Sophie Hamilton, marketing executive, PML Group with this week’s Out \ Look on Out of Home.
Dublin Bus Weekly Passenger Journeys Surpasses Two Million
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has published its latest Transport Bulletin. The bulletin captures traffic volumes and the number of journeys taken on public transport.
The total number of rail and bus journeys is at its highest level since the beginning of the year. There are now more than two million passenger journeys made on Dublin Bus each week.
Commenting on the Transport Bulletin, Nele van der Wielen, statistician said: “Public transport services returned to full capacity from the beginning of September. This is reflected in increasing rail and bus journeys which are at their highest level since the beginning of 2021. The total number of rail and bus journeys is now 70% of those taken in early March 2020 (pre COVID-19).”
Latest data available show that car traffic volumes are now at 90% of September 2019 levels in the Dublin area and 91% of September 2019 levels in regional locations.
Figures for week 39 (week beginning 27 September) show that car traffic volumes were 97.2% higher in Dublin and 115.7% higher in selected regional sites compared with week 1 of this year.
Comparing the latest available data for week 39 to the same week in 2020 shows that the traffic volume of private cars was 27.7% higher in the Dublin sites.
A similar trend is shown when looking at the selected regional sites. The volume of private cars in the regional locations was 12.9% higher in week 39 of 2021 than it was in week 39 of 2020.
Figures for new cars licensed rose above 2020 and 2019 levels with 6,354 new cars licensed in September 2021 compared with 5,747 in 2020 and 4,104 in 2019.
The number of passengers travelling through Dublin airport in August 2021 rose by 93% compared with the previous month.
Traffic Congestion in Cities now above 2019 Levels
TomTom’s Traffic Index is reporting yearly highs for congestion levels in the three main cities with rush hour delays surpassing those witnessed in 2019.
Wednesday’s congestion in Dublin averaged a year to date high of 65%, +20% on the same day in 2019 and more than double the 30% figure recorded on the same day last year. The severest rush hour congestion was at 8am at 121%. A 121% congestion level means that a 30-minute trip in the capital took 36 more minutes than it would during baseline uncongested conditions.
In Cork, Wednesday’s congestion level of 49% was 17% higher than 2019, also peaki at 8am at 93%. The picture is similar in Limerick – Wednesday’s congestion level of 47% was 38% higher than 2019, reaching 107% at 9am.
Stepping Out
At PML, understanding audience behaviour is the cornerstone how we manage our clients’ Out of Home marketing objectives. As location marketing specialists, insights into where people live, work, and play form the basis of choice we make regarding environments and formats. Once again, consumers are embracing life outside of the home and participating in several social and leisure activities. This is a great opportunity for brands to use OOH advertising to reach and communicate with consumers across a range of locations as audience behaviour changes over the next few months.
This week, we are publishing findings from our latest wave of Stepping Out research, conducted by Ipsos MRBI on our behalf among 300 16–54-year-olds in Dublin. The aim of this study is to understand consumers intentions to engage in social and leisure activities over the next few months and the desire to attend leisure and social events continues to grow, according to the research.
Amongst the top activities in which respondents said they will attend over the next coming months were workplace environments and restaurants. 86% of people working full-time said they will attend a workplace environment. This figure is reflective of the changes in audience behaviours as people begin to return to office, effecting working lives and daily routines.
In terms of leisure, many respondents said they will attend a restaurant over the next few months, ranking the most popular leisure activity. By age categories, 93% of 25-34s and 85% of 16-24s said they will attend a restaurant. The finding highlights how there is an appetite among consumers to engage in social and leisure activities as we emerge out of the pandemic. With higher attendance at workplace environments and restaurants, it suggests consumers lifestyles are becoming increasingly busier as consumers are on the move again, spending less time in the home.
Three quarters of all respondents said they will attend the cinema over the next few months. A further break down showed that 84% of respondents aged 16-24 years said they will attend, the highest percentage among the various age categories. The cinema was the second most popular activity that respondents said they would attend. This is a great opportunity for the Film OOH category as cinema attendance continues to increase and audience behaviour changes over the next few months.
Other popular leisure activities included attendance at sporting events. One in two respondents said they will attend a sporting event over the next few months.
Full details of Stepping Out can be obtained from your PML Group contact or via info@pmlgroup.ie
SuperValu Dynamically Delivers on OOH
This week saw the beginning of cycle 22 in the OOH calendar and a campaign highlight for the new cycle is SuperValu’s Dynamic countdown on Digital Out of Home – to drive commuters online to avail of its same day delivery service. Served through PML Group’s Liveposter platform, the initial element of the campaign displays a countdown clock until midday to receive same day delivery when you order online with SuperValu. After midday, the change in creative encourages consumers to use Supervalu’s click and collect service, building a bridge between the virtual and physical words via OOH.
Running on roadside formats across Dublin, Starcom and Source out of home were responsible for the OOH planning and placement while creative was provided by Doodle Creative. The DOOH formats hosting the Dynamic content include four Digital Bridges, Digital Golden Square, Digipanels, Digipoles and Digishelters. As part of the campaign, classic OOH accompanies the dynamic DOOH to increase awareness and coverage while tapping into the mindset of consumers during their daily routines. Classic OOH formats include the 96 Sheet on Ranelagh Road, 48 Sheets, Adshel, Bus Shelters and T-Sides.
SuperValu’s Dynamic campaign is a powerful example of digital innovation at scale on OOH. The landmark three-stage research ‘Moments of Truth’ study highlighted the effectiveness of relevance in Digital OOH advertising from the point of view of brain response, ad recall and sales. Key findings from this pioneering study reveal that consumer brain response is 18% higher when viewing relevant content in digital Out of Home campaigns, which in turn leads to a 17% increase in consumers’ spontaneous advertising recall, and ultimately proving that dynamic digital Out of Home campaigns can deliver a 16% sales uplift.
Keith Farrell, Source out of home, said:
“SuperValu, activating via dynamic Digital OOH increases the opportunity for the supermarket to communicate and drive immediate response via Out of Home. By showcasing SuperValu’s online offerings through a Dynamic DOOH campaign, it provides its audience with contextually relevant messaging and highlights OOH’s ability to influence the consumers path to purchase.”
Commenting on the launch of the Dynamic campaign, Graham Clarke, Client Director, Starcom said; “We’re so excited to activate our first ever Dublin only Outdoor campaign for SuperValu Online Shopping. The campaign objective is to reach Dublin shoppers and remind them of the many benefits of shopping online with SuperValu.ie. The campaign will be digitally led, with the digital sites displaying dynamic copy each day, promoting the same day delivery USP. The inclusion of dynamic creative will increase the relevancy of the creative and the campaign effectiveness. To ensure our campaign included strategic targeting, we have utilised PML Group’s mapping data to reach both SuperValu and competitor customers.”
