Cliches abound in outdoor advertising, but Adshel is pushing clients to look beyond the stereotype to target their audience better and get a better ROI.
The out of home (OOH) player has unveiled new research as part of a trade campaign showing how different target groups have evolved.
It has also tied up with Getty Images to show agencies and advertisers how to represent these groups visually, in outdoor advertising.
Adshel head of marketing Charlotte Valente told AdNews that too often advertisers use stereotypes to reach certain target groups, but its research has found that these audiences “aren't you who think they are”.
She said the campaign aims to challenge the way its partners think about target groups in order to get the best results.
“It's for both agencies and marketers, to say that when you are compiling briefs and when a client is talking to you, just stretch the thinking a little bit that doesn't rely on that cliché,” Valente said.
“Where you can reach them is really where that difference lies.”
Adshel looked at the three most common target areas for advertisers – called Occupational Group One, Modern Grocery Buyer and Millennials – as part of its study.
As an example, Valente looked at the way Modern Grocery Buyers are stereotypically represented, as a mum with kids going a weekly shop, to the reality, which is a diverse demographic who more often has a 'top up' shop through the week.
She said from a creative perspective, targeting a grocery buyer through proximity to the supermarket doesn't cut it any more, whereas a far more effective way to reach them is on their commute where they're likely to get groceries as part of their top up.
In order to communicate the research, Adshel will be visiting agencies and advertisers with tailored presentations. It has also created a microsite which contains a quiz, getting users to test their knowledge of stereotypes.
It's not the first move Adshel has made in audience segmenting. Earlier this year it announced a tie up with Roy Morgan's Helix Personas and also unveiled the world's largest beacon network in order to boost data.
Valente said this latest research is part of Adshel's shift from an asset led business to an audience business.
“Adshel was built 18 years ago as a street furniture business and we were just bus shelters on the street,” Valente said.
“But we've evolved and this year specifically we realised we weren't a street furniture business anymore and what we're moving to was selling audiences not assets.
“The key difference between our business and other OOH businesses is scale, and to be precise in who you're targeting.
“This is another way for us to cement that when you're buying Adshel you're buying everybody – but we can tell you where you reach them.”
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