Measuring Post-COVID Revitalization Using DOOH Traffic

How can we best predict the timing of a post-COVID recovery? One metric in particular may hold the key. A recent study by mfour and VistarMedia examining Digital Out of Home (DOOH) traffic (as defined by the number of unique devices observed surrounding DOOH venues) reveal an increase in consumer confidence and activity as we enter the post COVID era.

The Study Reveals a Return to ‘Normal’

From every indication, consumers are ready to resume their lives and are becoming more comfortable going to places they had stopped visiting during COVID. While this varies by market, the overall indicators show greater traffic and visitation to once shunned venues and businesses.

Consumers are getting out and about. Comparing March 2020 to March 2021, foot fall traffic is significantly up with +70% growth year to year. Notably, this is even greater traffic than pre-pandemic levels, demonstrating a great pent up demand by consumers to return to and even exceed pre-COVID activity and spending levels.

“Three quarters of Americans admitted spending too much time online this past year, according to a Harris Poll and OAAA survey. Digital fatigue is real and people are tired of staring at their screens,” said Michael Rosen, chief revenue officer with Intersection. “As vaccinations increase and newly issued guidelines are welcomed with warmer weather, a newfound appreciation for being outside will arise. This is where the inherent advantages of OOH vastly outweigh other advertising mediums, especially for those whose ads can be skipped.”

Consumers Are Returning to Activities

Activity is surging at recreational locations, gas stations, billboards, grocery and liquor stores, malls, bars, QSR and casual dining and office buildings where people are venturing out, shopping, dining and returning to the office. An encouraging 98% of those surveyed visited a DOOH venue type in the past month, leaving their homes and in view of digital out-of-home screens.

Venues such as gyms, subways, sports entertainment centers and bus shelters are on the verge of rebounding while airports, hotels, train stations, salons and educational centers will take a little longer to return to normal. But consumer optimism is high for even these categories. When asked, consumers say that they intend to visit airports after the pandemic (increasing +98% from November to April), transit stations (+82%) and taxis (+81%).

Consumers Are On the Move

After months of sheltering in place, consumers indicate that they are ready to travel. The majority of them are walking and driving more or the same amount as they were at this time last year (85% and 80% respectively). And while public transportation is down, about half of consumers are still using it as much as, if not more, than they were last year (52% and 51% respectively).

“Bus exteriors in particular have been able to connect brands with local audiences throughout the pandemic,” said Rosen. “With expansive transportation networks ranging from city centers to residential neighborhoods and highways in between, buses can be turned into massive media networks that reach enormous audiences - in some cases up to 98% of a metro area population - that other forms of local media just can’t. And as transit ridership continues to increase by the week, there’s a real opportunity for brands to capitalize on the attention of target audiences, both above and below ground, before inventory, especially big station dominations and street furniture takeovers, begin selling out as brands shift OOH strategies.”

For brands, this means that they can effectively get their message out by using urban panels, billboards, taxi tops, gas stations and other place-based and point-of-purchase inventory that capitalize on these transportation patterns. Focusing on context and place captures consumer attention, awareness and retention with a population starved for entertainment and experiences.

Consumers are Spending More

An indication of economic resurgence is when consumers feel comfortable spending again. According to mfour, almost 75% of those polled indicated that they are spending more or the same as they did last year at this time on both essentials and non-essentials. This includes Groceries (+86%), Gas (+71%), Restaurants/Dining Out (+64%), Clothing and Accessories (+57%) and Personal Care and Beauty (+52%). There is also increased spending on Entertainment (+40%), Over-the-Counter Medications (+37%) and Home Improvement Products (+36%).

Reaching Consumers Today

Being in the right place at the right time is important for brands. The study revealed that 98% of consumers have visited at least one DOOH venue in the past month with 84% recalled seeing a digital OOH ad. Advertisers can leverage this by using DOOH screens in bars, restaurants (casual dining and QSR), malls, convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores and more to reach consumers on the path to purchase.

And people are ready to resume normalcy by traveling, visiting stores and going to an office. The study found that +43% are not hesitant to resume any of their normal routines (up from 35% in January). Only 5% indicate that they are hesitant to return to all of their normal routines.

Starved for stimuli outside the home, consumers say that they have a very positive attitude towards DOOH advertising. A majority (+61%) feels that it is appropriate for brands to be advertising on indoor and/or outdoor screens during COVID-19. In fact, sentiment was higher for DOOH among consumers than for other forms of advertising.

