Noticing Ads Beyond the Office Walls

By Week 10, something interesting shifted in the way I looked at the world around me. This week wasn’t only about work inside the agency — it was about noticing the work outside of it.

Somewhere between commutes, errands, and everyday routines, I found myself paying closer attention to advertising in the real world. Not the polished presentations or campaign decks on my laptop, but the ads we casually pass every single day without thinking twice.

And once you start noticing them, it’s impossible to stop.

When Advertising Feels Like a Memory

What stood out most this week was how certain ads have the power to bring nostalgia rushing back. A familiar colour palette, a typeface from childhood packaging, a tagline that sounds strangely familiar — suddenly you’re not just looking at an ad anymore, you’re reliving a memory.

Some ads make you pause.
Some make you smile.
Some quietly transport you back to a moment you didn’t even realise you remembered.

It made me realise that great advertising doesn’t just communicate. It connects.

But not every ad manages to do that.

While observing these campaigns, it became equally clear how some ads miss the emotional touch they were probably meant to deliver. The message is there, the placement is there, the visibility is there — but the feeling is missing. And without that emotional connection, the message fades just as quickly as it appears.

Seeing the World as an Outdoor Campaign

This week, outdoor advertising became the most fascinating part of my observation.

Billboards towering above traffic.
Transit ads sliding past in motion.
Kiosk panels glowing at street corners.
Bus shelters quietly framing everyday waiting moments.

These formats once felt like the giants of advertising — impossible to ignore, physically present, part of the city’s visual identity.

But something about them feels different now.

The Quiet Shift Towards Digital Everything

As everything around us becomes increasingly digitised, the physical presence of advertising feels like it’s slowly losing its spotlight.

Screens have replaced posters.
Feeds have replaced billboards.
Scrolling has replaced looking.

And while digital advertising is faster, smarter, and more measurable, it made me wonder about what might be fading in the process.

Outdoor ads carry a kind of sensory experience that screens can’t fully replicate. The scale, the environment, the unpredictability of when you’ll see them — they exist in the real world, in real time, shared by real people.

They don’t pop up because of an algorithm.
They appear because you’re physically there.

That tangible presence creates a different kind of connection — one that feels less targeted and more shared.

This week made me realise that while digital continues to dominate, physical advertising still holds a quiet kind of magic.

Learning Beyond the Desk

This week felt like a reminder that learning in advertising doesn’t only happen inside the agency.

Sometimes it happens during commutes.
Sometimes while waiting at signals.
Sometimes while standing at a bus stop with nothing but time and a billboard in front of you.

Observing the world through a creative lens made me realise how much inspiration lives outside our screens — in everyday spaces, everyday journeys, and everyday moments.

And maybe the best part of working in advertising is that you never really stop observing.