The Age of Mobility
We have entered a new age of mobility according to The Future Foundation. The amount of time we spend outside the home will increase by 30% by 2020. With so many people outside of their living rooms, advertisers can no longer rely on mostly in-home media such as television.
Engaging consumers on the move is becoming a major focus for many clients.
Furthermore, ad avoidance devices will have an even greater impact on traditional advertising models as consumers selectively filter and receive advertising messages.
Outdoor is the only advertising medium that is virtually immune to consumer avoidance. It can’t be turned off, flipped to the next page or thrown away. And it is free to view.
Outdoor truly is the last of the mass media.
What Does Outdoor Media Do for Advertisers?
-
Outdoor builds brand saliency
Outdoor can be used to establish brands and elevate a brand’s perception and credibility. Its ubiquitous presence helps to drive significant gains in brand awareness. The medium’s strong carry-over effects ensure that brand awareness levels strengthen over time.
-
Outdoor creates a big impact
By its sheer size, outdoor advertising demands attention and creates high impact. It provides a blank canvas for a vast array of creative opportunities to generate brand stand-out and dominate different environments. Ranging from wrapped buses and Spectaculars, to custom installations and giant digital billboards, the scale and cut-through nature of outdoor cannot be avoided.
-
Outdoor reaches the masses
Many campaigns are targeted against a broad demographic and as a broadcast medium, outdoor is perfect for reaching mass audiences. As media audiences continue to fragment, outdoor has increasingly become an attractive option for advertisers to ensure their brand and message gets noticed.
-
Outdoor also delivers niche audiences
The outdoor industry has evolved to develop an abundance of targeted options to reach different, niche audiences. Consumers can be targeted by environment or lifestyle. Bus advertising offers a highly targeted way to reach the elusive Gen Y audience. Proximity mapping allows advertisers to target specific audiences within range of certain stores such as supermarkets, liquor outlets, tertiary institutes and cinemas. Consumers can be reached through a plethora of options while they are on the move and on the path to purchase.
-
Outdoor generates heavy frequency
High frequency is a fundamental strength of outdoor advertising, and repeated exposures ensure that brands and messages are remembered. For example, rail commuters travelling to work through the same CBD stations each day could be exposed to a Station Surround campaign up to 40 times in a month. Bus advertising packages offer high frequency, and have been proven to generate up to 47% ad recall*.
*Source: APN Outdoor HPO Research 2007
-
Outdoor multiplies the effect of other media, reinforcing the message
TV audiences are declining and one third of people are light TV viewers, making it hard to reach them cost-efficiently. But outdoor advertising has a high propensity to reach light TV viewers. Combining TV and outdoor can deliver a greater campaign net reach and awareness than using TV alone. When Dove launched a campaign using TV and combined it with outdoor, post-campaign research revealed that outdoor added an extra 22% of ad awareness*. Outdoor advertising is an ideal reminder medium when other activity tapers off.
*Source: APN Outdoor/The Leading Edge Research 2006
-
Outdoor provides a Path to Purchase
Outdoor advertising reaches consumers on their path to purchase and can be very effective in driving sales. Its high frequency and proximity to point of sale has been proven to generate product trial and purchase. Increasingly, outdoor is being used as a direct response medium through innovations in digital technology such as Bluetooth and LED screens.
Back to top
Who is the outdoor audience?
Consumers who are “out and about” more often are more likely to be exposed to outdoor advertising. But what defines this audience and how do they consume other media?
Roy Morgan Research profiles heavy ‘Out and About’ consumers as more likely to be:
- Light commercial TV viewers
- Medium newspaper readers
- Medium commercial radio listeners
- Heavy magazine readers
- Heavy Internet users
- Heavy cinema attendees
- Earning $50K+ pa
- Big spenders (high discretionary expenditure)
- A, B and C quintile
- The main grocery buyers of their household
- Young singles and young couples*
*Source: Roy Morgan Single Source 2008
How is the Out of Home industry performing in New Zealand?
Despite a challenging year on a global economic scale, Out of Home finished 2008 up 3.6% on the previous year thanks to a first quarter second only to Online in revenue growth. This saw media revenue break the $100m barrier by reaching $102.4m. Share of media revenue grew fractionally to 3.9%.
It is estimated that over 90% of Out of Home revenues are channelled through Large Format outdoor operators – Billboards, Buses, Street Furniture, Airports and Retail precincts.
APN Outdoor foresees a difficult year in 2009 as advertisers struggle to come to terms with the affect of the global financial crisis and its impact on the economy.
Despite this, Out of Home media is seen by most users as a true growth channel of the future surpassed only by the prospects of Online. It is the last bastion of broadcast media that offers significant cut-through possibilities, huge impact and great cost-effectiveness.
Source: Nielsen Media Research
Back to top
Who uses outdoor?
Increasingly, advertisers are realising the effectiveness of outdoor advertising and incorporating it into their media schedules. In 2008, the top 25 advertisers in the Out of Home industry represented 39% of all spending in this category. This is growth of 35% for the top 25 advertisers over 2007 – more than $10m additional spend in Out of Home.
The top 10 spenders in Out of Home for 2008 were:
- Telecom
- Television New Zealand Ltd
- TV3 Network
- LTNZ/NZ Transport Agency
- Coca-Cola Oceania
- Vodafone New Zealand
- NZ Lotteries Commission
- Air New Zealand Ltd
- Goodman Fielder NZ Ltd
- Foodstuffs NZ Ltd
Source: Nielsen Media Research