How digital Out of Home can enhance travel and tourism campaigns

It is no surprise the pandemic has had an indelible impact on travel and tourism. Where consumers previously expected a certain degree of flexibility, convenience, and competitive pricing when booking business and leisure trips, they now expect even more. Uncertainty in what restrictions may or may not exist in the future, along with rising inflation and the cost of living, are just some of the many factors that weigh heavily on travellers (1). 

Naturally, businesses have pivoted to meet these new expectations. Savvy brands are ensuring they optimise the booking process for consumers by providing an omnichannel experience with multiple touchpoints. Contactless service, the ability to change plans without additional fees or lengthy phone calls, and clear communication on COVID-19 policies are some of the many changes that have been introduced and well-received by customers. Of course, at the centre of these changes is technology, which has played a key role in alleviating some of the anxieties faced by travellers.

Here at oOh!, we believe Out of Home is not only a driving force behind brand fame and awareness but can impact audiences’ perception of how technologically sophisticated a brand is. This can be achieved through innovative and digitally-driven advertising creative. 

Creative is king

Out of Home is well regarded as a channel for brands to reach audiences considering their next trip. Whether stuck in traffic whilst commuting or doing the weekly grocery shop, Out of Home can reach audiences in moments where they are dreaming of being elsewhere. Brands can capitalise on these moments with contextual relevance, tailoring their creative to match these environments and mindsets. This has been proven to be 19% more effective (2).

However, the environment alone does not get the job done. With 41% of the return on investment in Out of Home proven to be driven by the creative (3), travel and tourism brands need to carefully consider their creative approach. There are many ways to go about this, and one powerful tool in the advertiser’s belt is the use of dynamic digital creative.

Using digital capabilities to empower creative 

Digital Out of Home empowers advertisers with the ability to take their creative approach to the next level. Instead of simply having a single piece of powerful creative, an advertiser can instead leverage dynamic data to inform when a certain creative should be shown or even procedurally generate a bespoke creative that is unique to that place and moment in time.  

This level of customisation will not only improve an ad’s contextual relevance but can also have the added benefit of underscoring a brand as being innovative, forward-thinking and technologically capable. Below are a few examples of how travel and tourism brands can best utilise digital Out of Home and technology to supercharge a campaign. 

Weather triggers can trigger desire

Pacific Coast Tourism have done just that by implementing a Weather Display into their creative.

 

For tourism and travel brands, weather triggers can be a simple but effective way to call attention to one of the levers that informs travel decisions – a desire for an alternative climate. Brands can show different creative when it is raining or cold containing messaging that encourages consumers to escape to somewhere warmer or drier. Alternatively, a savvy advertiser might choose to show the weather conditions or forecast for the advertised location, such as the predicted snowfall on Japan’s slopes.

Counters can drive urgency and fear of missing out

The World Travel Expo event campaign used a countdown to drive consideration for their event.

For travel brands, implementing a counter can be as simple as having a countdown to when a specific holiday period or event might start. This is a strategic way to influence consumers’ brand consideration when they are in the planning and decision-making phase. This can be pushed even further with the ability to connect to a client-supplied API endpoint, for example showing the number of searches on a specific destination or showing the total remaining number of a limited offer.

 

Brand immersion, engagement and earned media

Game of Chance Jetstar’s 17th Birthday Activation.

QR codes offer a simple but effective means for driving instant action, brand engagement and mobile commerce a perfect fit for travel and tourism organisations – QR codes can be used to seize time-limited deals, learn more about a product or service, or simply interact with the brand. As QR codes aren’t restricted to only digital Out of Home, they can also be used to extend the impact of Classic executions. To celebrate their 17th birthday Jetstar ran an immersive campaign in the Rail environment, dominating all screens with fast-disappearing promotional QR codes. The campaign drove brand immersion and engagement, promotion participation, and gained earned media coverage.

Use Digital Out of Home to supercharge your campaign

Get in touch with your oOh! sales representative if you would like to learn more about how you can power up your campaign with creative targeting and dynamic data.

Contributed by Lloyd Prescott, oOh!media Strategic Planning Manager

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Sources:

  1. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/industries/consumer-markets/library/five-travel-trends.html
  2. The Context Effect, 2018
  3.  Analytic Partners, oOh! 4.0 Study 2021, benchmarked to single OOH format