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Consumers use Out of Home media as sign-post to mobile content

February 03, 2012

A strong connection between branded mobile content and Out of Home advertising has been established by Out of Home media agency Kinetic Worldwide, experts in lifestyle and environments, and sister mobile marketing agency Joule, in the latest round of its research into mobile technology usage outside the home.

The Kinetic/Joule study found that 38% of mobile app users have searched for a brand online or a branded application at a mobile app store after seeing Out of Home advertising. A quarter of consumers said they had been prompted by Out of Home media to search for a brand on a mobile browser, while 17% said they had searched an app store for a branded app after seeing a poster campaign.

The research highlights the growing potential for integration between online advertising and branded technology, and both Digital Out of Home sites and conventional posters. It shows that smartphone apps have become an established form of entertainment while consumers are out and about. Smartphone owners are most likely to use mobile apps or mobile internet browsers when on-the-go or travelling on public transport (see chart below).

Kinetic and Joule also found that 43% of respondents admitted spending between one and three hours a day browsing the web via a mobile or using an app.

With regard to mobile applications specifically 69% of smartphone owners surveyed had downloaded a branded app over the last year; 58% had downloaded up to four apps while a fifth had downloaded up to ten branded apps.

Further, the study showed that branded apps that were either useful to core target audiences, were entertaining, or enhanced a product, were likely to prove highly engaging. It found that 44% of smartphone users have recommended or shared a branded app with a friend, rising to 54% amongst 18-24 year olds.

The study also found that 60% of app users keep branded apps on their phones for more than four months, while 16% do so for more than a year.

Richard Metcalf, Business Development Director at Kinetic Worldwide said: “The findings of this research support the notion of consumer addiction to smart devices. As with other habits it requires constant feeding irrespective of whereabouts which explains why mobile internet and mobile app usage is equally high between ‘on the go’ and ‘at home’. Advertisers that are looking to integrate mobile into marketing campaigns will be encouraged by these findings as it shows that Out of Home formats can be utilised as effective touchpoints for mobile interactivity.

We expect the integration of Out of Home media and digital marketing to be one of the key trends over the next decade and our research reveals that posters already play a very significant role in pointing people towards branded apps and content accessed via the mobile web, when they are out and about.” 

About Kinetic Worldwide’s rolling UK Panel Study
Kinetic conducts regular online panel surveys to gauge how seasonal and one-off events will affect Britain on the move, in turn advising advertisers how this highly active audience can best be reached. The study covers more than 500 adults across the UK.