Transport Focus reports 93% consumer satisfaction with MSAs

The Transport Focus annual Motorway Service Area survey for 2022 was launched this week, heralding huge satisfaction levels across the network and lots of detail on the visitor experience. Rugby services was announced as the top location, achieving an unprecedented and incredible 100% customer satisfaction rating. Five sites reached 99%+ levels of overall satisfaction and 93 of 119 sites achieved 90%+. 61% of visitors are “very” satisfied with their experience.

The survey was conducted across May-July (peak season) and attracted a wholly robust 31,000 respondents who were surveyed on their views on all aspects of the MSA, including facilities, cleanliness, the staff, value of the food and drink, electric vehicle charging and the impact their visit has on drivers’ mood.

For the first time Transport Focus surveyed motorway services visitors in Scotland and Wales operated by Roadchef and Welcome Break. Sarn Park (Welcome Break) is the highest rated services in Wales (97 per cent) and Hamilton (Roadchef) the highest rated in Scotland (94 per cent).

Overall satisfaction levels for the MSA network reached 93% – much higher than for other environments surveyed by Transport Focus. Rugby Services also came out on top as the site visitors were most likely to recommend to someone making a similar journey.

The net positive mood shift sees 30% of audience increase their happiness/relaxed mindset on leaving an MSA. 79% report being either happy or relaxed on departure.

Over 80% of visitors buy food and drink on site and a similar number use the toilet facilities. Satisfaction levels are segmented across various aspects of the MSA, including food and drink, toilet facilities and Wi-Fi. Overall satisfaction levels were higher amongst Business and Commuter audiences, who are using MSA’s regularly, and amongst younger visitors.

The majority (68%) of respondents are travelling for leisure, followed by business (15%), and professional (11%). HGV drivers account for 9% of respondents and those commuting 5%. 60% of respondents are male and there is a good range of age groups with 40% being between 35-54 years of age.

Dwell time at MSAs averages at 20-30 minutes. Those who are happiest with the environment spend up to an hour on site. The dwell time rises with Electric Vehicle ownership.

The annual survey is used by operators to assess facilities; last year’s (2020) second from bottom location (Donnington Park) rose to second place (99% satisfaction). It includes some strong sustainability and environment insights, which is being taken on by operators to improve facilities and their ESG contribution, as a positive force for good.

Anthony Smith, chief executive of the independent watchdog Transport Focus, said: “As many people gear up for a half term getaway, motorway services provide a great place to stop and take a break. Our survey shows motorway service operators deliver good overall customer experience and facilities. Services continue to do a good job of their most important safety function – allowing drivers to rest and relax before getting back on the road.”

This survey is fully independent, conducted by Government agency and regulator Transport Focus – who also conduct similar studies across other environments – none of which yield customer satisfaction levels reached by MSAs.

Q4 and the New Dynamic for Brand Communication

Q4 2022 promises to be an exceptional time for the media industry, witnessing a unique coming together of economic consumer challenges, media high demand, and a World Cup, that will likely generate a perfect storm a time when OOH revenues are traditionally at their peak.

The media industry is recovering from the pandemic and instilling a new dynamic that is blurring traditional lines of audience reach and behaviour. TV inflation is set to reach 19% in Q4, with advertisers set to pay up to 50% more than pre-pandemic rates to try to land messaging in a super-busy environment. The “twin trend of declining linear television viewership and rising TV media costs is encouraging advertisers to look elsewhere for incremental reach” – WARC’s description – and creates real opportunity for the flexible reality of digital OOH.

All this comes at a time when streaming cancellations, younger audiences increasingly bemused by linear TV and a winter World Cup promise to play havoc with brand campaigns across the quarter – especially those yet to be laid down.

Cinema’s well documented travails – the biggest month of 2022 for audiences still lagged behind 2019 levels – again leaves AV channels that can deliver sizeable and consistent broadcast audiences well placed to capitalise and cut through to audiences faced with economic decisions of their own.

Traditional planning convention will not necessarily hold sway in such conditions. Digital OOH is set to play a major role in branding this winter, but a number of factors are disrupting this channel too, all at a time when Route audience measurement is not reflecting reality and the new post-pandemic dynamic. Working from home is having a significant impact on city centre and transport audiences; latest stats suggest workers across the UK are still only going into offices 1-2 days a week on average. The flattening of the leisure/commuter audience is another primary consideration for planners and one that’s taking hold nationally to even greater effect. Transport strikes, growing WFH preferences and economic uncertainty mean applying more flexibility to the media and OOH planning process is critical in order to find and deliver relevant audiences as brands bet heavily on advertising through tougher economic times and every media impact counts.

