Blog

Trusting Tradition vs. Embracing Evolution: Why the Media Mix remains critically important in advertising

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 15:45:58 GMT

With AI rapidly infiltrating the advertising space, there is growing concern amongst media experts around brand safety and the decline of the traditional media landscape. How can we, as media planners, help advertisers best utilise their budgets and accommodate evolution?

Are traditional media channels in decline and is the digital world dominating too much?

Reading a recent White Paper by Ian Whittaker, he states that “Out of Home (OOH) is underutilised at just 3% of UK ad spend.” [1]

A shocking statistic given OOH is renowned for providing the ability to build mass awareness. Outdoor reaches 98% of the UK population on a weekly basis and is a highly impactful channel, providing brands with a physical imprint in unmissable ways. OOH also helps maximise the business impact of other media platforms, with a 54% average uplift in Search when run in conjunction with outdoor campaigns. [2] So, with all this in mind, why does OOH account for such a small fraction of UK ad spend? [3]

As media buyers, it is vital that we question whether advertising spend is allocated effectively. ONS found that the UK invests disproportionately into digital media, with approximately 78% of spend distributed into online platforms across 2025 [4] .

We do need to face up to the fact that the media landscape is evolutionary, and there are undoubtedly strengths of using digital advertising. Many digital platforms have introduced AI, which can catalyse ad production and help with initial media planning. The main argument that digital offers clearer data vs. traditional channels in showing ROI achieved post-campaign is still true on face value however advances in measurement of brand awareness media types are happening fast.

There are challenges that we need to consider:

AI risks advertising becoming commoditised and thereby reducing its value.
Over-relying on technology could lead to algorithms prioritising performance-based platforms depending on what is inputted, so human intervention remains crucial to brand advertising to ensure the right optimisations are made.
Media plans may navigate too much towards digital and social platforms, which could risk linear media channels, such as TV, OOH, and Radio, being reduced in prominence. This could be detrimental as these traditional media channels drive core brand metrics, such as trust and awareness, which help support a better overall performance in the evolving digital landscape.

What is the solution to this?

As marketeers put the case forward to their board members to recognise advertising as an investment, rather than just another cost, selecting a logical split to advertising is integral to brand success.

Within the advertising landscape today, the 60:40 brand v activation split is still an effective strategy to broadly follow as traditional media channels drive brand awareness and consideration, leading to the activation and action that digital platforms deliver.

In an era of ongoing inflation, the Cost-of-Living Crisis, and the rise of AI, media planners face a troubling dichotomy. By clinging too rigidly to traditional media channels, we run the risk of not embracing the evolving digital landscape to its full potential. Nevertheless, to build and retain brand strength, media strategies must combine long-term brand building with short-term performance activation to reach the masses and gain short-term ROI.

The optimum media mix, then, remains more crucial than ever before. Investment into traditional media types needs to be rebalanced so that brands can build both brand fame and an emotional connection with consumers to help them blossom further down the funnel.

[1] Branding in the Age of Inflation: Thinking Outside the Playbook – OOH White Paper, Ian Whittaker

[2] IPA Databanks, Analytic Partners

[3] Route

[4] ONS.

How advertising on Broadcaster YouTube channels can deliver premium reach and impact

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:07:43 GMT

In an ever-divided media landscape, advertisers face a tougher challenge than ever: finding scale, trust and additional reach. Is strategic use of broadcaster-owned YouTube channels an effective way to deliver them all?

As the media landscape continues to evolve and fragment, advertisers remain committed to finding environments that offer scale, trust and additional reach —though navigating this has become increasingly complex.

While social platforms, streaming services, and traditional TV continue to compete for attention, one area that can offer a more strategic, effective solution to help you extend your TV reach advertising within broadcaster-owned YouTube channels.

These extensions of trusted TV channels can offer a unique opportunity for brands to connect with engaged (and often younger) audiences combining the reach of the platform with the credibility and brand safety associated with premium content.

