EXPERT COLUMN What Is It with Airline Billboards ?
OOH advertising , on the other hand , offers an opportunity to target individuals when they are out and about and usually not distracted by other more invasive media . The Out of Home Advertising Association of America ( OAAA ) notes that billboards are the most common OOH format , accounting for 73 % of all OOH revenue in 2022 . No wonder we still see so many of them dotting the landscape .
OOH advertising has been one of the true rockstars of traditional marketing , continuing to grow in recent years . And the future of such signs looks bright for at least the remainder of the decade . A 2023 report published by Business Research Insights ( BRI ) forecasts a consistent 3.9 % compound annual growth rate ( CAGR ) for outdoor advertising between 2023 and 2028 . Despite the recent trends observed in some traditional advertising media , OOH seems to be here to stay .
WHY SIGNS WORK
Have you ever seen these clever signs that make the not-so-subtle point that signage does indeed work ?
Marketers have long recognized that noticing signs is somewhat hardwired into our DNA . Most signs , especially highway billboards , appear in our peripheral vision , of which , as a species , we are keenly aware . The evolutionary reason for this is that we were not likely to get attacked by predators head-on , but from the periphery . Scott Galloway , noted NYU Stern School of Business Marketing Professor , believes that this is one reason VR headsets have been slow to catch on : we do not like things that block our peripheral vision . While massive signs are impossible for motorists to miss , given their sheer size alone , the visual perspective also illustrates the power of the peripheral vantage point .
Beyond any evolutionary factors that may come into play , outdoor advertising takes things back to basics in a world in which the digital landscape is overcrowded with intrusive advertisements . A survey conducted by HubSpot revealed that nearly 75 % of people dislike online popup and mobile phone advertisements . Over half dislike the video ads that play before YouTube videos . Conversely , the same survey found that only 21 % of people explicitly dislike billboard advertisements . A different survey run by the OAAA found that up to 61 % of adult respondents view billboards favorably , a percentage that rises to 85 % when the concept of ‘ favorability ’ is measured differently .
One sector that has used billboards as a staple advertising medium is the airline industry . Airline-themed billboards have been around for nearly as long as airlines . They may not be the biggest spenders , or even advertise continuously , but airlines know how to make effective use of billboards . The question is : why ?
THAT HOMETOWN VIBE
Unlike consumer products , which are both placed and pitched nearly everywhere , airlines carefully choose the cities they serve , and billboards are all about the locale . Airlines are known for plastering their largest hub cities with signage . On the one hand , it makes sense to see this coverage where airlines have their greatest concentration of flights , but surely people are aware of this already , right ? So , what gives ?
For starters , airline marketers tend to target outdoor billboards more than one might initially think . People driving into city centers not only own cars , but are also likely to work there , and business customers tend to be among airlines ’ most lucrative travelers .
Moreover , commuters traveling along the major arteries in and around airports are likely headed to fly or may have just come back from trips , which provides airlines with an opportunity to reinforce their top-of-mind status or perhaps convince any freshly disgruntled travelers to try their offerings instead .
In a survey-based publication , the UK ’ s Outdoor Media Centre ( OMC ) notes that 85 % of air travelers are already thinking about their next trip when still at the airport and that nearly two-thirds are looking for ideas about places to travel to . It will therefore come as no surprise to learn that the UK OMC reports that , out of the top 50 advertisers who invested in airports in 2013 , 10 were airlines or alliances .
Airlines also have a few more subtle and not-so-subtle reasons to plaster hub cities with signage . For one , the appeal to civic pride helps in garnering further loyalty from locals , who see a particular carrier as their ‘ hometown airline ’, intricately intertwined with their city ’ s fate . These geographic connotations are not nearly so noticeable among more mundane consumer product goods . Also , much like dogs marking their territories , hometown and hub city airline billboards signal would-be competitors that these cities are already spoken for and that the advertising carriers are more than ready and willing to defend their turf if need be . Have you heard the term ‘ fortress hub ’ used in another industry recently ?
A more subtle side benefit is the esprit de corps that such signage fosters among airline employees . After all , airlines tend to be among the largest local employers in their hub cities and even more so where they are headquartered . This is especially true in North America and Europe , where some of the largest airlines and airline groups in the world reside . Delta Air Lines is the single largest employer in the metro Atlanta area when ranked by number of full-time employees : 42,300 as of December 31 , 20220 ; 9,000 more than the next largest employer . It has embedded itself in the community since the 1940s . So , if you visit Atlanta ,
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