The media industry often likes to speak anecdotally about holiday mobility patterns, largely due to the lack of data available to back these thoughts up.
This year oOh! is going to fill that gap through our Out of Home (OOH) exclusive partnership with New Zealand data provider, Mooven.
This partnership allows us to understand the audience mobility patterns of Kiwis across the 3 main mets (Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch) in real time – encompassing motorway, suburban and CBD road corridors. With data refreshed every 15-minutes, we have an unrivalled understanding of OOH audiences and how they are moving 24/7. Looking at our first two public holidays of the year, there are some clear trends that can now be backed up with data.
1. Nielsen CMI (Q2 22 – Q1 23)
Frantic Fridays
Anyone that has attempted to leave Auckland on the Friday before a long weekend can attest to the steep build-up of traffic on the motorways.
Our data backs this up. Aucklanders began their trips out of the city for the Anniversary weekend at around midday on Friday. Mobility trended upwards earlier in the day and peaked higher than the Friday prior as Kiwis looked to get away earlier for the long weekend.
Auckland Network Mobility - AKL Anniversary Friday vs Friday prior
Holiday Mode Mondays
When it comes to the actual public holiday days themselves, we see mobility act much more like a weekend than a typical weekday.
The morning and evening commutes are far less pronounced, with mobility building up towards the middle of the day at a more steady pace than it would on a normal weekday.
This is demonstrated through data from both Auckland Anniversary Monday (Auckland network only) and Waitangi Day (3 main met networks).
Auckland Network Mobility - AKL Anniversary Monday vs Monday prior
Three Main Met Networks - Waitangi Tuesday vs Tuesday prior
What does this mean for advertisers?
Public holidays still see Kiwis out and about on the roads, just in different ways and at different times.
Advertisers can take advantage of this knowledge and target their buys accordingly in different ways.
For example, they can focus on utilising the flexibility of Programmatic OOH to:
• Target key audiences earlier in the afternoon than normal (e.g. 12pm – 5pm rather than 5pm – 7pm) to reach them as they begin their commute away for the long weekend • Time Trigger buys on public holidays to reach audiences as they travel around town differently than their typical weekday commutes (e.g. 10am – 3pm rather than 7am – 9am and 5pm – 7pm).
For more information, reach out to your oOh! rep or directly to the oOh! Insights team.