Some key advantages of including ITV, Channel4 or Sky YouTube on a linear plan are;

The ability to extend your linear reach similar to adding in BVOD or CTV
High impact attention due to the dominance of big screen viewing
Brand safe, quality environment
Enhanced targeting opportunities
Access to peak programming / contextual content

With the recent launch of YouTube audience monitoring via BARB (albeit only the top 200 channels), looking holistically at your TV schedule across your linear and digital video activity should become easier and more accurate offering greater understanding of how to reach different audiences in the most effective way.

For advertisers with more modest budgets which may prohibit a linear TV campaign or those looking to shift investment gradually from a purely digital focus, a combination of BVOD (and/or AdPause) CTV and broadcaster YouTube can deliver effective access to their target audience within that all important broadcast quality content.

In terms of caution, deploying a specific Broadcaster YouTube solution can command cost per thousands that are on the higher side particularly when adding on layers of targeting but still more than comparable to other YouTube inventory costs.

All in all, advertisers looking to maximise the impact of their combined video investment should consider broadcaster-owned YouTube channels as an effective way to ensure they’re connecting with audiences wherever they choose to watch — without sacrificing safety, scale, or impact.

Media and Production: The forgotten pieces of the puzzle

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 15:56:29 GMT

In the world of marketing and advertising, the spotlight often shines brightest on the creative concept. We get it. It’s the flashy idea that grabs attention, wins awards, and gets people talking!

However, behind every successful campaign lies a complex puzzle, and two of its most critical pieces—production and media planning—are way too often left out of the early discussions.

Usually, creative concepts are developed, refined, and approved before production and media strategies are fully considered. This approach can result in a disconnect between the creative vision and the practical realities of bringing that vision to life. Production teams are then tasked with executing a concept that may not be fully feasible within the given constraints, while media agencies are left to fit the creative into a plan that may not fully capitalise on its potential!

We know where we stand: we’re all about playing nice with other agencies and lifting each other up. We might sound like a broken record sometimes, but honestly, we’ve found that things work best when we’re brought in from the start.

We asked our founder Bridget Moore , to explore why it’s so important to work in a collaborative way, and why you should care about it too.

How does media planning contribute to the overall success of a campaign?

“Media planning is key for ensuring a campaign reaches its target audience effectively. The starting point for media planning for any brief is to get a thorough understanding of things like market orientation, competitive context, current customers and opportunities for audience/penetration & sales growth – demographically, contextually, geographically, behaviourally etc. Once we’ve agreed on a core target audience, we look at what media channels our audience consume; how influential and impactful each is against the job we’re trying to do, lead times and available inventory and what the cost metrics of each element are within the context of the available budget. This process ensures the campaign is timely, consistent across platforms, and adaptable, which enhances brand recall and overall campaign success.”

How can early collaboration between creative teams, production, and media planners lead to more successful campaigns? What are some of the key benefits of integrating these components from the start?

“Early involvement in the creative and production process can really help focus on which channels we should be using and why so that the creative effort is spent in the right places. For example, with one of our B2B clients who had traditionally focused on print & trade media, we recommended an emotive video-led approach to drive consideration in a low-interest category, running across linear TV, BVOD, YouTube and mobile channels. Each one required different creative lengths, so it was helpful to collaborate on this prior to creative and production so that all teams were clear on what formats would be used - not just the ones traditionally used by that brand. And of course, an early understanding of the creative idea is also really helpful to the media planning team in sparking ideas around how we can leverage the message through the media plan and execution. When the media placement and creative message work in harmony the impact is multiplied. We’ve used this to great success on several campaigns; for example, creating bespoke comms for tactically placed OOH targeting car drivers, when we wanted to change their travel behaviour. We’ve also amplified creative story-telling, for example, reinforcing British, Farming and Premium themes for a bed retailer through a contextually-led media strategy. We also have stacks of helpful advice and best practice guidelines for the various advertising formats which can be invaluable to creative teams in terms of getting the best out of the media space that their message will sit within. Again, this can focus efforts in the right direction and leverage learnings from other brands & campaigns in getting the very best out of the media inventory being used.”

