Outdoor advertising underutilised in women's market

The fact that women have larger areas of their frontal lobe means that they are better at planning, visualizing multiple solutions and storing advertising messages of products they might need in the future - almost like a virtual shopping list.

The larger limbic cortex allows women to have more connections to the emotional centres of their brain, which are often exploited by emotive advertising.

A recent local survey, by outdoor advertising experts, Posterscope SA, showed that almost 90% of South African women said they take note of outdoor billboards and, additionally, it was found they spend 60% of their time out of home.

"What is surprising is that outdoor advertising remains the country's most under-utilised medium," says Carni Wilkens, MD of Posterscope, a leading OOH communications agency, which has reportedly created a first-of-its-kind 'Out of Home Consumer Survey' (OCS) that will assist advertisers in better evaluating the benefit of OOH when planning campaigns.

Underutilised, noticed medium

"The percentage of women (aged 15-34) who notice OOH advertising in the average to high income bracket was 87.47%, just less than this group's noticing of TV adverts, which stood at 88.07%, and cinema and magazines, which came in at 72.59% and 75.54% respectively.

"In spite of the huge exposure created via out of home, it remains one of the most underutilised advertising mediums in the country - taking just 4.4% of the country's total media spend, which is surprising if one considers that consumers spend 60% of their time out of home."

Wilkens says that historically there has been little accurate data about outdoor in terms of measurability and success. Therefore, it has often lost out to other media at the campaign planning stage. According to the company, its OCS has altered the playing field, by providing the most in-depth single source of media, marketing and consumer targeting in the world.

Bespoke segmentation

"OCS is the only study that can make bespoke consumer segmentations truly actionable through communication and has enabled many top companies to identify and understand key consumer opportunities with fine precision," says Wilkens.

This detailed and groundbreaking report delivers insight into media usage, media moments and personalities as well as receptivity towards commercial messages across 50+ digital, experiential and media channels.

To add to this, OCS gives marketers as well as media planners and buyers deeper knowledge of categories, competitors and consumers. Through an understanding of trends and their implications on communications, it drives communications that are more engaging and delivers efficient results in terms of targeting and budgeting.