When comparing DOOH to non-DOOH ads side by side, DOOH ads ranked higher in preference, environment and relate-ability. And 58% of consumers say out-of-home ads are the most trustworthy compared to TV (55%), Mobile (43%, Social (39% and Desktop (34%). For brands, all of this positivity this means that they can capitalize on this effective association to deliver their messages.

Next Steps for Brands

mfour advises that advertisers craft their message to the moment of consumer contact by enhancing moments of relief and helping consumers return to normalcy with a message of positivity and hope.

 

This article first appeared in www.MediaVillage.com

 

Measuring the Impact of a Covid Vaccine Campaign. An Interview with Brennan Lake, Senior Director of Research Partnerships & Data for Good at Cuebiq

How effective is the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative Vaccine Education Initiative? Cuebiq, a company that measures mobility will find out. Cuebiq and the Ad Council are partnering to ascertain how effective the ‘It’s Up To You’ campaigns are. They were created to educate Americans about the COVID-19 vaccines. 

Using foot fall and other traffic data, Cuebiq will measure the effectiveness of the campaigns in driving exposed audiences to vaccination centers. Metrics will include visit lift, the change in percentage of visitation to vaccine centers between those exposed to PSAs versus an unexposed control group, and incrementality, which represents incremental visits to frequently visited locations (such as pharmacies) above and beyond normal behavior. Results are expected by the summer. Brennan Lake, Senior Director of Research Partnerships & Data for Good, offered further details:

Charlene Weisler: Has Cuebiq done this type of research before?

Brennan Lake: Measuring the effectiveness of media campaigns in driving visits to brick and mortar locations is at the core of Cuebiq's commercial business. Alongside this, we've done extensive pro bono work through our Data for Good program in using privacy-preserving mobility data for analyzing behavior change throughout the pandemic. Therefore, it was a natural move for us to combine our work in COVID-19 research with our advertising technology to assist the Ad Council in measuring the effectiveness of their vaccine information campaign.

Weisler: What is the methodology for this study?

Lake: We utilize our sample of first-party mobility data, consisting of over 20 million anonymous and opted-in daily active users, in order to measure visitation trends to public vaccination centers, such as pharmacies and vaccine mega sites. Specifically, we created privacy-preserving segments of users who have been exposed to the Ad Council's PSAs, and compare their visitation behaviors to an unexposed control group that is demographically similar, in order to measure the visit "Uplift" resulting from campaign exposure.

We also use machine learning to compare 'normal' visitation patterns to current behavior in order to draw a causal link between exposure to a PSA and visits to vaccination centers - a metric known as "Incrementality".

Weisler: What are the challenges that you see?

Lake: As with any other campaign, we want to make sure that we can effectively verify real visits to the points of interest, differentiating them from the noise of 'passersby' within the mobility data. When attempting to infer something such as vaccination from visits data, this adds a layer of complexity, especially for multi-purpose venues such as pharmacies, where even if we can confidently point to visits, it may be the result of segments engaging in regular shopping activities rather than to get a COVID-19 shot.

In addition to applying campaign parameters - such as only looking at visitors who dwell at a location between 15 minutes and 1 hour - we can also use causal machine learning to distinguish between normal shopping behavior and true incremental visits that can be attributed to a campaign. For example, if I typically visit a pharmacy 4 times a month, but after being exposed to a campaign I make 5 or 6 visits, our neural network can pick up on these discrete changes over time, along with data from a control group, in order to reveal incremental visitation behavior.

Weisler: What is the main purpose of the study?

Lake: The main purpose of this study is to support the Ad Council in evaluating the effectiveness of their campaign in driving positive public health outcomes. While the main call to action of the Ad Council's "It's Up To You" campaign is to learn more about the COVID-19 vaccine so that you can make an informed choice to vaccinate, we also hope to see an increased vaccine uptake, especially among cautious, hesitant and skeptical segments.

Weisler: What do you hope to find?

Lake: Ultimately we hope to see a campaign that is successful in providing vital information to the general public, while also driving positive health outcomes through an increase in COVID-19 vaccine uptake. By better understanding which aspects of the campaign - such as content, creative, channel, geographic focus - are most effective at driving visits to vaccination centers, decision makers can better double down on what works, to get people the information they need to make an informed decision to get vaccinated, in order to protect them and their loved ones.

This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com