Agency collaboration is all about trust and allowing experts to guide the conversation and deliver value.

As industry leaders with deep expertise in the field, what new trends or innovations in media planning should marketers be aware of to stay ahead of the curve?

“The media landscape is constantly evolving – just because something has worked in the past doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do next time around because so many factors change. In an increasingly fragmented media world, it is challenging for advertisers to capture their audience’s attention. Taking advantage of innovations, like integrated cross-device targeting – being able to take your audience on a communication journey and push them down the funnel, can aid cut-through and effectiveness. Dynamic creative also offers a multitude of benefits – the ability to tailor creative around locality, weather, time-of-day or browsing behaviour significantly improves relevance. But collaborative pre-planning is required to factor these things into a campaign. We’ve done this recently for a financial aid provider where our TGI audience segmentation helped inform the creative and comms and enabled us to serve tailored ads to pensioners versus families, who both have very different lifestyles and needs.”

What metrics or indicators should be used to evaluate the impact on a campaign’s success, and how can this data be leveraged to improve future campaigns?

“It’s important that all parties are aligned on what the campaign measures of success are. It’s good practice to sit down with all the invested parties at the start of campaign planning to discuss and agree how success will be measured and realistically what the goals should be. Whether that’s building mental availability and brand health for longer-term growth, or driving short-term sales performance, an understanding of the role of each media channel is crucial in delivering the best outcomes - as they all serve different purposes. Once the campaign is live, continuous monitoring of these KPIs allows for real-time adjustments, optimising the campaign's effectiveness as it progresses. This data-driven approach not only enhances the current campaign but also provides valuable insights for future campaigns.”

Most importantly, it's about turning collective knowledge into shared success and setting a new standard for how great work gets done .

Which brands scored at Euro 2024?

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 12:47:33 GMT

Football is more than just a game, it is the most popular sport in the world and the Euros 2024 was no exception. With billions (UEFA.COM, 2024) of fans tuning into every game - whether that be from the pub, the sofa or sat around a tiny flatscreen at Glastonbury (shout out to Louis Tomlinson) - one thing is for sure; England fans were well and truly hooked on this nail-biting magnificent tournament!

For many brands, this is a lightbulb moment, presenting itself as a golden opportunity for them to not only boost brand power but also strengthen their relationships with fans.

We may have missed out on lifting the trophy this year, but let’s take look at some of the brands that scored…

adidas – Hey Jude

First up is the adidas campaign, backed by the renowned Beatles’ song “Hey Jude”. This campaign celebrates the rise of a new generation of footballers, though primarily focuses on England’s 21-year-old midfielder, Jude Bellingham. The ad did however also feature football icons Frank Lampard and David Beckham, eliciting a feeling of legacy, whilst also having a strong emotional resonance across all audiences.

British Heart Foundation - ‘Til I Died’

The British Heart Foundation launched their ‘Til I Died’ campaign, which is a powerful and moving campaign raising awareness of Sudden Cardiac Death and the impact it has on individuals. The ads honoured the lives of 12 young football fans (under 35 years old) who tragically lost their lives to heart disease.

The murals were spread across the UK, and all featured an emotive message “England/Scotland ‘Til I Died”, followed by their story and the statistics surrounding heart disease, encouraging individuals to donate.

This campaign worked well by effectively capturing the attention of by-standers, whilst also stirring empathy, using relatable and real-life stories to humanise the statistics.

Paddy Power – Europe’s Favourite

Last but not least is Paddy Power, who joined up with Danny Dyer, for a Euros campaign that playfully poked fun at some of the stereotypical behaviours that the English are renowned for.

Throughout the campaign, Dyer rallied up the support for the England team, using humour to gently make light of some of Europe’s perspectives on us as a country and the ‘Brits abroad’ behaviour.

For example, a German man takes his seat on a plane filled with football fans still celebrating the 1966 England World Cup glory, as he jokingly claims that he loves the English modesty. Whilst a Spanish waitress comments on the English ability to seamlessly blend in with new cultures as Dyer asks for “Egg and chips por favor please mate”. Overall, this campaign is full of mischievous and comical genius that definitely scored this Euros!

