Who hasn’t spotted advertising outside or inside public vehicles like buses, trains, metros, taxis, and transit stations? Known as transit advertising, this type of out-of-home (OOH) advertising is a great way to lure the consumer. Till now, the OOH medium has relied chiefly on static billboard advertising. But now, it has flourished in the past and become a mature market. On the other hand, digital innovation has occurred, and static billboards are being replaced by LED billboards, which are still relatively new and developing. Because billboards do not provide total market coverage or even reach multiple locations, transit advertising surely delivers better results than static billboards.
As per study of Madison Adex, the OOH market was operating at 77% of the pre-COVID-19 level of spends for the period January to September 2021. Data, rates and measurability are three factors which will spur the spending of outdoors as more and more touchpoints start garnering more footfalls.
While the world is embracing transit advertising, transit advertising is at a very nascent stage in India. A common sight in India for high scale transit advertising is mostly limited to wrapping up the entire metro train and buses. It immediately grabs the attention of travelers and helps the brand communicate its message more effectively. In a study conducted by Uber, the citizens of Mumbai spend 11 days of a year in traffic. To put this into perspective, the average commute time of Singapore, Hong Kong, and New York is almost half of that of Mumbai. Population dense city like Mumbai depends on optimizing the mobility between consumers, job goers, goods, and services. The fact that private vehicle ownership is growing faster in India than investment in public transport usage also adds to the potential of Transit Advertising.
Transit ads are high frequency, meaning consumers get significant exposure and traffic. It reaches a broader cross-section of the general population worldwide—of whom many are not online. Most daily commuters, especially office goers, travel on fixed routes. With an average ride on public transport lasting for 30 minutes, the potential is magnanimous. During this commute time, passengers can do nothing except view the advertisements that are around them. This way, the ads get the chance of more prolonged exposure which increases the recall value of the ads. Transit advertising cannot be controlled by the viewer and yet offers the flexibility of ad size and location. With a long shelf life, post-pandemic consumers prefer to spend their time outdoors given their need for revenge shopping, leading to the exponential growth of the transit medium. OOH remains attractive to marketers because it can reach large audiences, usually in high-traffic areas, and deliver unique experiences to on-the-go consumers. The transit ads format also results in high engagement levels.
Technology companies embraced OOH for its broad reach and the ability to combine it with mobile targeting, offering valuable consumer insights. No wonder transit advertising is an excellent way to deliver the right customer experience. All this while capturing efficient data for supporting a good transit network. It is high time that India, just like the world, gets on this profitable marketing bandwagon.