The timing of the current economic situation will fundamentally reshape people’s association with brands and advertising – a true post-pandemic sea change that is worth greater investigation. First and foremost, customers expect to hear from brands through economic hardship, genuinely looking for authentic and contextual communication, extending to seeking credible media partners (according to recent research from Reach Solutions). Meanwhile, major brands like John Lewis are seeking to resist austerity and seize on our desire for personal treats (“dopamine dressing”) in the moments that matter, if the price and context is right.

The events shaping Q4 are truly unique, with the World Cup threatening to unsettle the whole marketing and economic eco-system. Not merely the tournament’s interference with Christmas consumerism, but the games kicking off in the Middle East between 10am-7pm GMT present opportunity to engage with audiences in the moment, including at MSAs where a younger and male sports mad audience will continue to pass through, in excess of pre-pandemic levels.

Other significant events coming up include October Half Term – a key moment for reaching families where we can expect uplifts of +11% relative to the quarter – and Christmas – a key moment for family travel with audiences staggering their seasonal getaway across 2-3 weeks from Monday 19^th December. In addition, a tranche of events and occasions including the England-hosted Rugby League World Cup, Black Friday/Cyber Monday, Halloween and Remembrance Day, offer the opportunity for brands to increase their contextual relationship with audiences, dynamically and in real time.

At MSAs, we will have installed 500 digital screens by year end, reaching a national audience with unmissable, flexible full motion content on D6s and D48s. The challenge for all planners is to reach attractive audiences across the media spectrum, but particularly where they spend their moments throughout the week. And where – post-pandemic – audiences are proven to be in growth, consistent and attentive, a particularly tough challenge for all in this unique period now underway.

August audiences reinforce the increased popularity of MSAs

Highest ever MSA summer audience!
MSA audiences continued to rise across the summer into August, culminating in average weekly visitor numbers reaching 7.7 million for the recent Bank Holiday.
August visits were up +6% on July’s record numbers and up +5% on 2019 levels, meaning that MSA audiences averaged record levels over the Summer 2022.
Weekly levels of 7.2 million since the start of June were up +2% on last year’s busy summer and up +2.4% on 2019. In the year to date, MSA audiences are up marginally on 2019, and up +21% on a disrupted 2021.
The continued popularity of the UK staycation, a number of key sporting events, the general return to work from commuters and the transformation of facilities, has highlighted the popularity of MSAs across the summer and throughout 2022.
We expect this to continue with the business people and commuters chasing face-to-face meetings, sporting events, people continuing to go on UK staycations and the upcoming October half term.

i-media reaches D6 build landmark of 200 screens at 50 locations

i-media has reached a key landmark in its digital screen roll out at Motorway Service Areas (MSAs), having reached the installation of 200 Digital 6 sheet panels at 50 locations.

This means that i-media now operates a total of 275 large and small format full motion screens across the UK, from Exeter to Stirling and Swansea to Medway.

The digital build will continue for the rest of the year as we move towards completing a national D6 network of 520 screens and an upgrade and new build of 130 D48 Nexus screens, with both formats live at every MSA location.

Every i-media screen will have been built or upgraded in a twelve-month period by Q1 2023, securing a national network of 650 high quality full motion screens, reaching young, upscale and family audiences on the move.

The build coincides with the environment delivering record audience levels across 2022, as audiences take advantage of events including the Women’s Euros and Commonwealth Games, warm weather across the UK which prompted more day trips and staycation holidays, and the return of face-to-face business.

Jonathan Lewis, i-media CEO comments, “This significant investment generates real national scale and improved aesthetics and typifies the rapid transformation and recharge we are generating as we continue to improve and enhance the MSA environment. It remains part of our commitment to drive business through technology, data and quality of impact for advertisers to reach a growing audience in the most intelligent and accountable way.”

Sam Tester, Sales Director, i-media adds, “The roll out is having a brilliant effect on the scale and quality of our market offering and is helping to attract advertisers as diverse as Disney+, Fiat, BP, Sky Bet, Maynard’s, the AA and Pepsi to growing audiences in our improving environment.”

About i-media

Founded in 1995, i-media has been the leading force in Motorway advertising for over 25 years. Rebranding to i-media is part of a programme of rapid transformation reflecting the company’s expertise in traditional and digital OOH advertising solutions, tailored to advertisers’ communication needs, across all UK Motorway Service Areas.

With 6.3 million motorists taking advantage of UK Motorway Service Areas every week, our strategically positioned advertising sites enable brands to reach a specific mix of audiences. Whether targeting Families on a national level or Tradespeople in a specific area, from Impulse Snackers to SME decision makers, i media offers a truly immersive and engaging media opportunity.