Want to get your brand match-fit and identify future opportunities to score big versus your competition? Give us a call and find out more about how Alchemy can drive standout and growth for your brand through amplifying results from paid media investment.

In the words of the Rolling Stones… all I hear is Doom & Gloom. Show me a bit of sunshine!

Thu, 25 May 2023 09:04:28 GMT

Winter is bleak enough, without a looming recession, high inflation and now the threat of food rationing. As consumers feel the pinch and businesses face soaring costs, a lot of brands are questioning how they can best connect with consumers at this time.

ITV’s recent ‘Race to the Top’ webinar highlighted that despite the pressures, people are still spending, but assessing value in different ways. The ITV study found that whilst price is important, quality came a very close second as a factor of choice. Consumers were also more likely to purchase when brands communicated why prices needed to go up and didn’t mind paying for something if it made them feel good. This emotional hook could be rooted in the social or sustainable benefits from buying a brand, or simply by offering those everyday magic moments; like a home interiors advertiser suggesting little home lifts, or an indulgent me-time snack.

TGI’s Global Quick View 2023 study shows that if UK adults had to reduce spending due to the cost-of-living crisis, they would prioritise holidays and going out to eat and drink. Consumers don’t want bleakness right now, they want uplifting experiences that enrich their lives. So, before brands turn to price discounting as a value incentive, perhaps they should consider their customers’ needs and how value may be added in other ways. Then communicate that in an entertaining but empathetic way.

Karen Light

Sources: Race To The Top: How brands should respond to the cost of living crisis (itvmedia.co.uk)

GB TGI December 2022-© Kantar - “If you have to reduce your spending due to the cost-of-living crisis, which of the following would you prioritise spending your money on?” (top choices in Britain, by % adults): 29% Holiday/Short Break, 27% Going out to eat or drink

System1 Group – Innovating in a Recession Jan 2023

Can media measurement evolve to truly capture cross-media reach in a fair and equitable way?

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 16:20:19 GMT

Current and future leaders in media came together last week to debate and challenge the status quo at the Future of Media conference.

For me, one of the really interesting debates focused on media measurement - an area of significant & constant change. Media agencies and advertisers have been puzzling for some time on a unified approach to cross-device and cross-media measurement. As media planners, we want a tool that enables us to understand net campaign reach and frequency, in particular the ability to unite traditional TV with the plethora of digital channels that now exist. If only there was a simple solution to this!

ISBA, in conjunction with Kantar and Accenture, are now onto the third phase of Origin, the cross-media measurement initiative. This aims to bring uniformity to the way we measure media, particularly broadcaster TV and digital display and video. However, whilst the project has received backing from over 40 organisations (including big advertiser brands, media agency groups and the likes of Google, Meta and TikTok), the UK’s biggest commercial broadcasters, ITV, SKY and Channel 4 are absent from the mix. Why is this?

The major commercial broadcasters have expressed concerns about how measurement of TV ad audiences can be compared in a fair manner with video views on digital platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. It’s certainly a complex picture. Almost every platform has a range of different metrics. For example, some platforms count a video view as three seconds, others count a view as soon as users open a video. Some platforms play videos with sound-off. Some videos will be viewed on mobile, others on a big screen. Some views are counted despite only having 50% ad viewability. With so many different standards, a view on one platform isn’t necessarily as valuable as a view on another one. It’s easy to understand why the TV companies have concerns. TV audiences have been measured independently by BARB since 1981, whereas tech platforms’ have lacked the impartiality of third-party measurement.

But are TV broadcasters right to be opting out of Origin?

In the Broadcasters defence, they have been making inroads to improve measurement. C-Flight (the UK’s first unified TV advertising metric that captures the majority of live, on-demand and time-shifted commercial impacts and impressions across all viewing platforms) is providing valuable data on combined linear and broadcaster VOD viewing – albeit post campaign. But it doesn’t really go far enough to answer the full question. We need to understand how broadcaster TV compares with YouTube, Facebook and other network video and CTV channels.

