Driving impactful consumer connections

by carly_mchugh | 5 May 2023 12:14 pm

By William Dixon

Transit advertising has become a vital tool in the out-of-home (OOH) media sphere, and its usage today goes beyond just a posting on the side of a bus. By successfully harnessing transit routes and a wide variety of advertising options, brands can broadcast their messaging along crucial thoroughfares, reaching many corners of urban centres where static imagery might not.

Despite the shift during the pandemic to pour resources into online advertisements, digital fatigue has weaved itself increasingly into pandemic fatigue. As a result, many brands have invested in areas outside of online advertising. In fact, more traditional OOH formats have seen a pronounced resurgence in the last year—particularly those delivering contactless, seamless experiences, which create lasting impressions on consumers. With well-known brands such as L’Oreal, Hugo Boss, and Chanel investing in transit advertising for the first time in recent history, it is clear large-format transit vinyl has begun to re-emerge as a popular canvas for some of today’s more captivating campaigns.

The effects of Toronto transit takeovers

Consider an average commuter’s daily journey within a large urban area such as Toronto. As they move around the city, they are likely to encounter many forms of transportation—including streetcars, subways, and light rail transit (LRT) trains. This presents the perfect opportunity for brands to capture the attention of key audiences using visually stunning full vehicle wraps and murals. Look no further than last year’s Hugo Boss campaign as evidence of a high-end, modern canvas with the ability to cut through the downtown core of Canada’s most populous city.

Not only are transit ads eye-catching, but they also have the numbers to back up their efficacy. Businesses in industries from fashion to communications to food services and beyond are taking advantage of this opportunity to capture key markets in Toronto.

For example, sports betting site Rivalry launched a transit campaign in the city in May 2022. When asked if they had seen the campaign, nearly one in five residents recalled coming across the Rivalry streetcar domination, and among them, 57 per cent took action after seeing the campaign. Within that category, 22 per cent ended up placing a bet, 17 per cent visited the company’s website, and 11 per cent created an account.¹ Evidently, transit campaigns are making a quantifiable impact.

However, streetcar, bus, and train wraps are not the only way to reach audiences with transit advertising. Some brands have also taken part in full “station dominations,” where their campaign is plastered on walls, pillars, stairs, and posters throughout a select transit hub. In fact, Pantene implemented one of these takeovers last spring at Bloor-Yonge Station. Featuring ET Canada’s Sangita Patel, the high-impact installation greeted subway riders around almost every corner and garnered a great deal of attention. One in five residents recalled seeing the station domination, of which 54 per cent took action. Fourteen per cent followed Pantene on social media, another 14 per cent looked up the ingredients of their new formula, and 11 per cent searched nearby retailers for the shampoo and conditioner.² By creating an ad experience that greets commuters and moves with them through the station, brands can better connect with their audience and influence their next shopping trip to any number of retailers along their journey.

Streaming giant Amazon Prime Video has also found success in leveraging transit campaigns in Toronto. In their October 2022 campaign for The Rings of Power, close to one in four Torontonians recalled seeing a transit ad touting the release date of the new series. Not only did they achieve visibility, but they also resonated with key audiences, including Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) riders, work-from-home individuals, essential workers, and young adults between the ages of 18 and 34—all target demographics for Amazon Prime Video. After viewing the campaign, 69 per cent took action. Eighteen per cent started watching The Rings of Power, 17 per cent watched the trailer, 16 per cent added the show to their watch list, and 11 per cent binge-watched it.³ Indeed, transit advertising is not merely for fashion and beauty brands. The entertainment and media services category is seeing a rise in revenue which can be attributed to the impact of OOH advertising.

Leaving Calgarians hungry for more

Of course, Toronto is not the only city to take advantage of this method of advertising. Calgary’s residents are also taking notice of the imagery criss-crossing their city on various forms of transit. One notable example is the EDO Japan transit campaign which launched in October 2022. More than one in four Calgarians recalled seeing the campaign, and within this group, 54 per cent were downtown office workers, 45 per cent were weekly transit riders, and 39 per cent were individuals who started ordering out more. Indeed, the ads transformed exposure into experience. After viewing EDO Japan’s transit campaign, almost half took action, with 17 per cent visiting their website, and another 17 per cent ordering food either in store or online.⁴ Transit advertising is also a significant way to build upon the impressions static imagery would normally earn. Within Calgary, when brands add transit advertising to their marketing efforts, it increases their impressions by 60 per cent.⁵ This makes transit an important tool when considering the size and scope of a campaign.

Conclusion

While OOH media might feel like a more traditional form of advertising, it still goes hand-in-hand with modern life. Striking artwork on murals or billboards is being increasingly shared on social media, giving brands a wider audience than ever and a second life online. In order to stay ahead of the curve, brands need to think outside the box and re-imagine the way they use traditional forms of advertising. Audiences are tired of endless streams of digital advertising, which have flooded their screens and no longer hold their attention. Perhaps what they seek is an impactful transit campaign that resonates as they resume the day-to-day life they enjoyed before the pandemic.  

Notes

¹ Based on interviews conducted within the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA). For more information, refer to the Pattison Monthly Recall Tracker Study, May 2022.

² See Note 1.

³ Based on interviews conducted within the Toronto CMA. For more information, refer to the Pattison Monthly Recall Tracker Study, September 2022.

⁴ Based on a Numeris return to sample (RTS) survey from fall 2022, which compared Calgary 18-plus vs. noticed digital billboards or exterior bus advertising in the past week.

⁵ See Note 4.

William Dixon is a marketing content specialist with Pattison Outdoor. He creates and writes for client-facing materials to promote the company’s catalogue of products.

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/driving-impactful-consumer-connections/

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