There’s no question we’ve seen a major social readjustment in the past year or so, reflecting change enforced and stimulated by the pandemic, and now the economy. Whilst we’ve sort of returned to normal, we have actually landed with a very different outlook and the entrenchment of new behaviours.

It seems appropriate to draw a line in the sand and consider new rules of engagement for Out of Home (OOH) in 2023. New audience behaviours, the work-life reset, digital attention metrics, the realisation of data to target moments that matter and a real focus on sustainable OOH solutions set a clear and fresh agenda for growth.

It’s time we recognise the real change that is entrenched in new audience behaviours across the country, particularly since Covid, but now heightened by economic factors. Changing consumer behaviour means the moments economy is in play. We are gravitating towards spending small amounts on enjoying day-to-day life in the face of economic concerns. This will affect bigger ticket items like foreign holidays and sits alongside a renewed focus on experience-led marketing and innovative/experiential executions in OOH. Retail experience spaces offer a significant change to our view of retail and heighten the importance of finding the right experiential opportunity for brands to reflect the new reality.

Fundamental changes to media consumption – including a genuine squeeze on digital advertising revenues in response to serious shortcomings – mean brands are looking for a broader range of connection points with consumers and seeing the value of a return to resilient offline media channels, particularly in an economic downturn where trust and familiarity become key factors.

The work-life reset certainly looks here to stay, but we’re not necessarily shifting our planning mindset accordingly. Extensive evidence that people are permanently adopting a truly balanced lifestyle with remote working to the fore redefines urban audiences and the very dynamics of OOH.

People are visiting city centres less often and at different times, exacerbated by working from home only 1-2 days on average (according to a recent study by the BBC). More people are coming into the office now, but only infrequently and this redefines OOH audience delivery. Furthermore, economy-led challenges for the high street, the slow recovery of shopping centre audiences – still below pre-pandemic levels nationally – and rail strikes and cancellations further affecting public transport use, means the key question becomes: Is your media channel delivering audience growth and sufficient impacts?

Shifting travel trends means OOH’s long-held obsession with the major cities is in need of consideration. Our frequency and reason for visiting major cities has changed fundamentally and we should consider embracing more inclusive national campaign strategies across multiple environments in OOH, reflecting where both audiences and inventory is located, and using measurement tools fit for purpose in the changing environment. People have rethought location, in many instances relocating out of major cities. 85% of SMEs operate outside London and the South-East.

Championing attention factors has become critical. Whilst the overwhelming majority of roadside OOH impacts are delivered to people in vehicles – fine for stand-out large format digital resonating to city centre commuters – for the fast-growing small format digital OOH, this means widely varying attention levels. Factor in the very strong relationship between dwell time and recall – now more apparent than ever to the media planner – and the real value of different OOH environments becomes apparent in the new era.

As attention experts Lumen acknowledge, by making your ads attract just 5% more attention, generates up to +40% increase in brand KPIs. “Simply reaching or not reaching a target customer is not the end of it.” This is an important issue to consider and digital screen placement to viewing, attention and dwell time is of paramount importance.

Our own digital expansion at MSAs will extend to 650 national full-motion digital screens by early 2023. Positioning screens to maximise exposure (for example, all are placed on entry to MSA buildings) means ads are unmissable. This means that reaching growing audiences taking journeys around moments that matter across 2023 gives a contextual relevance that is more important than ever. Our latest audiences are up +3% on last year and +5% ahead of comparable 2019 levels. Not all OOH environments are experiencing consistent levels of audience growth and consistency.

2023 will likely be the year OOH makes a true connection between data and outcomes. With programmatic OOH accelerating in impact – despite being some way off critical engagement – the need for data that goes beyond the value of static measurement tools becomes paramount. Understanding journeys that directly and accurately connect to influencing brand outcomes will become a key differentiator for media channels across the spectrum. The creative impact and targeting flexibility of full-motion digital OOH at scale, is a crucial element of integrated brand communication.

At i-media, we have a genuine commitment to data sources that complement our accurate ANPR metrics to drive a new, relevant and accurate audience model that reflects reality. As people’s travel behaviours change fundamentally, we need to rely on real time, current and seasonal audience measurement that can offer planners real value. Our roster of data sources goes beyond Route to address the reset through dynamic data that informs brand outcomes and audience actions in the real world, which has changed.

Consistency in delivering sustainable environments will also become critical in 2023. Nearly nine-in-ten consumers have become greener in their purchasing and over a third are prepared to pay more for sustainable products and services. Credibly, the ad industry has an ambition for every ad to be a green ad. OOH companies are key partners in helping decarbonize cities and OOH environments. We’re embracing initiatives including investing in recyclable energy, utilising and supporting the drive to Electric Vehicles, reducing power output at quiet times and upgrading to more energy-efficient screens.

This is inherent in the digital transformation of MSAs; the overriding shift towards EVs is a fundamental part of the transforming MSA environment. Even more is happening in OOH through regeneration initiatives and giving back to communities and the sector is striving ahead of rival digital industries. Our partnership with Planet Mark to achieve our ambition to operate in a fully carbon neutral way, reduce emissions and support global and local sustainable projects will be a must-have to all media businesses in 2023.

Tapping into more data, transforming the MSA environment and measuring our journeys and behaviour means greater understanding of how people will be travelling day-to-day and to key events in 2023. With a recognition of fundamental changes, 2023 offers us the chance to truly re-evaluate the media landscape and position our brands to people that matter – never more important economically than now.