So how do we evaluate the value of an advertising impact on TV versus Digital fairly?

There are three key areas that feed into this: Audience, Attention and Attribution.

We not only need to understand who is present and actively watching, but what their level of attention or engagement is. The ability to delve deeper and to connect more data is important, if we want to link viewing data to attitudes and consumer behaviour and be able to understand the context of impacts served. There is a need to dedupe devices, especially as we connect more data in future, including gaming, podcasts, CTV etc.

Attention is currently being heralded as a proxy for quality in terms of ad views – and we know from Lumen research and other studies that there is a strong correlation between attention and awareness. But if low attention is less valuable, then by how much? Some studies suggest that low attention can still be highly effective from consumers absorbing messages in a more passive, subliminal way. There is still an inherent value to those opportunities. What about other effectiveness factors that we know are also at play - trust, emotion and creative standards for example?

So what’s the answer?

There is no denying that the industry is facing a massive measurement challenge and there is no simple unified solution at present. In fact, we need to be wary about simply layering up multiple data points and condensing them into a single metric. The solution is not to reduce everything to the lowest common denominator. As media planners, we need to consider the different metrics and continue to make informed decisions about the value of opportunities.

Until Origin becomes available in 2024, BARB TV data will remain invaluable, particularly as Netflix and Disney+ have just signed up. Through Lumen, we can now calculate an ‘attentive cost per seconds viewed’ across TV and digital channels. It’s not perfect, but it does offer some levelling of the playing field to assess the effectiveness of broadcaster TV versus digital platforms.

The only way we can truly understand the relative value of one channel or type of impact versus another is through testing. There needs to be real consensus around what campaign success looks like and more time spent defining KPIs and outcome targets and using attribution techniques to understand response. This is particularly important when we want to understand not only the short-term impact of media, but the effect it has on long-term brand health drivers. This is where brand research and econometrics can help us evaluate the bigger picture and help us navigate this increasingly complex AV media landscape.

All we hear is radio ga ga

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 13:57:40 GMT

Radio is a brilliantly effective media type but can often be undervalued and can admittedly be difficult to measure. So, radio, what’s new? Let’s take a look…

Anyone who knows me, is well aware that I love a bit of audio advertising having worked for many years at a radio station group and headed up radio planning at a large network agency. It’s not right for every brief (but what is?) and it’s a specialist skill to write a great script for radio (we know some ace people who can help out in that area). Nine times out of ten though, radio can deliver cost effective reach volume against many key audiences, contributing to both short and longer term impact on sales and brand health measures.

So why do many advertisers shy away from it? Like a lot of brand advertising activity, the bottom line is that it can be hard attribute and measure direct impact. This is never music to the ears of the finance department – nor helpful when you’re the marketing lead keen to seek budget approval.

Growing numbers of people are tuning in to commercial radio

Radio in the UK is having it’s finest hour - now reaching its highest ever total audience. The most recent Rajar figures revealed that commercial radio has overtaken BBC radio channels on share of listening for the first time in 23 years! The UK total radio weekly audience now stands at 49 million people, with a whopping 88% of the population tuning in. Within that, commercial radio now reaches 36.3 million. In contrast, the BBC’s total audience has declined from 34.9 million in Q4 2015 to 33 million in the latest figures. Great news for advertisers – the opportunity to reach high volumes of consumers via radio advertising is on the up!

Couple this with the increased adoption of digital audio and the popularity of podcasts growing all the time, radio & audio platforms offer a prime opportunity for advertisers to take advantage of. We know it works; the largest advertising brands have invested heavily and consistently in radio over many years, often combining it with other media to gain that holistic multi-touchpoint effect. For me, the confidence in using radio comes from embracing both soft and hard metrics. There has to be a blend between the hard metric of “we spent this and got this back” with softer brand health metrics which you take time to build and to measure impact.

