Mall Advertising: Will this Industry recover after COVID-19?

Mall Advertising.

COVID-19 and the impact on OOH Advertising

The domino effects from the COVID-19 crisis continue to impact all types of business causing need to change their advertising strategy. As the impact of COVID-19 continues to unfold, brands and agencies need to keep a up to date with the changing consumer behaviors and ensure they are prepared for any outcomes and find new opportunities.

By the end of second quarter of 2020, Barron’s projects that ad agencies would have lost billions of dollars from their income statements, leaving the future of media businesses endangered, if not crippled. Prior to the coronavirus outbreak, in December 2019, the U.S. ad market was projected to grow by 4.4%, mostly from selling ads related to politics and sports. But as of March 2020, revised forecasts indicate that Print and radio ad revenues are expected to drop by 25.4% and 14.1%, respectively, while OOH advertising will drop by 11.8%.

Mall Advertising  worked well in the past

Digital out of home (DOOH) advertising was the most common tactics of mall advertising. According to ToolBox Marketing, the growing adoption of 5G technology will further spur DOOH to greater heights. Notably, DOOH entails the use of digital billboards and signage for out of home (OOH) advertising campaigns. Close to 50% of consumers that encounter Mall ads on a DOOH sign are likely to engage with the ad on a mobile phone, ToolBox marketing data shows. The incredible significance of DOOH as mall advertising tactics as the next trend in OOH advertising is evident in the immense growth of the sector. In 2018, the DOOH advertising sector in the US clocked $7.4 billion, which is a record figure.

The growing popularity of DOOH will define the future of advertising in malls. In particular, the likeability of DOOH signs and billboards stems from the fact that one can hardly ignore the juicy graphics of the signs. Nevertheless, DOOH advertising has been unable to help the OOH advertising industry to surmount the problem of inattentive audiences.

The use of DOOH will most likely experience more decline in the coming weeks, given the growing number of cases of infection in the United States. Businesses that dearly need to get the word out about their enterprise will have to embrace new-age advertising to stay in business. This means more customers will abandon sign advertising to adopt indoor ads; a strategy which brands trying to avoid the cut-throat cost of sign advertising have happily been using to market themselves in recent times.

Advertising in malls are overrated

The concerns over advertising costs existed long before the emergence of COVID-19 and remain a topic for discussion yet. Small businesses find the cost of mainstream advertising crushing, which means that the temporary disappearance of major players like billboard companies and digital media may be well in their favor still. Guttmann explained in a Statista publication that the majority of small businesses in the United States in 2017 devoted less than 10,000 U.S. dollars to marketing activities. The demand for pocket-friendly advertising isn’t just a concern peculiar to SMEs, and it’s easy to see that it’s a need that will surpass the existence of COVID-19.

Are your Ads still from the Stone Age?

Effective media should enable a clear way to track number of impressions.  Traditional OOH mall advertising display lack of targeting and tracking possibilities. The fact that many highway drivers cannot focus on the ad message generate a  low engagement with the target audience.  The costs of billboards depend on format, circulation, demographics, and impressions. Traditional billboards have high costs, low ROI cost varies $14,000-20,000/month in larger markets.  Some cities imposed a ban of billboards due to visual pollution. Unconventional agencies provide alternatives to the targeting issues with approaches as mobile billboards, digital OOH, ads on trucks and other ads in places people don’t expect to see as flags, backpacks, inflatable objects, gas pump and balloons.

Shift to In-Home Advertising

New age advertising methods as seen at Adzze, will not only attract more clients but will effectively engineer the on-boarding of major businesses as many begin to see the tremendous benefit of in-home advertising. With innovative methods such as ads placement on pizza boxes, we guarantee definite impressions of your brands on prospective customers because our approach delivers the brand directly into the hands of your target audience at their homes.

A survey conducted by the platform Numerator indicated many industries are shifting their messaging. As example, restaurants are pivoting to food delivery message. With several states prohibiting dining-in at restaurants and fast-food chains, and consumers all over the U.S. practicing social distancing, restaurants and quick-service restaurants have been quick to pivot their messaging to focus on delivery options. Burger King and Little Caesars even advertising new contactless payment and pick-up options available in their drive-throughs and stores.

Adzze has been working on expanding its capabilities to offer advertising vehicles that can be delivered at the consumers homes as pizza boxes and door hangers. This concept is usually applied by niche advertising agencies that aim to overcome traditional methods of advertising to get the attention of consumers. Traditional advertising has been witnessing a decline in the effectiveness so there is a a greater demand fand its ability to offer precise audience targeting. Another factor that contribute to the success of agencies using ambient media is the smart way to regain consumers attention as marketers target on creating an stimuli that evokes surprise by placing ads in unusual locations and with unconventional methods that had never used before.

 Brands seek to attain audience’s attention by placing ads on consumables that the target audience must touch creating a surprising effect. Such consumables can be: door hangers, pizza box toppers, prescription bags, drink coasters, Custom Coffee Sleeves, hotel key cards, valet tickets, restaurant placemats and dry cleaner hangers.