media update’s Adam Wakefield was at The Venue in Sandton, Johannesburg to learn about how OOH advertising is being measured, and the travel habits of many working South Africans.

OOH is measured through a combination of data, technology, and survey

Trish Guildford, managing director of Tradigital Consulting, opened the event and introduced Ruchelle Mouton, marketing intelligence manager at Primedia Outdoor, who spoke about the methodology of ROAD.

“We have incorporated quite an integrated approach, which is an almost triangulated method in terms of how we do the research,” Mouton said.

“OOH is notorious for being quite complex to measure.”

In order to address these complexities, the OMC has employed a model including big data, satellite imagery, travel surveys, and trip modelling to produce a measurement currency.

“The currency provides the OMC with robust data. The days of traffic counts are over,” Mouton said.

Sanna Fourie, head of statistics at Ask Afrika, which assisted the OMC in compiling the survey data, followed. She spoke about the field work efficiencies and innovation, with Lauren Shapiro, managing partner at Kuper Research, speaking after her.

Shapiro said in 2015 ROAD had 15 284 respondents to the travel survey. In 2016, there were 15 349 respondents. Those two samples have now been combined to reflect 2015/2016 and include all 30 633 travel survey respondents. She noted the value of such a large sample size, which is expected to grow to 45 000 plus in 2017.   

Opportunities for OOH: shopping, work, and the daily commute

According to travel survey, the leading modes of transport to and from work in South Africa are:
  • Minibus taxi – 46%;
  • Walking – 38%;
  • Driving – 37%;
  • Bus – 7%; and
  • Train – 3%;
Over the course of seven days, 81% of survey respondents revealed they travelled to the shops at least once a week, followed by:
  • Friends – 43%;
  • Work – 33%;
  • Place of worship – 31%;
  • Education – 20%;
  • Restaurant – 19%;
  • Tavern or pub – 6%; and
  • Gym (3%);
Detailed data regarding shopping showed Saturday (51%) was the most popular day to do shopping, with Friday (32%), Wednesday (25%), Thursday (23%), Monday and Tuesday (19%), and Sunday (13%) being less favoured.

On Saturday, the most popular time to go shopping is between 9:00 and 11:00.  

Within the 8-10 LSM band, which makes up 12% of South Africa’s working population, or 3.1 million people, most people:
  • Leave for work between 7:00 and 7:30;
  • Work a standard five day week;
  • Leave work between 16:00 and 16:30;
  • Take 26 minutes to get to work;
  • Car is their primary mode of transport;
  • On most days goes straight home from work bar stops at the shop or gym; and
  • Spends on average 54 minutes a day travelling to and from work.
For those within the 5-7 LSM band, which represented 20% of the country’s working population, or 5.1 million people, the figures are noticeably different. LSM 5-7s:
  • Leave for work between 6:00 and 6:30;
  • Work every day between Monday and Friday;
  • Leave work between 16:00 and 17:30;
  • On average it takes them 30 minutes to get to work;
  • Spend 60 minutes a day travelling to and from work;
  • Taxis and walking is the primary mode of transport; and
  • On most days, they go straight home, but generally pass through one taxi rank on their way home;
In total, according to the study, 288 million trips are taken per a week, which averages to 11 trips per person per a week.

The sites measured by ROAD delivered 21 113 067 975 impacts and reached 18.8 million people on average 113 times each, in the areas ROAD surveyed.

OOH provides unique and cost-effective opportunities to advertisers

Howard Lonstein, marketing manager for the Outdoor Network, told attendees the advertising industry is looking for numbers and hard data. The interest shown in the ROAD results had generated significant interest and meant OOH planners could have dynamic conversations with other marketers and customers.

“It’s quite an exciting time to be in OOH. Globally, it is the second fastest growing medium after digital, and it works well with digital,” Lonstein said.

Different media strategies can now be implemented to improve on OOH’s ability to meet varying campaign and brand objectives.

For more information, visit www.omcsa.org.za.

Malls are a primary destination for commuters and a prime location for OOH advertising. Read more in our article, Mall Ads: Going straight to the source.