17.11.2022 – 08:01

Service text: These factors are the boosters for more advertising impact at airports

Dos and Don'ts of Airport Advertising

Attracting more attention: these factors are the boosters for more advertising impact at airports

Colourful designer dresses, a catchy slogan from Sixt, longing landscapes of Morocco: (D)OOH in the marketing mix has always ensured attention, reach and brand trust. At the airport even more. Because here, leisure time, internationality and household income of the audience are unique for a (D)OOH environment. Here, attention can be guided and directed particularly effectively. So, it's no wonder that compared to classic media, 66 percent of respondents to the Fraport Monitor 2019 perceive airport advertising as more exclusive and 57 percent as more eye-catching.

Media Frankfurt, the largest marketer of advertising space at German airports, has determined how to get the best out of your campaign at the airport with its Digital Airport Walk (more on this below). Here is an overview of the most important success factors:

The Dos of Airport Advertising

Strong branding Strong branding that is visible from the first to the last second, large and optimally placed against a bright background, immediately creates more brand awareness among consumers. A survey from the luxury industry has shown: Through consistent and striking presentation of the brand in the spot, the top-of-mind awareness increases by 550 percent.
Attract attention Moving images are the winner, especially if the digital screens are as large as those at the airport and even allow 3D formats. Moving images and motifs with a special eye-catching quality, with a high emotional factor and with unusual colours in the background attract the audience's interest more effectively in an environment with many competing influences. These factors, for example in luxury advertising, increase the attention for the advertising medium by up to a quarter. A change of scenery will keep the audience glued to your story. If you also end the spot with an image, you can be sure that you are setting an (attention-)grabbing final point.
Increase recognition value Work with intense colours and show (attractive) people who seem spontaneously likeable and/or interesting and with whom one would like to identify. This makes the advertising message more personal and more powerful.
Use the entire creative range Creatives with an unusual story and aesthetically outstanding artwork pay directly into the brand appeal. Performance increases up to one third are possible. Promotions, guerrilla campaigns and surprising installations also make your brand "the talk of the town".
Competence creates customer confidence With a self-confident appearance and a concise message, your brand shows presence and competence – especially within the financial sector. This not only increases the likelihood of your brand being used, but also strengthens customer confidence.
Arouse curiosity A plus for sales: database comparisons show that advertising at the airport generally arouses interest: At Frankfurt Airport it is 33 percent – whereas advertising in print and TV only gets 28 percent, regular city OOH advertising even only 26 percent (MediaAnalyzer database). A clear focus on the product and a perfect staging of the product are essential guarantees of success for luxury brands. They allow up to 50 percent more product interest. After all, the next shopping opportunity at the airport is always just a few steps away.

The Don'ts of Airport Advertising

Dark images A strong contrast is good, but in general consumers tend to pay more attention to bright images and moving pictures.
Too much text/too few images If customers have to read too much text, their interest will wane very quickly. This is especially true if the ad consists only of text. In this case, it is a good idea to provide exciting stimuli with strong motifs or emotional moving images.
Messages that are difficult to decipher Your message should always be clear and easy to understand. Complicated associations run the risk of not being understood by individuals or even a large number of passengers.
Not highlighting the brand enough Clear, competent and dominant branding counts in a stimulating OOH environment. Your brand should always be in the foreground with maximum presence to remain distinctive.

Advertising at the airport always offers a higher emotional involvement. The building itself impresses with its architecture, size and outstanding advertising media. The desire to travel is everywhere: at every conveyor belt, in every shop and at the check-in. In addition, passengers remain in the airport environment for 172 minutes, where they are reached in a targeted and guaranteed manner along the customer journey with a combination of diverse measures. Ideal for creative storytelling.

About the Digital Airport Walk

With this method, passengers are digitally surveyed on how they perceive advertising at the airport. The results of a control group are the basis against which the effect on the brand is compared, for example in terms of brand awareness, image and willingness to buy. Direct advertising impact parameters such as aided and unaided recall as well as advertising impression are also recorded. With so-called attention tracking, the attention performance of the campaign can be tracked on the basis of individual elements. In this way, informative heat maps or eye-tracking curves can be derived, from which concrete optimisation tips for each campaign can be deduced, as well as many general learnings for the optimal design of airport advertising in the respective industry.

See campaign examples on the YouTube channel of Media Frankfurt

About Media Frankfurt

Media Frankfurt GmbH is the exclusive marketer of advertising space at Frankfurt Airport. Founded in 1971, the Fraport subsidiary has developed into Germany's market leader and number one advertising platform in the aviation sector. Through the participation of JCDecaux - marketer of over 200 airports worldwide - Media Frankfurt is the innovation hub for Digital Out of Home. More than 2,000 advertising media inside and outside the terminals reach almost 70 million mainly international passengers every year at Europe's third largest hub. Whether analogue, digital, POS and promotion or mobile - Media Frankfurt's omnichannel portfolio enables effective brand staging and cross-media, highly networked campaign management along the customer journey. Further information is available at www.media-frankfurt.de.

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