JCDecaux Airport UK Opens a World of Possibility

On 7th October, JCDecaux Airport UK hosted the spectacular event A World of Possibility to launch their new Airport proposition to a packed audience in London's Soho Hotel.

 Martin Moodie on Best Examples of Airport Advertising

The list of guest speakers included Maxxium Travel Retail’s European Marketing Manager, Mariska Van Beukering, Cheil Worldwide’s Head of Out of Home, Fiona Fitzgibbon, Founder of Moodie International, Martin Moodie as well as our own Alan Sullivan, Rob Elms and Steve Cox. The theme was centred on the 4P’s of Possibility – Place, People, Persuasion and Proof which included a brand new piece of research.  These demonstrated the distinctiveness of the Airport environment and the many possibilities it offers for advertisers. Rob Elms shared his view on the transformation of Airport advertising over the years and provided a glimpse of the future: that of Impact, Broadcast and Touch.

The Future of Outdoor

This was followed by Steve Cox presenting a new piece of research which established how Airport advertising adds value to brands. In JCDecaux’s recent global research Airport Stories, it was shown that frequent flyers believe the airport environment bestows prestige, cosmopolitan feel and international status to advertisers. In other words, brands which advertise in airport were thought of as having higher value and exclusivity. In setting out to test this hypothesis, JCDecaux Airport UK created fictitious brands across a number of ad segments, and compared the value placed on these brands advertising in airports to those in other media environments. The methodology involved presenting multiple product categories across 8 different media to 4,000 people nationwide. Environment Affects Recall

The 8 media environments – airport, underground, taxi, bus, TV, newspaper, internet and magazine

Key Findings from the study

1. Respondents were asked the price they anticipated to pay for fictitious products ranging from perfume, whiskey to hotels. Those who saw these brands in the airport environment said they expected to pay more compared to those who saw the same brands advertised elsewhere.

2. A fictitious brand for computing solutions was created to represent products which are not available in the airport. People were asked whether they thought the computing brand was prestigious. Once again, the highest score for brand prestige was given by the “airport-exposed” group compared to the “other-media exposed” groups.

This research demonstrated that brands advertising in airports enjoy a higher value and level of prestige in the eyes of customers.

Further presentations included Mariska Van Beukering and Fiona Fitzgibbon who offered a pair of truly insightful case studies on Maxxium-owned alcohol brand Famous Grouse and its domination of Edinburgh Airport, and Samsung’s total transformation of Heathrow Terminal 5 into Terminal S5 for the launch of its new Galaxy smartphone.

The Famous Grouse and its Edinburgh Airport Success

Samsung's Total Domination of Heathrow Airport 

Both approaches were different yet demonstrated the efficiency of Airport advertising in attracting awareness and increasing sales in an enjoyable and memorable manner, as well as being seamlessly integrated with customers’ journeys through the environment. Finally, Martin Moodie presented his positive and passionate views on Airport advertising and his vision of best practices for advertisers. Amongst other examples, he highlighted Estée Lauder’s executions in Airport environments worldwide and the proficiency with which they adapt to each Airport’s specific architecture and audiences.

 Estée Lauder's Airport Advertising

 JCDecaux is happy to help our clients open doors to their own worlds of possibility, please do get in touch for more information about the event or to explore what Airport advertising offers.