Case Study: Measuring the Effectiveness of Outdoor Advertising

Background

Nigeria is one of the largest advertising markets in Africa, and outdoor advertising through billboards, vehicle signs, and other means is one of the oldest and most visible forms of advertising. In 2018, outdoor advertising accounted for 28% of total media spend in Nigeria, behind only TV advertising. Despite its wide use, the effectiveness of outdoor advertising has always been more difficult to measure than that of TV and radio, which can be measured through viewership statistics, or online ads, which directly track clicks and conversions. The number of people who see an outdoor ad, how they engage with it, and if they take an action because of the ad later are all metrics that are important but difficult to track for outdoor advertising.

With these factors in mind, the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria worked with GeoPoll to assess the effectiveness of outdoor advertising or out of home (OOH). The study focused on key cities within Nigeria, and examined time spent outdoors being exposed to advertising, the most visible forms of outdoor advertising, and what actions are taken after seeing an OOH ad.

Methodology

This study was run by a mobile web link in February 2020, with 1000 respondents located in Lagos, Abuja, and Rivers. Respondents were randomly targeted from the GeoPoll database, a database of mobile subscribers throughout Nigeria.

Results

Out of Home Activities and Advertising Awareness

It was found that walking and public transportation are the most common forms of transportation in all three locations studied. Generally, people spend two hours a day outside their homes commuting, and we found that vehicle travel goes down on the weekends, while time spent walking increases on the weekend compared to the weekday. The study also found that awareness of billboards is high, with 79% claiming that they had noticed a billboard in the past 7 days, and 63% stating that when they see a billboard they notice the brand or message being communicated ‘all of the time.’

When examining forms of OOH advertising, static billboards emerged as the most visible format, with over 80% of respondents saying they notice billboard advertisements. This was followed by wrapped buses, taxis, and other vehicles in all cities. Wrapped ads were particularly noticeable in Lagos and Abuja.

Out of Home Advertising Effectiveness

The study also looked at the effectiveness of outdoor advertising when compared to other advertising channels including radio, TV, and online. Across all channels, the most common action following ad exposure is searching for more information online; While 74% said they do this for radio, OOH came in second in this metric at 69%. Activations were also analyzed against spend and reach for each channel, and it was found that while the low spend and high reach of radio drives high effectiveness overall, the fragmented nature of radio audiences makes it difficult to capture wider audiences with one campaign. Meanwhile, it was found that OOH is more effective than both TV and online advertising in most measures, including downloading an app, buying the brand mentioned, and recommending the brand to a friend.

Impact

This study demonstrates the high efficacy of OOH advertisements at triggering a consumer response, and finds that overall OOH is the second most effective medium, following radio. Interestingly, OOH is found to be more effective than online advertising, although this medium is expected to continue to grow over time. The Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria will use this data to educate the advertising industry on the continued importance of OOH advertising, even as digital channels continue to arise. By using concrete statistics on the awareness and impact of OOH ads when compared to other advertising channels, brands can make more informed decisions on where to invest their ad spend in Nigeria. This reaffirms OAAN’s commitment to proving the value OOH brings into the media mix and dispel the notion that online advertising is a more efficient advertising method.