The moments of truth

Research by Bauer Media Outdoor UK, JCDecaux UK and Posterscope shows that using contextually relevant messaging in Digital Out of Home campaigns has a positive effect (+17%) on campaign effectiveness.

The study, "The Moments of Truth", was commissioned by Bauer Media Outdoor UK, JCDecaux UK and Posterscope. The study used three research techniques: neuroscience research to measure brain response, eye-tracking research to measure ad recall and research with a test and control group to measure the change in sales.

Key results show that consumers' brain response is 18% higher when viewing relevant content in digital Out of Home campaigns, which in turn leads to a 17% increase in consumers' spontaneous ad recall. The research also shows that dynamic digital Out of Home campaigns can deliver a 16% increase in sales. A combination of these three findings delivers an overall increase in campaign effectiveness of +17%.

Looking at the three parts of the study separately provides additional insights.

Component 1: Brain response

Using the Neuroscience technique of Steady State Topography (SST), the study measured the brain responses of more than 160 people exposed to content in numerous different brand categories. This yielded the following insights:

• Showing a brand or product ad at the right time (either by time/day of the week) delivers a +12% increase in brain response.
• Showing unique and relevant content based on time, location, weather or other data triggers delivers a +18% increase in brain response.
• The combination of the above, i.e. the right time and relevant content, delivers an average increase of +32% in brain response.

Component 2: Ad recall

Measuring ad recall and brand/creative appreciation was done using eye tracking software. More than 280 respondents viewed 'walk-through' images of a shopping centre with six DOOH screens, each displaying a different expression. This part of the study showed the following:

• Campaigns at relevant times and with relevant content show a +6% increase in viewing time.
• Campaigns at relevant times and with relevant content show a +17% increase in spontaneous awareness of ads.
• Campaigns at relevant times and with relevant content show a +6% increase in creative appreciation.

Component 3: Sales response

This aspect of the study investigated whether applying the right moment and content has an effect on sales response. This part of the study showed the following:

• +16% increase in sales when applying a dynamic DOOH campaign versus a control group without a DOOH campaign.
• +9% increase in sales when applying a traditional DOOH campaign versus a control group without a DOOH campaign.

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