Airport Advertising: 10 Reasons Why It Works
An environment like no other, the airport is a place where people are positive, excited, receptive, and where advertising is part of the journey. Discover what makes airport advertising fly.
1. It taps into receptive and excited passengers
Airport passengers are an alert, excited and receptive audience within a captive setting. The nature of the travel activity means that they are also in a positive mindset, which means that brands at the airport have a chance to reach a high concentration of people who welcome messaging and pay extra attention to it compared to in their everyday lives.
2. It delivers an affluent audience with minimal wastage
Airport passengers are people who invest in travel, people who often internationally. These consumers are affluent and they see shopping as part of the travel experience. When at the airport they are ready to spend and often plan to buy things duty-free or things that are otherwise unavailable in high-street stores – products that are often on the higher price scale like electronics or luxury products.
3. It reaches key influential decision makers in ‘business mode’
The airport is a place filled with high-flying (literally) professionals on their way to and from business meetings. They are focused on recent or upcoming business events and are inevitably tuned into messaging that reflects their mindset and ideas at the time.
4. It uses the unique airport context to add ‘perceived brand value’
People often associate the airport with a high-flying lifestyle and therefore the brands that advertise in this environment, which is also often filled with luxury retailers, add to the impression of prestige and premium quality of the product.
5. It connects with alert consumers in a unique environment and receptive mindset
The airport environment breaks people away from their daily routines. The prospect of travel puts them into an excited alert state. The combined effect is that airport passengers both welcome brand messaging and process it with higher recall.
6. It provides a welcome unavoidable distraction to a captive audience
In the captive airport environment, passengers can often wonder the same spots and spend some time waiting. They will often perceive unique and eye-catching airport advertising as entertainment and will expect to see relevant messaging.
7. It engages passengers during long dwell times
At the airport, brands have an opportunity to engage with people who in any other setting would often be too distracted with their daily tasks and routines. But being in a captive setting for long periods of time, gives brands a chance to communicate and tell stories that they would otherwise not have enough time for.
8. It is proven to drive sales in airport retailers
Two of the key attributes that benefit brand messaging at the airport is that ads speak to consumers who are ready to spend, and they offer the convenience of making the purchase right there and then (and often discounted too!).
9. It is displayed on sites that complement passenger mindsets and ad budgets
Airport’s premium image is reinforced by top of the line OOH furniture and its digital capabilities. Unrestricted, brands can create custom eye-catching executions with unmissable messaging and flawless delivery that complements consumers’ high expectations and their shopping behaviour within this high-value environment.
10. It is viewed by a desirable audience predicted to grow significantly
The airport audience is set to grow as the world becomes increasingly globalised, air travel improves and becomes more accessible and as people begin to reposition life experience in their list of priorities.
10 Reasons Airport Advertising Works, JCDecaux
Sources
1. Enterprise Globalise Advertise, JCDecaux UK 2016
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Business Travllers, JCDecaux UK 2015
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Global Shopper Connections 2, JCDecaux OneWorld 2016
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