Colum Harmon, marketing director, PML Group with this week’s Out \ Look on Out of Home.
Analysis of more than 500 Irish OOH campaigns in H1 2024 indicates that the overall effectiveness of Outdoor has increased by an impressive 8 points compared to the same period 2023.
The 500+ campaigns were included in PML Group’s IMPACT research programme, with research conducted independently by Ipsos B&A. IMPACT measures key effectiveness indicators on OOH campaigns, including recall, understanding, relevance and call to action.
Overall recall of campaigns in 2024 indexed at 103, compared to H1 2023, pointing to increased levels of attention across Outdoor environments so far this year. Recall levels for Bus T-Side campaigns grew by a massive 13 points, indexing at 113 versus 2023. This is indicative of increased investment on the format as well as larger audiences and effective creative use of the format. Large format, such as 48 Sheet Billboards, also increased significantly year on year, indexing at 107 in the first half of 2024. Bus Shelters maintained recall levels of 2023 and indexed at 100 while digital shopping mall formats indexed at 97 versus the 2023 base figure.
Clarity and simplicity of message are substantive elements in garnering attention and generating recall and awareness, and in 2024, the Dublin public has generally found OOH ads easier to understand. Those who find ads ‘very easy to understand’ indexed at 103 this year, indicating a 3-percentage point increase in ease of understanding.
Now, more than ever, Outdoor campaigns can be relevant to their audience. Enhanced audience profiling through data, digital flexibility and dynamic messaging heightens relevance and helps brands communicate with audiences in a more pertinent way. All these factors no doubt contributed to a 10-point jump in agreement levels that an OOH campaign is ‘relevant to me’. In 2024, the Irish OOH audience believes brands are communicating more directly with them.
As audiences are more attentive to OOH ads, as they process them easier and as they feel these communications are more relevant to them, it is no surprise that the biggest increase in all the metrics in 2024 to date is Call to Action. OOH is driving response among Irish audiences. Those who will ‘probably’ act positively as result of seeing an OOH campaign is up by a whopping 16 points this year, indexing at 116 versus 2023.
The average increase in performance among these various key indicators is +8 points.
In recent weeks, PML Group’s WATCH market intelligence service reported significant increases in investment by advertisers in OOH in 2024. This post-campaign analysis from IMPACT completes and end to end view of the OOH market in Ireland and clearly shows the faith placed in the medium by brands is justified and is paying dividends. What is clear is that success is not simply about size of investment but more important is the message behind it, the environments its shown in and its relevance to the consumer.
IMPACT is a PML Group service, assessing the effectiveness of more than 1,000 OOH campaigns among almost 8,000 Dublin respondents each year. IMPACT has been supplying crucial learnings and insights since 1996 and has measured more than 23,000 campaigns to date.
Lipton keeps it contextual
Continuing the string of refreshing campaigns from PepsiCo this summer including Pepsi Max and 7UP, Lipton Peach Ice Tea is back on OOH this cycle with ‘Grab Some Sunshine’ running across Bus T-Sides, 48 Sheets, Mall and Roadside digital.
Planned by OMD Ireland and Source out of home, time forms the basis for dynamic copy on digital formats via LIVEPOSTER. Special lunchtime creative appears, altering the copy to ‘Grab Some Sunshine This Lunchtime’ – adding to the already-contextual summer content to drive sales at that key daily occasion for the brand.
Dynamic, or contextual, OOH advertising serves audiences with the most relevant and engaging ads, whatever the moment calls for. The Moments of Truth research discovered an average +32% increase in brain response when displaying the most relevant content at the most relevant moment.
Additionally, our recent IMPACT Attention study showed 60% of respondents are more likely to notice future ads from brands availing of contextual advertising.
According to the IBM Summer Behaviour Survey, factors including summer weather motivates consumers choice of activities. For marketers, it is advantageous to harness this excitement in real-time locally at scale and support consumers’ celebration of the summer season.
Weather can predict consumer behaviour and influence shopper decisions and responses to the survey show it’s important to understand the weather across multiple categories.
Food and beverage
68% of people say summer weather impacts their food choices
41% say summer weather affects alcoholic beverage purchases
32% choose healthier meals and snacks during summer
Summer Outdoor Activity
48% of people exercise outdoors once summer weather is in their forecast
92% say summer weather impacts how much time they spend outside
58% plan outdoor excursions once summer weather is in their forecast
Out IMPACT Attention study also revealed that Outdoor advertising can effectively engage exercisers by providing items of visual interest along their routes, with 62% of respondents noted as having engaged with OOH ads while participating in Outdoor activities and exercise.
New Digital 48 Sheet debuts on Navan Road
Brightside media have this week unveiled a brand new digital 48 sheet along one of Dublin’s busiest dual carriageways.
Located just past the Navan Road Parkway train station’s flyover, the panel is highly visible to all outbound traffic coming from the city heading northbound towards routes leading to the M50/N3/Blanchardstown Centre and more.
Estimating to hit close to 280,000 people per cycle*, the panel is the only roadside digital site in its area and along its route. It will be available to book from Cycle 21 (W/C October 7th) onwards.
For more information contact your account manager or email us at info@pmlgroup.ie.
*IDASO Traffic Survey May 2024
