In our continuing series on the Benefits of Traditional Media, today's blog will dive into the world of Outdoor, or Out of Home (OOH).
When people think about Out of Home, their first thought goes to the billboards they see along the side of the interstate, but really OOH goes well beyond that and you may not even know that you are seeing an OOH advertisement until you are in the moment.
Have you been seen a Bus wrapped in an ad for your local news station? That is OOH. Have you seen kiosks in the mall with commercials running? That is OOH. Have you been in the grocery store and seen a sticker on the floor for a brand of cereal? That is also OOH.
Out of Home is all around us and some are more blatant and others are more subtle in their appearance, but at the end of the day, they are all OOH, each designed to hit a specific target at a specific time.
Here are some of the key benefits of Out of Home advertising:
- Can't Be Turned Off - Unlike Television and Radio, you cannot change the channel or fast forward through the message. You have the person's attention the entire time that they are in view of your message. It is also up 24 hours a day, so it isn't gone in :30 seconds like a TV commercial. Also think about this....it is Free, not to you the advertiser (sorry), but to the consumer, who has to pay for cable, satellite, Pandora, Hulu, etc., which in a sense makes it less intrusive to them.
- Influences - Research has shown that within 30 minutes of seeing an Outdoor advertisement, consumers make a purchase decision. This far outweights that of TV, Radio and Print. It is OOH that helps with that final push across the proverbial purchasing line.
- Reach - OOH reaches 75% of Adults 18+ every single month and that number increases to 84% for those Adults who are in their cars. You want to reach people with your message, OOH is right up there with Radio and Television as far as reaching the masses.
- Grabs Your Attention - While TV commercials can on occasion grab your attention, if you are paying attention, OOH ads are in your face and grab your attention. Have you seen some of the creative and some times provocative political outdoor ads this year? If those don't grab your attention, don't know what will. Although some of my favorites are still from Chick-fil-A.
- Targeting - If you want to speak to the masses, then you can do that with outdoor, but if you want to speak to a particular demographic or group, you can do that as well. If you want to reach the Hispanic population with your message and know that a certain area of town has a high concentration of Hispanics, you can look to post your OOH advertising in that area. What if you want to speak to high level business executives in office buildings, you can place your message there as well. The targeting opportunities are there for an effective media campaign.
I remember working an account several years ago and I was trying to target a very niche group of people that were going to be at an event out in the middle of nowhere. There was no TV, no radio, no internet to try and reach them while at this event, so what could I do?
Out of Home was the answer to the problem. Basically, the plan called for Mobile Billboards to set-up around the event to target everyone there. The moral of this media dilemma - there is always a way to reach the people you want to reach.
Is Out of Home right for you? Curious to learn more and see how we can help? Give us a call or send us a message, we'd be happy to help.
Be sure to check out our other blogs in the Benefits of Traditional Media series.
