While hybrid work continues to be the new norm, foot traffic for non-work related activities has increased beyond pre-pandemic levels.
As a result, digital out of home (DOOH) campaigns have become integral aspects of many marketing campaigns post-COVID.
But advertising spend for transport is still lower than pre-covid, despite the data showing people returning to airports and public transport. So what's the disconnect?
To prove the medium’s reach, the Outdoor Media Association (OMA) invested over $20 million into research. On stage at GroupM’s ‘Entering the Next Era of Outdoor Media: People Powered DOOH’ event, Charmaine Moldrich, CEO of OMA, shared an exclusive sneak peak of their data.
“Digital provides 63% more impact than classic out of home advertising,” Moldrich said.
"From a $400,000 investment, you can get 65 per cent reach in one week in the 5 caps cities using OOH."
The most recent instalment of the OMA’s research, called MOVE 2.0: The Test and Learn Phase, was run in Queensland over six months.
Partnering with Ipsos, OMA collected first-party data from participants who carried a device that seamlessly tracked every move they made across spaces, indoors and outdoors.
“From our test and learn study, what we know is that people are making an average of four trips a day. This is more than they did pre-COVID surprisingly. At the same time working from home has doubled from 23.6% to 46.2%.
“However, while we may perceive that working from home is reducing audiences, the data tells us otherwise.
“And this is because even prior to COVID, only a small percentage of trips we make each day are for work. 72% of our trips are actually non work related.
“After all, not everybody works - nor do they work nine to five or five days a week or Monday to Friday.”
In reality, the out of home industry has had a 14.8% increase in net media revenue for Q2 2022, with DOOH revenue accounting for 62.4% of that growth.
Moldrich: “We see a return to and an increase in advertising spend on roadside and retail. Unfortunately, this is not the case for transport, despite the data showing that people are back in droves at airports, and are back also using public transport.
“For us, reach is the jewel in our crown, but it doesn't always translate to recall studies, which means that we are often ignored as a mass media channel.
“While this is a weakness when it comes to post evaluation campaign surveys, it's actually our strength.
“The technology’s ability to prime at a glance, while not interrupting the journeys people are making while they're in a very active frame of mind is OOH’s benefit.
“Our neuroscience research certainly points to the mass media appeal for DOOH.”
Moldrich used Uber Eats as case in point: “Andy Morley, the head of marketing for Uber Eats, recently told an audience about Uber’s experience with DOOH.
“The first campaign they put in market had tons of out of home and sales spiked. They did their recall studies and out of home did not rate.
“So in the second phase, they took away out of home, put the campaign in market and sales were very, very ordinary. They pivoted very quickly, they put the out of home component back in and guess what? Sales went up again.
“As a result, Uber is now spending the same amount on their out of home campaigns as they are on their linear TV, which is around 25% of their budget.
“For us, the frustration is trying to prove our mass audience reach. So rather than being frustrated, we've invested over $20 million into research.
“The reason why we use neuroscience research is because it's undeniable - no one is telling the brain what to do. The brain is telling us what it's seen.
“Reach is what drives out of home's ability to act as a media multiplier, especially when used in concert with TV and online.
“I would never say that out of home is a standalone medium - I think it's a very good medium multiplier.
“If you asked me 'how do I really get the most out of my out of home spend?', I would say three or more formats help drive better ROI.
“But numbers are only a part of our story. There is also an art to buying out of home.
“A good out of home spend combines audience numbers with the best locations, of which we have 100,000 to choose from powered by data.
“The key to success is to spend as much time on your out of home strategy, as you do on your other marketing strategies.”
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