RadioCentre have some amazing supporting studies for radio advertising. One demonstrates that digital activity, whilst measurable, has significant weaknesses in areas where radio excels, including increasing brand salience and maximising campaign reach.

More importantly; radio sits above all media except TV in increasing profit ROI

and in triggering a positive emotional response - key in building those long-term memory structures for brands which are so important for improving & maintaining brand health funnel metrics.

Their study released last month called Big Audio Datamine proves the 5 key points that;

· Radio helps create future demand

· Radio helps convert existing demand

· Radio helps increase efficiency of media plans

· The best-performing campaigns place an emphasis on creative consistency

· Campaigns that focus on building higher weekly reach deliver stronger effects

So how can we measure radio beyond the usual reach and frequency? We suggest easy wins like using control regions, GA analysis looking at increases in brand search terms for example, web traffic increases over time, pre and post brand health studies and including digital audio for some clickable measurement. While they won’t give you the trackability of digital media; radio will give you emotion and attention, both of which are more valuable in the longer term when it comes to making an impact on your bottom line.

So radio, it’s true, this media planner still loves you.

Is it too soon to talk about Christmas?

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 13:52:47 GMT

It’s widely quoted that quarter 4 of 2022 will be a bit of an anomaly in the TV market, and potentially other media markets too. Not only do we have the usual noisy build up to Christmas bringing with it heavily demanded autumn airtime, but we also have a World Cup to deal with running from 21 November – 18 December this year, which gives many a media planner the need for a headache tablet and a lie down. Combine the two and we end up with a lot of clutter and some potentially very expensive costs for advertisers.

As early as last November, Thinkbox, commercial TV's marketing body, urged brands to start planning their TV campaigns as soon as possible for this period, and for some brands who rely on Christmas to bring in a large proportion of their annual revenue, the choices are difficult ones. For us two initial questions come to mind. Do you absolutely have to be in the market at this time of year and is the World Cup an environment you need to be around?

We’ve been talking to a forward-thinking B2B client of ours about using airtime in cheaper months like August & January then using TV sponsorship instead of airtime from September to December. Sponsorship is not subject to the volatility of the tv airtime supply and demand model and provides a relevant environment reaching the audiences you need to talk to.

Depending on your objectives you could consider switching out from linear TV completely or even just use an upweight in BVOD which is a fixed cost per ‘000, maybe alongside other media – although some of these will also see very heavy demand. Out of Home for example is selling out weeks if not months ahead. Christmas editions of much-loved monthly magazines fill up quickly as brands fight to feature amongst festive content.

As an agency, Alchemy specialises in working with challenger brands. Brands who want to make a comparatively modest media spend shout as loud as possible versus some competitors who dominate with massive budgets and blanket coverage. It’s the work we’re most proud of - when David defeats Goliath because we’ve used a clever, well researched, distinctive media strategy.

So, getting back to Christmas. Whilst it might seem a million miles away, especially as we all bask in the summer heat, in all honesty it’s not too early to be talking about it. If you’re keen to be active in the Autumn and the lead up to the big event (s) you really do need to be giving it serious thought right now!

Now where’s that tinsel???

Is age just a number...

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 13:52:47 GMT

I saw a stat this week which showed that in seven years the age profile of Facebook has radically changed taking over 65s from a 6% minority to the largest single demographic cohort in 2021 at nearly 20%. In fact, the change within the older audiences in the main digital platforms shows high percentage increases throughout as the early adopters potentially move on and leave them to “mainstream” use.

So with the fast pace that our media behaviours are changing, can we still use age groups to paint a picture of our audiences habits and media consumption? As with most things, the answer is not clear cut and I think we can to an extent but there are some elements embedded in our brains which we first need to overcome.

