News

• Digital moving images network at stations has national reach of 20 percent per week
  
• Reach corresponds to that of a medium-sized TV station

Cologne/Munich, June 29, 2012 According to a representative study carried out by the Enigma/GfK market research institute into the Out-of-Home-Channel (OC) at German train stations, the digital Out-of-Home network reaches at least 20 percent of the inhabitants within one week. Digital screens have maximum reach for young people: 42 percent of 14- to 29-year-olds have at least one incidence of OC contact every week, a high figure when compared with the rest of the population.

The study also provided information on the mobility of different station visitors, such as the level of contact with people in employment compared to that with people not currently working. Most people come into contact with the OC in the morning or in the afternoon or early evening. These people are commuters during rush hour, schoolchildren and university students in the afternoon, and both target groups in the evening as they make their way home or head to the next leisure activity. In other words, people see OC exactly at those times of the day when they are least exposed to television.

“Young, substantial disposable incomes, readiness to consume – these are the best characteristics to describe the people who use the Out-of-Home-Channel”: comments Dirk Wiedenmann, member of the board of Ströer AG and responsible for the German business on the results of the study. “It also confirms our view that the Out-of-Home-Channel can substantially enhance the reach of moving image campaigns, such as TV adverts. Due to the demand for an infrastructure project such as this, we believe that our digital portfolio will account for a double-digit share of our company’s sales in the medium term.”

The survey was conducted between October and December 2011 and included over 5,000 people. The undertaking enabled the market research institute to gather data about the people who use train stations, how often they frequent them and their movements within them. When asked if they had been in a train station within the preceding 3 months, 45 percent of German speakers aged 14 and over confirmed this. During these 3 months, almost all of these people had at least one OC contact: Within one quarter, OC was able to reach 41 percent of the base population (14 years and over).

The study not only reveals that OC has reach corresponding to that of a medium-sized TV station, it also suggests that the national network of advertising spaces is a medium which complements TV advertising. Booking the Out-of-Home-Channel in three-hour blocs maximises contact with target groups out of home.
The quality of contacts is what decides how successful a campaign is. In 2010, Ströer Group carried out a comprehensive study at train stations and discovered that consumers are particularly open to advertising when at stations. They are the ideal place to influence people’s attitudes towards brands: The study showed that people were considerably more interested in products that were advertised at stations than in products that were not advertised there.

The impact of TV campaigns can, in other words, be extended by making good use of the nationwide moving images network located in public spaces.