Financial services falls behind on out-of-home spend

Out-of-home advertising revenue is continuing to increase year on year, according to data by the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA).

The report said spend was the highest it has ever been in Q1 across most industries (up 6.8% overall from last year). Financial services, however, was notably left off the list of industries increasing their use of the channel.

Though TV and cinema have historically had the largest potential to drive emotions due to their capacity for visual storytelling, out-of-home advertising in financial services can be effective, said Ed Birth, head of brand marketing at Hiscox UK.

“For us, by choosing outdoor and radio, channels much less effectively utilised by high-street insurers, we felt we could make a disproportionate impact and “own” that channel within our sector.

“We deliberately picked higher dwell time media locations, such as the Tube or national rail stations, where customers can have longer dwell time with the ads, which in turn enables effective storytelling,” he said.

Hiscox UK’s recent “disastrous campaign” – strategically placed across the UK – has yielded upticks in search behaviours and brand awareness, Birth added.

The report added that digital OOH advertising accounted for almost a third of spend – an increase of 10% from last year – while transit advertising was the fastest growing sub-segment.

The sectors with the highest increase were led by the entertainment industry, with public transport, hotels, and retail among the sectors with the highest growth, the report said.

The OAAA is the American trade association for the out-of-home advertising industry.