Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
What do the bus shelters at Barking station, Seven Sisters Station, Wood Green, Ealing Town Hall and Bexleyheath Market Place in London all have in common?
Well, it seems tha they are among the bus shelters that could deliver the most attention for brands in London. JCDecaux and Lumen Research have unveiled new ‘Attention! London Calling’ research which reveals the link between the time spent in a bus shelter and the amount of attention on a screen, with the headline finding that screens inside bus shelters generate an average 4.4 seconds of attention, ahead of many other digital channels.
Unveiled on at the MadFest event in London last week, Chris Felton, Director of Data and Insight at JCDecaux UK revealed how by using TfL data, these findings will give advertisers a new tool to plan by attention on bus shelters, a channel that delivers 70% of the audience in the capital.
He told us “Bus shelters deliver 70% of the London audience making them a powerful channel for brands. Our new insight reveals why bus shelters should be included on any omnichannel plan that is designed to target attention metrics in the capital. That’s because using TfL data, we can now deliver campaigns on bus shelters that deliver the highest attention, plus prompt action via mobile as passengers travel by bus or connect to the wider transport network. Last year only three ad channels grew, showing the two-screen future of Out-of-Home and Online has arrived and for brands planning for attention, this insight will be key”.
Researchers from Lumen used videos viewed by recruited adults to replicate consumer behaviour in test situations using eye-tracking technology and surveys to study the attention levels of people driving, walking and waiting at London bus shelters.
The results showed that brands can capitalise on attention through selecting screens inside bus shelters which deliver high attention levels which lead to better effects. Each exposure to an ad in a shelter delivers 4.4 seconds of attention, while 75% of people who were exposed twice recalled the brand.
A new study via On Device showed how brands can harness passenger ‘me-time’ activity to engage and prompt action once on the bus. People spent an average 58 minutes on their phone during the 1 hour 29-minute journey. Passengers looked at Social (12 minutes average), streamed games (13 minutes) and browsed Online (5 minutes).
Mike Follett, Founder and CEO of Lumen Research said, “In a world of competing messages, Attention is a finite resource and brands can now use this insight to plan for attention on London’s bus shelters. Our research with JCDecaux UK shows that at over four seconds, the high attention delivered by posters inside bus shelters drives other metrics including consideration, brand recall and message outtake, showing how attention turns into action.”
The new research comes as JCDecaux marks 60 years since Jean Claude Decaux founded the concept of advertising-funded bus shelters, ensuring giving back to the community was at the heart of the business model.
Methodology
Attention on bus shelters: Lumen Research recruited 450 adults in the UK and placed them into one of three groups. They accessed Lumen software via their computer turning their device into an eye tracking camera. To obtain ‘as live’ engagement data, groups were exposed to one of three first-person point-of-view Out-of-Home films, driving past, walking past and waiting at a bus stop. Within the film, respondents were exposed to two bus shelter ads while having their eye movements tracked. Respondents were asked to complete a survey about spontaneous brand recall, prompted brand recall, prompted brand awareness, consideration and message recall. With the data collection complete Lumen researchers produced the insight report.
JCDecaux worked with On Device to understand passenger activity on the bus
Phone use on buses: On Device polled 450 commuters to understand phone usage while on a bus.
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