How airport advertising can benefit your brand? What advantages do airports have as an advertising environment?
With the resumption of travels and lifting most of COVID-19 restrictions, advertisers also got back one more opportunity with an impressive potential – airport advertising.
Did you know?
9.6 million in 2023 from an estimated 2.5 million – tourist arrivals to Malaysia are projected to jump four-fold to a year ago on the back of the reopening of international borders.
Let’s discover the compelling reasons why airport advertising is a highly effective method to promote brands and gain the insights you need to make an informed decision about incorporating it into your overall marketing mix.
1. Greater Emotional Impact
Travellers are a unique audience with an excited and receptive mindset, as travel itself sparks positivity and excitement. Airports provide an excellent opportunity for brands to connect with this subset of audience, as travellers are particularly attentive to messaging in this environment compared to other channels in their everyday lives. Moreover, the multi-sensory environment in airports, including visual, sound, and scent stimuli, adds to the challenge of navigating through unfamiliar surroundings, making it an optimal setting for brands to deliver bold and impactful messages.
KLIATV stands out as a prime example, operating over 500 HD LED screens in 6 major Malaysia International airport locations. The screens offer the chance to showcase creative content in a visually impactful way. Brands can tailor messages to specific areas of the airport based on travellers’ journeys, leveraging their behaviour in each micro-environment. For example, capitalising on long waiting lines at check-in counters, creating a relaxing atmosphere in VIP rooms, and entertaining travellers in waiting lounges.
2. Increased Reach and Perceived Brand Value
In 2022, Malaysia Airports recorded a total of 52.7 million passengers across its local network of airports, with 16.5 million of them being international travellers who visited major destinations in the APAC region. Given these high passenger numbers, airport advertising presents a highly effective media platform for businesses looking to reach frequent flyers, tourists, and business travellers. Through airport advertising, businesses can increase their brand awareness and drive sales to both local and national audiences.
Besides just being a place with a high concentration of people, the airport environment itself also matters. People often associate airports with prosperous lifestyles and therefore the brands that advertise in this environment gain an aura of prestige and premium quality. Advertising at airports can give brands a perception of trust and prestige with 71% of luxury travelers expected to see high-end brands advertised at airports.
3. 24/7 Messaging to Captive Audience
Waiting is a key element of the airport experience; most airports recommend arriving at least an hour and a half to two hours before an international flight and 30 minutes to an hour before domestic flights, depending on the airport’s size. While waiting, travellers spend an average of 90 minutes in airport terminal areas and around 98 minutes browsing through F&B, Retail & Duty-Free stores.
As a result, airport dwellers are more likely to engage with the advertisements around them to pass time. This captive audience, combined with the fact that airport advertising cannot be skipped, fast-forwarded or muted like digital media, makes it an excellent opportunity for brands to showcase their products and services. Therefore, airport advertising is a highly effective way for brands to reach their target audience and create a lasting impression.
4. High Concentration of Affluent Customers and Business People
Travellers are typically divided into three categories: affluent travellers, vacation mode travellers, and business mode travellers.
- Affluent travellers: Travels regularly and are typically on the higher end of the economic spectrum, are more likely to spend money on products advertised to them in the airport
- Vacation mode travellers: Save up money for vacations and are comfortable with spending money on products during their trip
- Business mode travellers: Are focused on making deals, discovering new ideas, and exploring new territory, making them open and receptive to new products.
Each type of traveller presents a unique opportunity for media buyers to tailor their campaigns according to their target audience, whether it’s the traveller seeking an amazing vacation or the businessman who takes the same early morning flight every month, through highly specific targeting placement on:
- Waiting terminals, check-in counters, cafes, baggage carousels: targeting affluent and vacation travellers
- VIP rooms lounges & satellite tower: targeting business travellers
5. Cost-Effective Advertising
According to a recent study, airport advertising as a type of Out-Of-Home (OOH) marketing campaign has led to a monthly revenue increase of over 50% on average, with 96% of US marketers reporting satisfaction with their ROI. Compared to TV/radio ads, airports provide higher returns on investment, particularly during peak seasons such as festivals, holidays, and marriages, due to their always-on, 24/7 messaging.
While the cost of airport advertising varies depending on the airport’s traffic, it can be more cost-effective to advertise in smaller airports if the target audience is there. Take in KLIATV for example, with a presence of over 516 HD screens across six major airports, allowing brands to select optimal locations and times for displaying their videos. These videos can range from 15 to 60 seconds and be broadcasted within a 24/7 schedule & changed weekly, providing a highly targeted and cost-effective means of communication to the right audience in the most suitable location, time, and place within the airport.
Speak to an expert on how you can best combine your advertising locations
6. Advanced Advertising Flexibility
This wasn’t the advantage of airport advertising till recently until communication became dominated with digital mediums. It is now possible to change an image or video within seconds via online reservation technology, optimising budget and reaching target audience like never before.
This latest technology which is following the innovation in advertising in general (switch to programmatic buying), is set to be available by KLIATV by the end of 2023 and will offer accessibility of information such as spaces, pricing, and timing. Moreover, the information on user engagement, audience demographics, and performance metrics which is gathered through cameras installed on TV screens, enables advertisers to gain insights into users’ gender, age, ethnicity, and other attributes. That lets advertisers optimise their campaigns and target their messaging to the right audience with greater precision. Whether targeting a specific airport location or creating a campaign with messaging opportunities across multiple sites within the airport, the flexibility of airport advertising through KLIATV allows for tailored approaches lasting from one week onwards, depending on the specific needs of the advertiser.
Conclusion
In recent years, airports have become a highly impactful environment for advertising, offering the latest in digital mediums to connect with affluent business audiences and decision-makers through highly targeted airport ads. For companies with smaller campaigns, the ability to design messaging within precise locations and the customer journey at smaller airports is also available. Regardless of the approach, KLIATV’s latest digital solutions can help reach target audiences across key airports in Malaysia.
