LIVE BOARD, INC. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Jun Sakurai; hereinafter, "LIVE BOARD") has conducted a survey in 2022 to investigate the role of OOH* and its value for and influence on audiences during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
*1. An abbreviation for "Out of Home," OOH is a general term for advertising media delivered outside the home, such as public transit advertising, outdoor advertising, and advertising in commercial facilities.

The survey targeted people who: live in Tokyo or one of its three surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa; commute to office jobs (as full-time employees) in the 23 wards of Tokyo; use the Tokyo Metro or Yamanote Line at least two to three times a week; and who have seen outdoor and public transit advertisements in the past month that left an impression on them.

◆What is the role and value of OOH and its influence on audiences?

1) Role and value of OOH
In the group interviews conducted, the survey found that there is an awareness of OOH's role in promoting behavioral change, its effectiveness in disseminating information; and its significant entertainment aspect. Specifically, the following points were raised: it acts as a trigger for action; it is seen as a medium to learn about trends; it serves as a tool to spread awareness; it can be a form of entertainment; it boosts one's mood; and it gives a sense of the season.

There were also the following comments.
・Food and beverage related content really catches my interest and I go ahead and buy them (woman, 40s)
・I ordered a food delivery after seeing an OOH ad about takeout food (woman, 20s)
・I Googled an idol I saw in an OOH ad (woman, 30s)
・I saw many people taking pictures of an OOH ad, so I thought it must be popular (man, 40s)
・I can get new information from OOH ads (man, 40s)
・I expect OOH ads to attract even people who are not interested (man, 30s)
・When I find an OOH ad with my favorite idol in it, I join the high school girls in taking photos of it (woman, 30s).

2) Advantages of OOH
In terms of the advantages of OOH, digital OOH*, analog OOH, outdoor advertising in local areas, and outdoor/public transit advertising offer four main benefits. Specifically, digital OOH can gain awareness using a rich amount of information, and it can offer the pleasure of looking at the ad. Outdoor advertising in local areas has the significant advantage of being more visible than in urban areas. Some interviewees said it gives a sense that a company is making an effort. Outdoor/public transit ads were perceived as more personalized and more likely to lead to research behavior.
*An abbreviation for "Digital Out of Home," digital OOH refers to advertising media using digital signage installed in public transit advertising, outdoor advertising, commercial facilities, etc.

In addition, the following comments were made.
・I think that moving images with sound are more informative than even dozens of paper advertisements (woman, 20s).
・I find myself wondering what information the video ads will show next (man, 40s).
・The quizzes in the video ads make me think and look things up out of curiosity (man, 30s).
・Even if it's something I don't care about, it gets my attention when it's playing repeatedly at an intersection where I'm standing (man, 40s).
・After I have seen the print ads, seeing the video ads makes me even more interested (man, 40s)
・Transportation ads leave a lasting impression. It's very powerful when the whole space has been filled with the ads (woman, 30s)
・Analog ads are good because you can take a proper look at them and make note of the details (woman, 40s)
・Although I couldn't go out because of the coronavirus pandemic, I got a sense that the company was making an effort to inform local (regional) people (man, 30s)
・Outdoor advertising has a brand-new feel to it (man, 20s)
・It's in places where I'm going out, so if there's an ad that's relevant, it influences me (man, 20s)

3) Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on outdoor advertising
After the period of self-restraint from going out during the COVID-19 pandemic, attention to outdoor advertising appears to be increasing. On factor behind this may be that when people go out, they tend to spend more time traveling in urban areas where they can maintain social distancing, avoiding dense areas such as public transportation. There are still many situations where public transit is the primary means of transportation, such as commuting to work and school. However, as people's movement patterns have begun to change, so too have their perspectives and fields of view. They are now able to see their surroundings more carefully, walking along streets that they had not used before. By avoiding crowds, people now enjoy an expanded field of view of their surroundings with fewer obstacles. This has made it easier for various OOH advertisements, including outdoor advertisements, to catch their eye.

In addition, the following comments were also received in the survey.
・I started to walk more, thinking of it as good exercise (woman, 20s)
・I try to go by bicycle if it's somewhere within cycling distance (woman, 40s)
・It used to be that I would not look far from the station, but after I signed up for a bicycle sharing service, I realized there were many places I could go (man, 20s).
・By riding a bicycle through places I don't usually pass, I see more outdoor advertisements that I wouldn't otherwise see (man, 40s).
・Now that there are fewer people, I feel more relaxed wearing earphones and looking around (man, 20s)

<Survey summary>
Research method: Online group interviews
Panelists: People who: live in Tokyo or one of its three surrounding prefectures of Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa; commute to office jobs (as full-time employees) in the 23 wards of Tokyo; who use the Tokyo Metro or Yamanote Line at least two to three times a week; and who have seen outdoor and public transit advertisements in the past month that left an impression on them.
*The survey excluded people who do not usually look at outdoor/public transit advertising and others with low interest.
Subjects/number of participants: 2 groups of 3 people each (total 6 people), divided by gender, for 1.5 hours each
Survey period: Wednesday, December 15, 2021 Group 1 (women) 18:00-19:30; Group 2 (men) 20:00-21:30
*Research company: Video Research Ltd.

◆LIVE BOARD, INC.

A digital OOH ad network operator achieving data driven targeting and effectiveness verification

LIVE BOARD is the first company in Japan to achieve impression-based advertisement delivery in OOH. We deploy advertisement delivery and billing systems in accordance with actual conditions that are based on the estimated number of viewers "at that time, in that place, and for that specific ad," even during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the patterns of movement of people are prone to change. In addition, by combining big data from Japan's largest carriers with our proprietary network that comprises a wide range of digital OOH throughout Japan, including outdoor, indoor, train, and station OOH ads, we have enabled the delivery of personalized ads such as targeting by gender and age, which was not feasible with conventional OOH.

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