is of L’OREAL. The firm had worked with them to create a social moment and a live event.

He says: “They had activated in the venues and they were launching different product and shooting content, but they also live streamed the event, which amplified us [The Venue] on social.

“Brands that appreciate these channels are all interconnected, and how they can best use them in an interconnected way are the ones that are getting the best results. But on the antithesis of that, brands that just see this as a single channel,  are not driving the best interaction or experiment, they’re not making experiential digital happen.”

However, one of the brands that is doing experiential right is Atlassian Williams F1 team. They have worked with The Venue on multiple occasions to host fan pop-ups and its latest one opens on Tuesday 30 June, just in time for the British Grand Prix.

Padley says: “They do an excellent job of fan engagement on the ground, they bring thousands of people in, but also reach, millions of people on social media.”

Historically sports and fashion brands have done extremely well with this format. Alongside Williams, he also points to The Venue’s collaboration with The Hundreds Cricket as another successful sporting event.

And, if a brand is unsure on how to utilise both the physical space and the online space, Landsec can offer guidance. Padley highlights its about helping brands understand the potential of the space.

According to Padley, the team at Landsec helped their partner at the Hundred Cricket to “understand the potential” of the space.

He says: “We’re very consultative, and will sometimes help clients convince others internally around the potential.”

Padley explains: “The Lights and The Venue are the best example of offline and online and the unique opportunity brands have to activate physical space and engage digitally. We want to replicate that across the Landsec platform, as we call it.

“We see an opportunity to engage brands and look at Landsec as a media platform. ”

He adds that he would like to replicate the Piccadilly Lights and The Venue experience across Landsec’s portfolio. However, he empathises that this doesn’t mean they are going to have a Lights everywhere but that the combination of digital interaction with the physical is something that can be replicated in Landsec’s major shopping areas.

And one retail destination they are already seeing major results from is Bluewater shopping centre. The centre partnered with Disney’s Zootropolis 2 for a two week takeover. As part of the takeover, the centre was renamed to Zoo Water.

He adds: “There’s an opportunity to think differently about how how we can activate what brands are trying to achieve in our physical spaces, and I know that from when I was on the other side of the fence before joining Landsec, I would have had very different conversations with the landscape about how I launch a product.

“We’re open to where brands want to go and how we support them. We certainly want to make sure our places are capable of supporting great ideas,  so I only see further innovation in the space.”

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