On average, 45 per cent of people in Asia ignore outdoor advertising, rising to over half of residents in Hong Kong, according to a global study from media agency MEC. This compares with 40 per cent of people in Europe and just one in three people in the Americas.
However, the study shows that consumers in Asia are far more likely to buy products they see advertised on billboards than people in other markets, suggesting outdoor ads in the region are failing to meet their potential.
"Western audiences are far more sophisticated and creative about how they use outdoor," commented Julia Singleton, regional director for Navigator, MEC's strategic planning division. "By this I mean in creative execution. Far too often in our Asia markets, you see what is essentially a press ad pretty much recreated on an outdoor format."
Singleton added that the medium needed its own focus and creative treatment to do justice to a brand message. "The message must work with the medium and understand the consumer it is targeting in order to gain any noticeability. I think we have passed the stage where plastering a giant logo, image and strapline will get your ad noticed."
The survey also suggested that clutter is a major factor in how outdoor communicates with people, with over half of people in Hong Kong's densely advertised streets saying they felt overwhelmed by the messages surrounding them, a far greater proportion than other markets in Asia.
"Overall, outdoor is an extremely important and powerful medium, which should be used both strategically and creatively," Singleton said. "It is only through understanding the intra-relationship between the brand message, the medium and the consumer that one can achieve the relevance that will literally get your ad noticed. All too often, it is included on a campaign schedule to bump up some reach figures without any real understanding or focus on just how to use it."
Singleton pointed to the increasing use of 3-D formats and interactive elements at bus shelters of good examples of the medium used creatively.
MEC's Sensor study polled more than 11,000 people in 22 countries, including over 2,000 people in four Asian markets: China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand.