Nowadays, people communicate through cell phones, landlines, or the internet on various applications and online platforms. Wherever you go, you’ll find people staring at their phone screens, texting, emailing, tweeting, and talking. At this point, we can’t really live without interacting with our families and friends through social media platforms. According to emarketer, the average US adult spent 2 hours and 55 minutes on a smartphone in 2019, which is a 9-minute increase from 2018. Among smartphone users in the US, time spent with their device is 3 hours and 10 minutes per day. After the pandemic hit hard, all businesses and schools shifted to online communications. The number of people around the world using the internet has grown to 4.54 billion, an increase of 7 percent (298 million new users) compared to January 2019.
The telecommunication industry has been booming over the past decade. As technology advances, the industry flourishes. The technological advancements have enabled telecommunication advertisers to continuously enhance the services they deliver to consumers, which is why they also use technology when they advertise outdoors to stay ahead of the competition. The telecommunications industry in the United States spent 12.5 billion U.S. dollars on digital advertising in 2019. Sources predict that digital ad investments of this sector will further grow and surpass 17 billion dollars by the end of 2021.
The telecom service revenue growth in the US over the period of 2019 up to 2024 will be driven by mobile data and fixed broadband revenues. Mobile data service revenue will grow from $130.4 billion in 2019 to $211.7 billion by 2024 at a fastest CAGR of 10.2%. This growth will be driven by a continued rise in mobile Internet subscriptions and mobile data ARPU. Fixed broadband service revenue will grow at a CAGR of 3.7% over the period of 2019 until 2024 to reach US$77.1 billion by the end of 2024 led by growth in FTTH/B and fixed wireless subscriptions and overall fixed broadband ARPU over the forecast period.
OOH ads engage with passersby, car drivers, and transit commuters in an unexpected way that ultimately leads them to make decisions drastically and drive them to stores for the desired action. The Arbitron National In-Car Study stated that 71% of the United States residents aged 18 years or older notice advertising messages on roadside billboards, 37% reported looking at an outdoor ad each or most of the times they passed it, and 39% spotted the advertising messages on buses.
2019 Freedom Holiday Campaign
This campaign ran through the holiday season featuring its spokesman, Will Arnett. It included TV, radio, social, and digital ads, as well as high-impact out-of-home ads at Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square. The brand focused on showcasing Freedom Mobile’s superior service versus its competitors’ service. The goal was to challenge consumers to ensure they’re getting the best deal from their mobile vendor.
AT&T
AT&T has been chosen by the Out-of-ome (OOH) advertising industry and the Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) to receive the 2020 OBIE Hall of Fame Award. The OBIE Hall of Fame was established in 1992 for the purpose of recognizing brands that have built an enduring legacy through the consistent use of the OOH advertising medium over many years. This honor underscores the company’s longtime excellence in the use of OOH for its numerous iconic brands and services. AT&T’s creative use of the channel exposes the brand’s story to all potential/future audiences, from global tourists to local telecom users, to encourage creativity and inspire innovation and connectivity.
“The OBIE Hall of Fame Award represents the pinnacle of success over a sustained career, AT&T has demonstrated impressive art direction and stopping power in its OOH over time. While ideas and campaigns have evolved over the decades, consistency in quality has shined through.” said OBIE Chief Judge Joe Maglio, Chief Executive Officer at McKinney.
Virgin Media
Virgin Media wanted to reflect the ‘unlimited’ nature of their ‘Ultimate Oomph’ package, so they created over 50 creative OOH ads for Virgin Media‘s “Unlimiting” campaign throughout the UK. This campaign integrated complex media planning by the usage of Talon’s Ada – AdTech’s proprietary data management platform – with creative solutions across multiple OOH formats to create one of the biggest creative solutions-led OOH campaigns. The platform evaluated and prioritized thousands of advertising locations based on their potential to reach consumers effectively. This data-led campaign was not restricted to the traditional format, instead, it was literally spread everywhere, even in elevators and station walkways to effectively grab the attention of the core audience. This way, Virgin Media was able to target consumers based on real observed behaviors and reach the most valuable and relevant audiences with its OOH campaign.
Sky Broadband
Summer 2018 was the 14th birthday of the Incredibles – the superhero sequel about the adventures of the Parr family. Sky broadband teamed up with Disney to launch the “Incredibles 2” branded multi-platform campaign, advertising the incredible Wi-Fi customers receive around their homes. Sky Broadband created a custom animated 40-second TV ad featuring the Incredibles family. There was also a radio spot featuring the characters as well as a heavyweight outdoor element to the campaign across the UK. In addition, there were two separate TV spots that promoted Sky’s latest TV and broadband offers. The 3D Disney characters brought the campaign to life, which resulted in an impactful response from the audience across the UK.
Telus “The Falling Billboard”
In a rare and groundbreaking step, Telus used one of the largest static billboards on the Gardiner Expressway in an innovative manner to demonstrate the huge savings on their new network. Motorists were taken aback when Telus created the illusion that their large-format billboard was collapsing due to the larger-than-life hippo. This campaign was striking and generated buzz on all social media platforms. It also resulted in a humorous incident; drivers became concerned and began calling 911 for assistance about the dropping billboard.
To Wrap Up
Any brand should work on enhancing the points-of-differences (PODs), which are the product’s aspects that are relatively unique and distinct to the offerings of competitors in the same industry. That’s important to maintain the competitive advantage in the market and strengthen consumers’ loyalty by showing each of them that the company has the service that’s the best fit for their needs. OOH ads can absolutely accentuate the PODs, it also has a great power to bring the company’s claim into reality. Telecommunication companies should use OOH ads in an innovative and creative way using the latest technology in the industry to showcase the advancement of their services and get the audience hooked by giving an impression of reliability and superiority. Moreover, it easily makes the brand stand out of the crowd and help telecom brands to persuade other telecom company’s users to switch and subscribe to their brand.
