How to Look at Out-of-Home When You're Staying In-The-Home

“We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight!” ……ok, ok... so maybe we’re not fending off alien invaders, but this is definitely an unprecedented time we’re facing. The world has certainly changed in the past two months, and first and foremost we need to be smart and safe. It’s time to STAY HOME. Hard to type those words considering I work in out-of-home but, if everyone bands together, we will flatten the curve and get back to normal sooner than later. Staying home literally saves lives.

COVID-19 has hurt the economy, advertising included, and it’s hard to reach out to clients to ask about the status of pending campaigns, future spend, and how the rest of the year looks when we don’t even know what tomorrow looks like. The opportunity now is to find the right balance to strike, because the truth is there are still plenty of reasons why brands need to reach consumers. 

Forbes posted an article in September 2019 titled “When A Recession Comes, Don’t Stop Advertising.” There were several arguments for why it makes sense to advertise during adverse times - the ability to reposition a brand, less noise in the category, proving corporate stability, taking advantage of a “buyer’s market”, offer short-term price incentives to match the economic climate, or even simply point out brand value specific to the trying times.

Our behavior is changing at the moment, undeniably. A study from Foursquare (Feb-Mar ’20) showed that during the COVID-19 crisis consumers are likely to cancel/postpone travel, work remotely, stock up on groceries, avoid bars/restaurants (no choice really), fill up their gas tanks, and order online. From February 19th through March 13th nationally there was a -13% decrease in airport foot traffic and a -9% decrease in foot traffic to offices, yet a +19% increase in visitation to grocery stores and +11% increase in gas station traffic. 

The truth is, there’s still value in out-of-home advertising when you’re trying to stay in-the-home. There are ways to still be strategic, cautious, and reach who you’re looking to reach while acknowledging these new behaviors.

Home deliveries

Delivery companies, such as Amazon, offer on-box advertising. This provides brands with a large creative landscape, which has been shown by attribution studies to increase brand awareness by 10.7%. Pharmacies like CVS also offer on-bag messaging. With the increase of at home food delivery, brands can take advantage of take-out sponsorships and pizza-box advertising – a non-traditional spin, but never has there been a more captive at-home audience.  

Necessity points of interest

Some of the most important places to be right now are supermarkets, and regardless of a curfew or quarantine, this is one of the few places you’re allowed to go. Companies like Starlite have over 6,000 signs in over 1,500 locations, including digital screens in cities like New York. Grocery Retail TV has the largest in-grocer US digital display network with over 150MM impressions per month in 1,050 large chain stores. 

Second to supermarkets are gas stations. GSTV offers a full motion video product and full country coverage. All these digital products can be live in 24 hours and offer your brand flexibility with creative, to change as quickly as the news today. 

Cherry-picked Traditional

Brands can also identify where a topical message would make the most sense for them right now and buy digitally by the day and by the hour! Whether you are you looking to reach hospitals with encouraging support or provide uplifting content on the streets of NYC for those who still have to go to work every day. Tactics like LINK NYC (Intersection) offer day-parting and unlimited creative flexibility to be relevant to your audience. 

A lot is changing, but we are finding ways to go on with daily life. People still need services, still need products. Smart marketers can find opportunities even in the current landscape. 

Most importantly right now agencies and media owners need to work together to be true champions for our clients. It’s not fun to shift buys, it’s not fun to cancel – but we can work together, find solutions, and stay optimistic. Client service goes a very long way, and people don’t forget when you come through for them when they need it the most.

 It’s going to be a tough time ahead, but we will band together. One thing guaranteed is that once we are through this, everyone’s going to want to be out of the home.

Stay Safe Everyone.