By Norm Chait, Director of Out-of-Home Product/Sales at Ubimo a Quotient brand.
The holidays are approaching quickly, but consumers are unsure of how this beloved season will play out due to the current landscape. From Halloween to Thanksgiving to winter festivities the holidays are usually a time for families and friends to gather together. So as consumers adjust their behaviors, brands and advertisers should also shift their Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising strategies to provide messaging relevant to consumers.
Quotient data shows that people are already searching for ideas and inspiration for the holidays on social media, indicating that new ways of celebrating are top of mind for consumers. Brands hoping to connect with their audiences can use these trends to craft campaigns that speak to what is relevant to their audiences. See below for some insights and ideas on how to use them as part of Digital OOH (DOOH) holiday campaigns.
Halloween from Home
Spooky season is nearly upon us! The traditional Halloween festivities, including door-to-door trick-or-treating and face-to-face interaction, will need a modification this year—although our data suggests that consumers still plan on celebrating. The term “Halloween at Home” has seen a 74% increase in engagement on social media this year compared to last year. Families are adjusting plans to include to-go candy bags for their neighbors to enjoy the spooky season. To help consumers, brands can share ideas to make this holiday special from home, like creating mini candy stops throughout the house to emulate trick-or-treating.
Thanksgiving Potluck Party
Thanksgiving is a time where families normally come together from near and far. This year, as travel is limited and interactions are cut back, the holiday for feasting on home-cooked classics will likely experience some changes. The term “Thanksgiving Potluck” has seen a 169% increase in engagement on social media in 2020 compared to 2019. Historically, people gathered around one table and shared one meal, but this trend indicates that consumers are looking for ways to celebrate while maintaining distance and reducing close interactions. If people bring their own food in “potluck” fashion, they are able to better achieve the goal of gathering safely. As plans are adjusted, brands can step up and offer new holiday recipes or cocktail ideas to better cater to potluck events.
Holiday Shopping Shift
The winter holiday season is often defined by gatherings, gift buying and giving. With limited capacity in some malls or closing of certain stores, in addition to hesitancy to shopping indoors, holiday gift buying is anticipated to look different this year. Our research shows that consumers are already thinking about how to make adjustments, including an 88% increase in social engagement with the term “Online Christmas Shopping” on social media this year compared to last year.
Understanding and using these trends
Uncertainty is one theme characterizing the holidays this year. However, using emerging trend analyses, brands and advertisers can identify creative ways to connect with their customers regarding the adjusted holidays and add value for consumers by helping them have a memorable season despite the changes. These insights can be used to tailor digital out-of-home campaigns and capture the new holiday spirit. For example, a brand could run a campaign on in-store screens highlighting a DIY project for to-go candy bags or a campaign on digital billboards advertising food storage options for a Thanksgiving potluck. Another idea is a in store ad with online present deals around Christmas. With data-led insights, OOH advertisers can reduce consumers’ feeling of uncertainty about the 2020 holiday season by offering relevant messaging, products and ideas to help them feel connected with their loved ones despite the circumstances.
Ubimo’s Programmatic DOOH solution makes it easy to run holiday campaigns tailored to your audience.
Methodology: Year-over-year trends are taken from Quotient Muse Data during the time period of July 31, 2020–September 11, 2020, compared to July 31, 2019–September 11, 2019.
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