Captive audience

Promotions at travel locations can be particularly effective at enhancing the experience for passengers, as well as driving sales and brand awareness.

Dwell time at an airport is commonly referred to as the `Golden Hour' – 60 minutes in which passengers are held in the airport between check-in and boarding, accounting for 65% of total time in the airport. This time is spent on discretionary activities – eating, shopping, sitting. Dwell time at train stations is usually considerably less, but promotional activity is still more effective than the everyday retailing. Promotions, if delivered in an entertaining and engaging fashion, can enhance the overall experience for the passenger, and drive commercial revenues.

Advertising
Advertisements in a captive setting can be more effective than elsewhere and research has shown that passengers have a 90% advertisement awareness at the airport. In another study, 80% of frequent flyers were found to have noticed media and 42% either visited a website or a store as a result. Digital signage has improved the quality and effectiveness of media and allows for adaptive marketing – Copenhagen Airport has 540 screens in 180 locations around the airport, making it possible to target advertising at the exact time when the relevant target group of passengers is moving past a certain area.

Train stations are also granted a captive audience, albeit with more variety in affluence and with dwell times that are usually lower relative to airports. Digital signage at train stations can be used in a similar manner to airports – specific ads can target a specific audience at a specific time, such as an advertisement for coffee to the daily commuter. Train stations also enable advertising to be specific to any magnitude of geographical area – post code, town, city, region – and allows brands to test engagement levels at one station before expanding on a national level.

Pop-ups and events
Pop ups are c. 20% of the cost of creating a brick-and-mortar store and are a cost-effective way to improve market visibility and increase brand awareness. Prada is currently launching a new fragrance at Heathrow with an interactive screen where passengers can choose which video appears; the House of Suntory is promoting its brands and whiskeys through an immersive gallery at Changi airport, and Highsnobiety and Zurich airport have partnered to open "GATEZERO", an experimental luxury concept store (seen above) which offers passengers a unique experience.

Other uses for pop-ups include promotion and exhibition spaces – Game of Thrones hosted an experiential campaign at King’s Cross Station and Fast & Furious 8 created a photo opportunity for promotion and social media engagement at Victoria Station. King’s Cross Station also plays host to digital kiosks, stalls that can be easily manipulated to represent different brands – previously Hello Fresh used it for customer acquisition, Cancer Research for brand awareness, and Garnier for product sampling. Another unique medium that train stations can utilise for pop-ups is the space outside stations, which will experience high foot traffic from both pedestrians and station users.

Events at different scales have been hosted at airports, allowing passengers to partake or witness something unique. Denver International airport launched the DEN Events series in 2016 and has been running them since – offering both free and paid activities for passengers and the community, including ice skating, mini golf, beer tasting, and jazz performances. Designers have taken over airports in the past with a fashion runway taking place on Runway 2 in Helsinki and a catwalk through the airport concourse in Boryspil International before flying off for New York Fashion week.

Promotions are a way in which travellers can be left with a memorable and positive experience, ultimately enhancing travellers’ perception of the travel hub and the brand itself – positive experiences create revenue and brand loyalty. Going into the future, customers, retailers, and landlords can all stand to benefit from promotions within travel hubs.

Alex Foy