The business is majority owned by MSA Advertising, with Jonathan Lewis taking over as CEO in 2021.

We have rebranded to i-media to reflect our digital future, experiential marketing and a greater use and exploitation of customer and vehicle data to deliver an immersive and intelligent media opportunity for brands.

CONTACT: Nick Mawditt

07935 107147

NickMawditt@i-media.co.uk

www.i-media.co.uk

Riding the Motorwave!  

James Byard, Business Director on All you need to know about Motorway Service Stations, ahead of the 16.5m leisure trips this Bank Holiday

“We’re going to Grandpa’s this weekend.” I say to Phoebe, my 6-year-old daughter.

“What, on the motorway? Can we get pancakes at McDonald’s? Pleeeaase!”

My kids love travelling on the motorway. Or motorwave as they still insist on calling it. It means we’re going somewhere exciting, and they are set for fun and treats.

For me, a morning trip up north to see the in-laws always sees me change my routine. I won’t have a coffee or breakfast, saving myself for a big feast at the services.

It is always a toss-up between Northampton and Watford Gap. Both have a McDonald’s. It’s purely a question of how hungry I get as to whether I can push on that bit further to Watford Gap.

I love the amusing stories a conversation about motorway service stations bring. The negotiations over how soon it’s acceptable to stop, the conflicting needs of Starbucks and Costa lovers, the debate over whether there’s enough petrol to keep going a bit more.

People love talking about them because they’re the fun part of any long road trip.

Satisfaction rates of all who visit them average 94%, surprisingly high you might think. But motorway service areas (or MSAs) have undergone a transformation in recent years, benefitting from sustained investment, and this is set to continue in the years to come. There are several factors at play in this renaissance:

More people are driving long distances more often. Audiences are up 6% vs 2019, and people are staying for longer, and spending more while they’re there. Last year saw £3bn of non-fuel sales as people enjoyed everything from a Nando’s, to a Greggs, to a Leon, to an ice cream, and of course, a coffee.

Pret are one of the latest to seek retail space following a trial which showed sales 25% higher than some of their town centre stores.

Beyond satisfying our tummies, there are play areas for the kids, business centres, dog walking areas, hotels and even, in a few places, picnic areas by serene lakes.

So much to help us recharge our batteries that we now stay in excess of 20 minutes.

There’s another question too, amongst electric vehicle drivers. Which has the fastest charging hubs? MSAs offer the most used charging hubs in the country. £1bn has been invested by the government and more from car manufacturers like Tesla, to make worry free journeys the length and breadth of the country possible by EV.

For the MSA’s, their critical role in the charging infrastructure of the country has been a further catalyst for investment in the ever-broadening facilities they offer. Such is the long-term planning that even in 2020, £200m was invested in brand new service areas.

Ahead of this weekend’s Bank Holiday, and an expected 16.5m leisure trips being made, where will you stop and why?

And finally, some advice for all parents out there. Some new research from Dr James Hind of Nottingham Trent University has calculated the time it takes for toddlers to throw a tantrum in a long car journey at 70 minutes.

So, get ready to offer some pancakes!

Have a great bank holiday.

Reach students and their families at MSAs as they travel to University in September

University season is approaching and for a lot of people this means travelling across the country to move. In 2021 there were 2.7 million students enrolled at UK higher education institutes. This year, with the rise of university applications we can expect more people will be on the roads travelling with family members to their chosen place of study.

On average a university student in the UK moves 91 miles from home, meaning an annual migration of parents and family members set off mid-September with cars fully loaded. We know that the typical journey time prompting people to stop at an MSA is 90 minutes. MSAs are a vital hub when travelling on long journeys and people leave in a relaxed and calm mindset.

28% of students move over 100 miles! These long journeys are likely to involve at least one break. MSAs offer parents who may be becoming empty nesters, the opportunity to buy any last minute essentials whilst they have stopped on a break. Data tells us that 70% of students who went to university in the last 12 months are from an ABC1 household, indicating a more desirable audience for advertisers.

We can expect the peak travelling period to be between 12^th – 25^th September 2022 giving brands the opportunity to target various categories relevant to students such as study essentials, household goods and student finance/bank accounts.

Guardian, BBC TV licensing, Transport Focus, YouGov

MSA audiences are thriving across July

MSAs delivered record audiences for July with an average weekly level of 7.1 million, and with 7.6 million passing through MSAs during the first full week of the school holidays. July audiences were up +4.1% overall vs June, and up +1% on both July 2021 (with the holiday market in full recovery) and July 2019 (+1.3%), where MSAs added around 400,000 visitors on 2019 levels.

