Have the latest GDP figures sent your budget quavering? “When the going gets tough, the tough increase their advertising.” That was the recommendation made by Alex Panlilio, brand director for Coca-Cola, in 2009.
Many businesses chop their marketing and advertising budgets when times are tough. If you are ready to reduce your advertising, think again. Bringing your brand closer to the public through advertising, particularly in times of crisis, helps to protect your business from the economic downturn.
“The brand is a very powerful symbol, the insurance policy against any downturn,” Panlilio said. “Its image is its biggest asset. So rather than withdrawing support during an adverse situation, brand advertising should simply be managed differently.”
Outdoor advertising is the umbrella that pulls your campaign together and will ensure that your brand is continually top of mind when purchase decisions are being made, particularly when consumers are cash-strapped. There are a wide range of studies from around the world that endorse the use of Outdoor Advertising as a key driver for the activation of sales and brand building.
A study released by Les Binet, adam&eve DDB, on learnings from the IPA Databank in the UK, has proven, through the analysis of 996 IPA cases covering 700 brands, that outdoor advertising excels at brand building as well as in driving activation. According to the report, it doubles the chance of fame when it is included within the media mix. The broad reach that outdoor advertising affords targets existing customers, new customers, as well as the whole market, resulting in bigger profits. All this for the lowest cost per thousand compared to other media.
Continental Outdoor’s ROMItrack, a first for Africa, continues to prove the effectiveness of utdoor advertising, and bottom-line figures show the effectiveness of the medium. Since the inception of their ROMItrack product in 2013, Continental has produced five studies that show the impact and return on investment that an outdoor advertising campaign produces on the bottom line.
The studies demonstrate higher than expected results. For every Rand spent in the FMCG Health & Beauty category, R2.02 is made. Similarly, in the FMCG Homecare category R1.88 is made, and in the Health & Beauty category R1.88 is made. In the Baby Care category, where a high ticket purchase was measured, a phenomenal R15.80 return on media investment was made.
Another key study, Out of Home Advertising Effectiveness and Return of Investment (ROI) published by the Outdoor Advertising Association of America Inc, endorses the ROMItrack findings. BrandScience found for each dollar spent on out of home advertising, on a global scale, an average of $2.80 was received in sales. Television advertising has a lower ROI, yet receives a greater share of the dollars in the average media mix. If production costs are taken into account, outdoor advertising’s ROI would be even better compared to costly media, such as TV.
BrandScience also found when there is a higher proportion of outdoor advertising in the mix, effectiveness increases. This may be due to two factors. It is an effective reach medium, and when used in combination with other media, it not only extends the reach, but also reinforces an advertising message.
According to BrandScience, the percentage increase in sales triples when campaign spending on outdoor advertising moves from a low amount to a medium amount. Sales more than double when a large amount is spent on outdoor advertising. BrandScience found the optimal return on investment is gained when a campaign’s overall ad spend is low, but the proportion of outdoor advertising in the media mix is high. Using outdoor advertising in combination with other media improves the decay rate, or time it takes for a person to forget a campaign’s advertising message. This works particularly well for TV and online advertising. When outdoor advertising advertising is included, the retention rate increases by several days.