A new independent research study released by Ocean Outdoor reveals how premium and iconic Out of Home (OOH) improves brand perception and consumer confidence over and above static OOH and other media channels.
The study, ‘Premium Perceptions: the Power of Signals’, supports the hypothesis that greater consideration should be given to nuances in OOH effectiveness, with iconic formats like BFI IMAX and Piccadilly Lights almost unparalleled in delivering ‘signal’ strength across all media channels.
Ocean’s study applies Everyday People’s groundbreaking signalling work originally undertaken for Thinkbox (2020), and more recently for WPP EssenceMediacom, (‘Signalling Success 2’ 2024). It establishes that: large format full motion OOH delivers a 50% increase in fitness signals vs standard OOH. Iconic formats enjoy an 88% increase.
For social signals; large format full motion OOH delivers a 23% increase in social signals vs standard OOH. Iconic formats increases these by 37%.
Premium large format full motion supersedes TV on two of the six signals tested; Iconic supersedes TV on five of six signals. For Ocean premium sites collectively (including iconic) there is a 71% uplift (vs social media) in a brand’s quality perception; a 91% increase in financial strength; and a 21% increase in confidence towards the brand (vs social media).
The study plots a signalling/attention axis, combining physical and mental measures to provide agencies and clients with a forecasting tool to illustrate how strong their consumer relationships can be.
Ocean Outdoor UK head of insight Steve Bernard said: “Across the nine channels in WPP’s 2024 study, there was strong evidence to show that where advertising is seen by the public significantly affects the way they perceive the brand in question, in terms of its confidence as a product or service, its quality and financial strength.
“Standard OOH formats were fairly strong in the context of other media channels, certainly ahead of one to one digital channels, but some distance behind other broadcast channels such as TV and cinema. We decided to overlay both premium large format DOOH sites, and ‘iconic’ locations, such as Piccadilly Lights and BFI IMAX, into this concept to plot where Ocean’s premium OOH sits on a signalling/attention axis.
“The findings tell us that advertisers should consider how significantly different premium and iconic large formats are in powering positive brand effects. Consideration should be given to nuances in effectiveness – reach is very important, but attention and signal strength power brand perception and trust.
“Importantly, we now know that iconic OOH formats are almost unrivalled in delivering signal power across all media channels, and cost perception is intrinsically linked to trust. Promises made in public carry more weight than those made in private.”