For the Summer school holiday getaway in July, MSA audiences were up +5% on the highs of last year’s staycation summer and +7% on 2019. The latest figures reveal a +25% increase on 2021 MSA audiences.

This outstanding MSA visitor presence reflects the continued growing popularity of MSAs, audiences travelling across the UK, several national events including the Women’s Euros and Commonwealth Games throughout July, and the warm weather across the UK, which is continuing with the school holidays into August.

Staycationing remains hugely popular with 80% of Brits using the UK for a break this year. Recent research also found that just 13% would choose a holiday abroad over a UK staycation, reflecting on travel delays, cancellations, red tape and cost of living concerns.

MSA audiences traditionally peak at the August Bank Holiday. Having already surpassed our 2019 and 2021 peak audience level, we’re expecting further record audiences to visit MSAs this month to capitalise on the continuing warm weather and the opportunity to get away.

MSA Audiences continue to grow around key Summer Moments

For June, which included the Jubilee bank holiday, half term week, the start of hot weather, Glastonbury, some test cricket around the UK and a national rail strike, the MSA audience topped 28 million for the month, representing a weekly average of 6.6 million. This is at +11% of our annual audience to date.

The weekly audience for June was an increase on both 2019 and 2021 (+1% for both), and MSA audience growth continues month-on-month with a +6% uplift on our May audience.

Continued growth has been driven by a number of factors, including the extended Jubilee holiday – which saw our predicted +20% uplift effect on our annual audience to date – warmer weather encouraging more leisure trips and the start of festival season, with audiences travelling to Glastonbury driving a +20% audience uplift to MSAs en route to and from the festival, including a doubling of audience to one location near to the festival site.

Warmer weather and the effects of the train strike ensured audiences continued to grow consistently across the month, driving an impressive +4% weekly audience shift vs comparable weeks in 2019 and 2021 for those key weeks in June.

SME recovery rooted in resilience, mobility and a new digital focus

The pandemic has heightened the importance of the UK’s 6.7 million SMEs – the backbone of the economy at 99.9% of all the UK’s business – with many of us reappraising our lives, finding our entrepreneurial side and actually seeing opportunities coming out of the lifestyle changes still prevalent. Whilst ongoing economic conditions mean the group’s resilience will be tested further, this group remains a viable and thriving audience of entrepreneurs, small and medium sized business owners and employees, and skilled tradespeople.

They represent over half of the workforce (61%), and predominately (85% of SMEs) operate outside London, effectively doing business linking the UK conurbations, rather than concentrated in them. A truly national entity.

Their business turnover is more than half the UK economy. 13% of adults are running fledgling businesses – the highest since 1990s (up from 8%) – and if the pandemic had one effect, it is that 70% of people in the UK adult population believe it is easy to start your own business.

However, Covid cost SMEs £126 billion, with many within the SME cohort up to 250 employees making cost reductions or re-prioritising new product development. The resilience and positivity of this audience also shone through, driving a quick recovery. Whilst half were adversely affected by Covid, half were not! And half of those seeking to start new businesses merely pushed back their timelines, but 27% actually moved these forward and 24% felt no impact.

Crucially, many SMEs adopted digital technologies, or a wider online presence. Some even created new business models entirely. We’ve already seen a +56% reported a rise in earnings (in Q4 2021), with SME transaction volumes up +42%. The majority saw an increase in Q1 2022 revenue (notably in leisure, entertainment, retail and food & drink) and 60% are using digital technologies to sell products and services. In short, the SME is back, displaying resilience and more fit for purpose than ever before.

£1 billion Government restart cash grants from local authorities and £14 billion equity investment into small businesses has helped drive recovery. As Colin O’Flaherty, Head of Small Business at Barclaycard Payments, comments: “Small and medium-sized businesses have had a positive start to the year and it’s encouraging to see so many seeking to add to their workforce. SMEs are also remaining resilient by continuing to focus on areas within their control, such as by improving their operating models to overcome the hangover to supply chain disruption which peaked at the end of last year.”

This is echoed by Jo Fairley, Co-Founder of Green & Blacks and SME Investor. “The strong start to the year for British small and medium-sized businesses, who are looking forward to an average anticipated uplift of +13.5% in earnings over Q1, is really great news.”

Going Digital

The past couple of years has seen a transformative rise in online marketing and in the use of new technology amongst this community. 71% of growing businesses say they survived the pandemic through digitisation. 11% adopted new technologies to transform their business and there has been a rapid adoption of e-commerce (79% for example are now planning to offer permanent contactless services) and expansion into delivery services, with 2/3 online SME retailers investing in their own delivery fleet.

