Out-of-Home Advertising in 2021
4
minute read
Mar. 22, 2021 | by Mary Ventresca, VP of Marketing at PATTISON Outdoor
On behalf of PATTISON Outdoor, the global market research firm Dynata is conducting a monthly survey in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver to provide brands and businesses with up-to-date insights on the state of OOH advertising recall and actions prompted by the creative such as visiting a website or going to a physical store. This monthly “tracker” will also report ongoing changes in a number of consumer sentiment measures such as comfort with returning to indoor public spaces, transit ridership and confidence in resuming “back to normal” behaviours. As we’ve already seen since vaccine roll-outs began, increases in confidence and comfort by Canadians simultaneously fuels increases in OOH audiences, as people spend more time outside the home and travel further distances.
In our inaugural post, we look at the February data.
Overview:
As businesses shifted their office workforce to home offices in 2020, commuting patterns also shifted with workers driving shorter distances but becoming more mobile in their local cities and suburbs, especially during daytime hours.
In February, people’s movement outside the home during 9-to-5 business hours was at 84% of the same period in 2020, according to Environics “Out & About” population movement GPS data, which is a considerably high percentage as there were no lockdowns last February.
What hasn’t changed is the opportunity for the Work From Home (WFH) audience to see the range of OOH media present in their local communities such as Billboards, Exterior Bus advertising, Bus Shelters and dynamic Digital Displays.
Mobile device GPS data from providers such as Environics, Google, Apple and others have shown throughout the pandemic that Canadians are active outside of their homes with shopping, exercising and going about their everyday errands.
The Dynata February survey results was notable in confirming that after almost a year of being in their home offices, WFH individuals are still encountering OOH advertising along their journeys and are recalling advertising campaigns at levels similar or greater than pre-pandemic benchmarks1 demonstrating that OOH is still a potent advertising channel for brands and businesses to target this audience.
Observations:
With parts of the country in various forms of lockdown during February, Environics “Out & About” population movement data showed Canadians were quite mobile outside of their home, reaching 88% of levels for the same period (week 8) in 2020. Population movement measured by mobile device data has come to serve as a reliable proxy for the opportunity to see OOH advertising.
Population movement measured by mobile device data has come to serve as a reliable proxy for the opportunity to see OOH advertising.
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The high percentage of Canadians being Out & About in February 2021 throughout the week and during weekday hours, helps explain why OOH advertising recall scored impressively high, especially when compared to pre-pandemic benchmarks. In fact, among 7 campaigns running in Toronto in February 2021, 65% of Work from Home Torontonians recalled seeing any various OOH ads2.
The recall results were just as pronounced with individuals who are currently Working from Home in the Toronto CMA. Across a range of top advertising categories, recall2 was near or above pre-pandemic benchmarks1
- Consumer Packaged Good Snack Products2 @ 24%
- Financial Services Insurance Brand2 @ 47%
- Luxury Import Automotive Brand2 @ 38%
- National QSR Brand2 @ 53%
- Consumer Packed Goods Coffee Brand2 @ 30%
- Ontario Lottery Corporation2 @ 49%
- SportsNet TV Station2 @ 32%
Takeaway:
OOH advertising has long delivered for brands and businesses strong levels of campaign recall and as such is often used as a mass awareness, brand-building platform with a proven track-record of driving consumer action. The advertising recall for these February 2021 campaigns prove once again OOH’s ability to breakthrough and resonate with consumers and even with those currently Working from Home.
Next week, we’ll look at Actions Taken by those who recalled the campaigns.
Powering Canada’s Out-of-Home advertising with 24,000 Out-of-Home displays across the country and counting,
we connect brands and businesses with Canadians in their local communities, at multiple touchpoints.
Reach out to us to find key Out-of-Home placements for your product or service in markets across Canada.