We like to think of Twitter as something that compliments and adds to the strengths of other media - a bridge not an island. This is particularly true for Out of Home (OOH). It enjoys a symbiotic relationship with, and has much in common with Twitter.  

OOH and Twitter both attract a valuable, predominantly urban audience who are regularly on the go. They lend themselves to being consumed at speed and essentially show people what’s happening now - on the streets and in the world.

Twitter’s audience is curious about what’s happening in the world and are in ‘discovery mode’ when they come to the platform. Twitter users are effectively saying ‘look at that’ to each other throughout the day and (fuelled by the Retweet and user generosity) this helps the best, most interesting, surprising or amusing stuff get shared instantly and widely on Twitter - whatever that may be.

And quite often what gets shared is the OOH that users see in their everyday life. In recent months campaigns from the likes of Match.com, Protein World and JustEat have been widely shared and poured over on Twitter after using the blank creative canvas and commonality of OOH to ignite a conversation.

But as well as this ‘look at that’ factor, we wanted to know specifically what paid-for Twitter activity adds to OOH campaigns. As a result, we carried out research amongst consumers during the Rugby World Cup last October with research agency MTM London(1). The research captured their behaviour via a diary in order to understand exactly where they had travelled so we knew what Out of Home media they had potentially been exposed to.

We found that paid Twitter activity adds three important things to OOH:

1. Personal Relevance

While OOH is a great channel for public relevance and broad reach, Twitter adds a strong sense of personal relevance.  Research we conducted (2) previously looking at this with Neuro Insight found that when UK users were actively using Twitter, i.e., Tweeting, searching or replying, the strength of brain activity was 51% above the online norm reflecting the immersive and engaging nature of the whole Twitter experience.

Twitter allows advertisers to increase their relevance to consumers by focusing their campaigns on consumers who are interested in what they have to offer through the use of tools like geo, keyword and interest targeting. A message targeted at people to whom it has particular resonance is more likely to elicit a strong emotional response. And it's all delivered on a personal mobile device - adding to that sense of personal relevance.

Twitter can be targeted in nuanced, specific ways (such as by passion, interest or local area) and our research shows that exposure to both Twitter & OOH campaigns means that consumers are twice as likely to feel closer to the brand and are 220% more likely to agree that the brand feels relevant to me (vs the control group).

2. Depth 

Twitter provides an instant mobile platform for people to explore things that catch their attention - including of course OOH. Users can see OOH activity and then immediately seek out or follow a brand or hashtag, see what others are saying about it or start or join a conversation about it on Twitter. Those exposed to both Twitter & OOH campaigns over the research period were 3X more likely to have searched for the brand online (vs the control group).

And Tweets themselves can provide greater depth, by using videos or links to more information. This depth compliments the high impact nature of OOH where simplicity and singularity of messaging is so important. 

3. Awareness (via a multi-Media effect) 

The simple, visual formats and short lines of OOH work particularly well on Twitter which is a creative canvas that now offers so much more than 140 characters. This means that OOH materials - be they static or digital - can be transferred to and adapted for Twitter very easily to help ‘sweat’ an Out of Home asset. This simple extension of a plan helps create the sense that an OOH campaign is ‘everywhere’ while adding further awareness. As a result, our research showed that during the Rugby World Cup there was as 47% increase in brand association when exposed to both Twitter & OOH and almost two thirds agreed that the Twitter element of the campaign made the brand feel ‘more of the moment.’

So when starting with an OOH activity, Twitter can genuinely add value. But because the relationship between Twitter and OOH is genuinely symbiotic it can work the other way around too. Specifically, Twitter can be a fantastic creative asset for OOH campaigns.

Twitter has agile, relevant, real time and increasingly video content from brands and a treasure trove of fascinating data. All of which can be repurposed easily, quickly and with impact to create OOH assets in an increasingly digital OOH world.