Assumption is the lowest form of knowledge

Kantar’s latest report ‘Beyond Age’ offers a new perspective on the understanding of age profiling in making your marketing more effective. A important chart in this report is the “Arc of Life” which shows age versus key life events such as moving home, getting married or having children. Milestones like these have always been crucial indicators for advertisers in sectors like home improvements and child related products to really understand when someone is most likely to engage with their brand. Society ‘norms’ are shifting so for example the average age to buy a house is 27 as is the birth of a first child. Marriage tends to come later at 34 and retirement is now standing at 67-68 which could be different to what you might assume. So assumptions are something we very much have to avoid in our media planning. What’s more, the importance of conducting in-depth research up front is becoming more and more vital as consumers are faced with ever-increasing ways in which media is delivered to them.

So what is age good for?

Age can still be a good predictor of attitudinal differences. For example, Kantar shows that people become more risk averse over time, and naturally prioritise fashion and career ambitions when they’re younger. The importance of what others think of them shows a significant decrease as people get older. This could be a positive depending on the impact this has on their attitude towards brands and how this affects their propensity to absorb and engage with them.

In some cases, over a range of attitudes, the results are very flat signalling that age is a poor differentiator. For example, the statements “How I spend my time is more important than the money I make” and “It is important to have a lasting relationship with one partner” do not change with age. It seems some beliefs remain embedded as part of who you are as opposed to how old you are.

What does mean for media consumption?

Taking those classed as Generation X (born 1965 – 1980) as an example, we discover significant diversity in the way they consume media demonstrating why they should not be approached as a single group.

‘Senior Sole Decision Makers’, for example, spend the most time with media and are the top segment for both live TV and internet use - at least two hours more per day than ‘Playschool Parents’ and ‘Empty Nesters’.

‘Senior Sole Decision Makers’ are also 81% more likely to be among the heaviest fifth of live TV viewers, while ‘Playschool Parents’ - tied up with childcare - watch the least live TV. And yet both ‘Playschool Parents’ and ‘Empty Nesters’ are above average readers of newspapers, relative to the average Gen X-er.

We can therefore see that life circumstances can and will have a significant bearing on category, product, and brand choice – even within a defined age group. Marketers seeking to optimise their campaigns will be well served by looking beyond age to better understand the range of factors that influence the choices of their potential customers. Effective marketing has always been about reaching the right people, at the right time, with the right message – it’s just become increasingly more complex for us to navigate through the plethora of ways to achieve this compared to when I first started media planning back in the day!

Digital OOH boosts ROI and improves lower funnel brand metrics

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 13:52:47 GMT

Growth for Out of Home post-pandemic is being driven by investment into digital sites.

In fact, in 2022, digital sites account for 36% of all transport formats and 23% of all roadside and it is increasing by the day.

In comparison to static formats, DOOH allows for targeted reach and optimisation against relevant moments with relevant content which is driving better results for clients. Static OOH still has an important role of course; it’s unwise to assume that the limited inventory available on digital panels can compete with the high reach offered by the addition of static sites. A bit like linear TV and BVO … the trick is to achieve a balance designed to maximise the key campaign metrics.

There’s plenty of evidence to support how including OOH in campaign plans, and DOOH in particular, works well with other media types to achieve key KPI’s – also remember just because it has the word “digital” in it doesn’t mean it naturally will align with the same strategy as your social and PPC. Digital OOH should be seen as part of an holistic OOH campaign, and work alongside the most complimentary media types for the job.

MESH research has revealed the impact of combining media channels to improve brand consideration. The results show that combining Out of Home with TV delivers the strongest increase in brand consideration, achieving a 43% uplift.

OOH can also drive uplifts in online actions. A recent Posterscope study found that consumers who see Out Of Home advertising (in any format) are 63% more likely to take brand action online. This was from analysis of more than 50 OOH campaigns over the last 5 years.

For me, the excitement of DOOH is the innovation and sheer eye-catchability (that’s definitely a word…) it can bring to a campaign. Not just the really innovative stuff like the 3D Deep Screen format which is amazing, but the stand-out capability of things like InLink or digital kiosks formats in your local high street.

Finally, and to get back to the headline point specifically about digital OOH driving ROI, a study by OnDevice Research, showed that DOOH is shown to drive 4.4% more purchase intent vs a solus standard OOH campaign – combine that with the reach achievable with static OOH and you’ve got yourself a winner.