SMEs selling directly on Amazon created 175,000 new jobs with 60% of Amazon product sales come from independent selling partners (particularly strong in Home, Health & Beauty, Fashion and Toys). There has also been a +237% rise in SMEs selling on E-bay through the pandemic.

Mobility

This digitisation and e-commerce growth amongst almost all SMEs is matched by a wider national trend towards personal mobility and a general shift back to car use and private transport.

Car use for Business Trips shifted from 29% to 43% in 2021 and is now as high as 75% according to the NTS (whilst trains shifted downwards 14% to 9%). 57% of SMEs are not changing back to public transport post-Pandemic; companies expect the car will remain as main mode of transport, with a third expecting to use cars over public transport and 42% believing that a car is essential.

Furthermore, 1 in 3 plan to transition to an EV in the next year (with 15% already using). This means sustainability is being embraced by this community; a wholly significant 50% of the UK’s carbon reduction ambition can be delivered by SMEs.

The Value of MSAs

A national, mobile audience, with 85% of its audience outside London, makes for a significant potential for the MSA network in particular as an evolving business environment. 2/3 of UK SMEs dedicate 15% of their working week to face to face networking and interaction and this means they are utilising the motorway network that connects conurbations to hold meetings and use as office space (one factor that has been forgone in large numbers).

MSAs deliver a regular weekday business audience. 60% of SMEs (3.9 million) visit MSAs annually; 19% (1.3m) are regular MSA visitors. Around half of self-employed business owners (3.1m) visit MSAs annually and 20% (1.3m) visit regularly. 70% of the MSA audience visits Monday-Friday, and many of these are regular visitors – 20% of the weekday audience stop at the same site every 2 weeks, with half making plans to stop at a specific location before setting off.

One incentive is the improving facilities to host business meetings and use as their remote workplace. There are 59 business centres nationally and 72 hotels. Other facilities are evolving and transforming the MSA space, attracting key SME decision-makers.

There is now a great opportunity to reach SMEs – bouncing back stronger, more mobile and adopting a more tech-led approach – at MSAs. Despite economic uncertainty, 2/3 of Brits still plan to start businesses at some time in the future; 11% this year! 80% of SMEs remain positive about the next 12 months – 60% expected a significant and incremental boost from the Platinum Jubilee double bank holiday – and this group’s proven resilience will be needed over the next year with climbing economic uncertainty. The MSA environment is one place guaranteed to reach this mobile, entrepreneurial, and tech-led audience.

MSAs transforming for the Motoring sector

From a client this week, “I want my advertising to reach motorists who are actually driving, in environments like yours.”

A fifth of all UK traffic is motorway traffic. 2/3 of those who then stop at Motorway Service Areas (MSAs) are travelling for leisure. Their dwell time is 20 minutes; twice that number if they’re charging an Electric Vehicle (EV). 77% of drivers stop at least once at an MSA on journeys over 90 minutes. MSAs are transforming at scale to meet changing demand. As the most-used electric charger networks, 3,500 superfast chargers are planned across the UK. 650 digital OOH screens – all delivered by 100% renewable energy – will be in place nationally this year.

Those visiting an MSA are twice as likely to be planning to buy a new car, with EV owners 8 times more likely to visit MSAs. The audience is 3.5 times more likely to be company car drivers and 69% of families visit an MSA, particularly at this time of year.

Times are changing in new car purchasing. 75% of drivers are now considering an EV as their next purchase; with 1 in 50 on the road and 1 in 8 new car sales. We’ve seen this shift from a third in just 3-4 years; EV drivers have become more confident on longer journeys, suffering less from long-range charger anxiety.

Other behaviours are changing, not least in a shift towards online buying. Only 11% are now thinking predominately about the brand or make car for their next purchase. Two factors dominate. 1 is fuel type/the environment (over half). 2 is Price – only at 26% but nearly double that amongst petrol/diesel users. This has implication for messaging, type of advertising and the context of that communication.

We’re still using the roads in the current economic climate, June data telling us that 78% are driving more or the same amount (down to two-thirds of those with petrol/diesel engines). Only 23% claim to be driving less. It will widen the consideration span for EVs even further and we’ll continue to monitor.

We’re still recording audience growth at MSAs around Key Moments, and still out-stripping other transport networks only just returning to near-normal. The Jubilee and Glastonbury boosted MSA audiences; the Women’s Euros, Commonwealth Games and a revived Staycation summer will keep audiences – motorists – moving up and down the country in the coming months.