QMS neuro study shows DOOH delivers longer term memory encoding
A global first neuroscience study by digital outdoor company QMS has shown that digital Out-Of-Home (OOH) is more effectively for long-term memory encoding when compared to static.
The study, conducted in partnership with Neuro-Insight, was the first globally to capture continuous digital and static OOH panels over consecutive days, measuring how the human brain responds to a piece of creative advertising each day.
The research was launched last month via an exclusive, free-to-attend Mumbrella webinar.
QMS Neuro Memory Encoding [click to enlarge]
The goal of the study was to demonstrate the relative impact of different OOH creative approaches and their effectiveness for brands.
It found that memory encoding, which is key to campaign effectiveness, continued to grow in respondents that were exposed to evolving or digital creative.
Evolving creative was found to deliver a 38% higher impact than that of static creative by the fifth day of exposure. The study included 30 pieces of creative across 15 categories.
The study involved a consumer panel of 235, who agreed to participate in the neuro research every day for either Part A – five days, or Part B – three days. The same sample were exposed to the same campaign creative every day. There was an even configuration of OOH capabilities – namely static and evolving billboards across both of the panels.
QMS said one of the most effective campaigns used Digital OOH (DOOH) to simply match the day of the week with a live temperature, and delivered an 18% stronger result.
Chief strategy officer, Christian Zavecz, said education around DOOH and its value is important for advertisers and media owners alike, uptake remaining low in Australia compacted to a global level.
“Now, for the first time, we can quantify what we have always intuitively thought about the medium. Incorporating the strategic use of creative evolution into a brand’s campaign is now proven to increase its effectiveness.
“The study also uncovered some important lessons about frequency and the role that DOOH, through its breadth of capabilities, can play in being able to maximise effective OOH campaign reach.”
The Royals work for Coopers was part of the campaign
The study also found that static remains effective for providing brands with continuity or branding objectives, but evolving creative lets brands communicate new information more effectively in a layered campaign.
Neuro-Insight chief executive officer, Peter Pynta, said: “For the first time, we can now scientifically prove that static images on OOH or DOOH do a great job at reminding audiences.
“But with evolving creative, campaigns can start to maximise their frequency with small changes to the creative helping to establish or build new memories to enhance a campaign’s performance. These changes can be as simple as a colour change, or copy updating each day.
“We looked at how different DOOH capabilities changed the memory encoding bias across both the detailed left brain and global right brain – known as the Neurostate. This now shows us how over time, evolving creative helps build new memories each time it is seen, which also ultimately drives a higher cumulative impact for the overall campaign.”
The Royals work for Coopers was part of the research, and Royals head of strategy, Tom Donald, added: “Knowing how different OOH creative impacts a consumer’s memory should now make creatives and strategists rethink how they use OOH from this point on.
“We don’t need to re-invent the wheel, but we can think of OOH beyond just an awareness medium. With the speed and flexibility of DOOH, there are no excuses not to make small changes to the creative over the life of a campaign, for maximum impact.
“What this study shows, is that dynamic DOOH campaigns are a great way to deliver higher impact over time, allowing brands to create and embed new memories.”
Meanwhile, QMS remains poised to take over the lucrative City of Sydney street furniture contract, but the transition from current provider JC Decaux was delayed again earlier this month as Sydney lockdowns continue to impact the construction industry.
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Zanda Wilson was a reporter and podcast producer at Mumbrella, specialising in radio reporting. He left Mumbrella in September 2021.
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Christian Zavacz
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digital out of home
DOOH
Neuro-Insight
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Peter Pynta
QMS
The Royals
Tom Donald
