When it comes to grabbing attention and inspiring a day out, few advertising mediums can beat Out of Home. We’ve all experienced spotting a giant billboard from the motorway and thinking ‘I must pop in there’ – or else experienced our children doing the spotting and persuading for us.

Indeed, this ability to simultaneously target parents and children is one of the big draws of Out of Home advertising for leisure and entertainment organisations. If your goal is to encourage a family to choose your attraction for a weekend or holiday trip, then Out of Home advertising can combine highly targeted audience filtering with exciting creativity – the perfect blend of precision and fun.

What’s more, recent years have seen an increased drive towards ‘staycations’, with thrifty families looking to avoid the expense and hassle of holidays abroad and make use of the fantastic attractions and events on offer closer to home.

So it’s hardly surprising that when we begin discussions with a media buying department or agency for a new leisure and entertainment client, the question is rarely ‘shall we do Out of Home?’ but rather ‘how can we do Out of Home well?’

Brand awareness vs. calls to action

Broadly there are two main types of Out of Home campaign – those that are focused on general brand awareness, and those with a very specific call to action. For leisure and entertainment businesses, which are promoting either an attraction or a particular event, a clear call to action is an absolute must.

However, a call to action-led approach doesn’t need to be bland or boring. One of our major leisure and entertainment clients, Twycross Zoo, themes its Out of Home adverts around specific animals, encouraging families to come and visit the monkeys during a recent advertising period, for example. Thanks to digital billboard technology, the monkeys move and swing across the screen as viewers move past – the perfect piece of creative advertising to excite and intrigue children.

Children and their parents

Indeed, attracting children as well as their parents is a key goal of any family-oriented leisure attraction, and this is where the sophisticated targeting of an Out of Home campaign can really come into its own.

Outdoor advertising can be precisely targeted on both time and location to maximise views by children – with adults in tow for swift decision-making! Targeting on time might mean looking at specific date ranges (the run-up to and during school holidays) but can also mean tailoring an advert to the time of day (digital billboards that hit just when the school day is finishing).

Shared interests

UK Athletics, for example, has less of a focus on families – but its ideal audience is just as precise, with a healthy outlook and an interest in sports and fitness. Little surprise, then, that they’ve seen great results from outdoor advertising positioned outside gyms and leisurewear shops.

Making things measurable

Measurability for leisure and entertainment organisations always comes down to footfall. It can be difficult to precisely link a visitor to an outdoor advert – but it can be done through mechanisms like bespoke calls to action and discount codes – or simply closely tracking visitor numbers with and without an outdoor campaign in place.

Your attraction – their attraction

Whether a family day out or a special date for two, leisure and entertainment attractions may be a substantial commitment in terms of time and/or money. As such, visiting one is rarely an entirely spontaneous decision; rather, the person, couple or family in question knows they want to go somewhere…the question is, where?

With a highly targeted and impactful Out of Home advertising campaign, you can reach the right audiences, in the right place, at the right time – and ensure that your attraction moves to the very top of their list.

Tips

  • Family attraction? Think about how you can target parents and children simultaneously. Advertising locations near schools and timed around school calendars can be immensely powerful.
  • Plan ahead. Whether you have your own schedule of events or closely follow the school holidays , it’s essential to map out your year early and ensure that your outdoor advertising complements your calendar.
  • Another key part of planning relates to location – just as you can’t move your physical location, nor can the best advertising sites. You may have to book key billboards a year or more in advance – so don’t miss out.
  • Count visitor numbers precisely, and make year-on-year comparisons so you can explore the impact of different campaigns.

 

By Louise Houghton, business development manager, Clear Channel Direct

PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.

comments powered by Disqus