The Refinery created digital OOH and environmental campaign creative for Microsoft, including Surface Pro 8 digital OOH videos for Japan and Germany and a Microsoft Dynamics 365 takeover across Hudson Yards, including subway placements, newsstands, bus shelters, and The Shops at Hudson Yards in New York.
The challenge
Microsoft came to us with a need to develop campaign launch strategy and assets with a quick turnaround.
For Surface Pro 8, the work required location-specific digital OOH videos for Japan, including Sapporo Pillar Vision, Shibuya, and Nagoya Express, along with digital OOH video creative for Germany. For Dynamics 365, the work required a takeover across Hudson Yards and surrounding New York placements, from subway digital billboards to JCDecaux newsstands, bus shelters, and screens inside The Shops at Hudson Yards.
Different markets. Different surfaces. Same expectation: clarity, consistency, and a very low tolerance for visual noise.
The idea
For Surface Pro 8, each digital OOH asset needed to hold product and brand clarity inside fast-moving public spaces, from station and commute environments to retail-adjacent placements.
For Dynamics 365, the campaign moved through New York across subway placements, digital newsstands, bus shelters, Hudson Yards screens, lobby displays, and large-format placements inside The Shops at Hudson Yards. The creative needed to feel connected across the journey without becoming visually heavy.
The common thread was restraint with impact. Microsoft does not need visual chaos to be seen. It needs hierarchy, motion, polish, and a system that knows exactly where it is showing up.
Quiet confidence, but make it New York. And Japan. And Germany.
What The Refinery made
Surface Pro 8 Japan digital OOH
The Refinery created Microsoft Surface Pro 8 digital OOH video assets for Japan, including Sapporo Pillar Vision, Shibuya, and Nagoya Express placements.
Surface Pro 8 Germany digital OOH
The Refinery created Microsoft Surface Pro 8 digital OOH video creative for Germany, extending the campaign across another international market.
International digital OOH campaign assets
The Surface Pro 8 work included campaign files prepared for digital outdoor use across Japan and Germany, with motion creative, production artwork, versioning, finishing, quality control, and final delivery.
Dynamics 365 Hudson Yards takeover creative
The Refinery created environmental campaign creative for a 2020 Microsoft Dynamics 365 takeover across Hudson Yards and surrounding New York placements.
Subway digital billboard placements
The takeover included subway digital billboard creative, including triptych digital billboards along with double and single digital billboard formats.
JCDecaux newsstand and bus shelter placements
The Refinery created Dynamics 365 digital OOH creative for JCDecaux newsstand billboards and bus shelter placements, extending the campaign across street-level New York media.
The Shops at Hudson Yards placements
The campaign extended into The Shops at Hudson Yards, including the large double vertical digital billboard at the Neiman Marcus entrance, lobby screens, and placements near the Avant Gallery / Warner Media entrance area.
Motion, production, and finishing
Across Surface Pro 8 and Dynamics 365, The Refinery supported motion creative, production artwork, versioning, finishing, quality control, and final delivery.
Why it worked
The Microsoft work showed how strong campaign creative can flex across very different OOH conditions.
For a global brand like Microsoft, consistency across markets and environments matters. The creative had to feel unmistakably Microsoft whether it appeared as Surface Pro 8 digital OOH in Sapporo, Shibuya, Nagoya, Germany, or as Dynamics 365 environmental creative across Hudson Yards and New York street-level placements.
The Surface Pro 8 assets showed the discipline behind effective international digital outdoor: product clarity, brand consistency, format awareness, location-specific asset preparation, and production precision across market deliveries.
The Dynamics 365 takeover gave the work a physical New York anchor. Instead of relying on one hero surface, the campaign built presence through repetition, motion, and placement-aware consistency across subway triptychs, double and single digital billboards, JCDecaux newsstands, bus shelters, Hudson Yards retail screens, lobby displays, and large-format placements.
Together, the projects show The Refinery’s ability to support Microsoft across digital OOH, international markets, environmental takeovers, subway media, street-level media, retail destination placements, motion creative, production artwork, finishing, and final delivery.
One client. Two product stories. Three markets. A lot of screens behaving themselves.
Project details
Client: Microsoft
Brands: Microsoft Surface Pro 8, Microsoft Dynamics 365
Assignment: Create digital OOH and environmental campaign creative for Microsoft brand and product campaigns
Project scope: Surface Pro 8 digital OOH videos, Japan market assets, Germany market assets, Sapporo Pillar Vision video, Shibuya video, Nagoya Express video, Dynamics 365 Hudson Yards takeover creative, subway digital billboards, triptych / double / single digital billboard formats, JCDecaux newsstand digital billboards, bus shelter digital placements, The Shops at Hudson Yards placements, lobby screens, large-format environmental placements, motion creative, production artwork, versioning, finishing, quality control, and final delivery
Markets: Japan, Germany, New York / Hudson Yards