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‘Airports: Open for Business’

JCDecaux, the number one outdoor advertising company worldwide, has unveiled its latest research in a series of global studies exploring key audiences at the airport.

The ‘Airports: Open for Business’ study is the largest of its kind, focusing on a difficult-to-reach target audience for advertisers. With a sample, drawn from 12 major markets, the study focuses exclusively on senior and C-suite executives who are the Business Decision Makers (BDMs) for their companies and delivers critical insight into communication with this key group for B2B advertisers.

In the study, JCDecaux explores BDM attitudes to business travel and business-to-business (B2B) advertising at the airport. Key insights from the study reveal that BDMs consider their time at the airport as being a period of ‘still-time’, providing a rare window of opportunity for B2B brands to connect with a valuable business audience.

Estée Lauder makes a giant statement at this JCDecaux installation in Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.

Flying for business is central to their roles

The study revealed that BDMs feel that flying for business is an integral part of their roles and they show no signs of reducing the number of flights they take for professional reasons. 95% stated they are flying just as often or more often for business purposes nowadays.

Getting to the heart of BDM’s perceptions of B2B advertising

JCDecaux said that it was important to gain an insight into the brand attributes and perceptions BDMs subconsciously associate with airport advertising and which have an influence on their conscious actions. Through implicit testing, the study proved that BDMs associate the attributes of successful brands more strongly with B2B advertising at the airport, in comparison to B2B advertising in any media other than out-of-home.

Driving Consideration and Action

B2B advertising at the airport is a very strong driver of brand consideration among BDMs, where four out of five are likely to consider a B2B brand they had seen advertising at the airport.

It also drives response, with nine out of 10 BDMs saying they have taken action as a result of seeing business-related advertising at the airport. A combination of frequent travel, work-mode mindset and positive sub-conscious associations coupled with an interest in their surroundings means the airport is a very conducive environment for any B2B brand to connect and engage with the key audience of BDMs.

This brilliant image encapsulates the power of airport advertising, whether static (as in this case) or digital. It shows departing passengers at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 heading for the transit train en route to the far C gates.The striking use of the overhead positioning ensures maximum visibility for the Emirates campaign [Photo: Martin Moodie].

Adele Gritten, UK Managing Director of Future Thinking: “We are proud to have worked with JCDecaux on this exciting global project. We found the study revealed an interesting concept of the BDMs’ ‘still-time’ and how B2B brands can make strong connections with these decision makers during this time.

“The findings demonstrate that the airport is a very effective environment for B2B brands to reach this decision-making C-Suite audience whilst they are in a business mindset and have the time and the positive inclination to engage with advertising messages.”

Jérôme Lepage, Marketing & Business Development Director of JCDecaux (Transport Division) and Neil Eddleston, Managing Director JCDecaux OneWorld (Marketing): “As the number one airport advertising company worldwide, present in more than 210 airports including 8 of the global top 10, JCDecaux is very well placed to deliver valuable insights into the effectiveness of airport B2B advertising associated with the key audience of Business Decision Makers, an audience with significant budget responsibility and influence.

“The airport comes out to be the most impactful environment through which B2B brands can connect and engage with Business Decision Makers, for whom travelling is an integral part of their job. Not only do they notice airport B2B advertising, they are receptive to it and act upon it, making airport B2B advertising more relevant than ever.”

Methodology

‘Airports: Open for Business’ was carried out across 12 countries, exploring the airport journey and perceptions of B2B advertising of senior decision-making executives. Only those who have significant budget responsibility and influence were included in the study. All are Directors or above, with almost 60% holding top C-Suite positions.

Countries: France, Germany, UK, Italy, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, UAE, Saudi Arabia, USA, Australia and Brazil.

Sample: 4,464 Business Decision Makers defined as Directors or above (42%) or C-Suites (58%). All with significant budgetary responsibility within their roles.

3 modules: 1) Quantitative online questionnaire, 2) Implicit timed emotional response testing (TER), 3) Qualitive in-depth self-videos.

Fieldwork: September – November 2018.