The airport is a unique and interesting advertising environment in many ways. It is a place where brands extensively meet different target groups and long-term visibility is reasonable and effective. Our long-term partner Fortum also recognises the opportunities of the airport and, in fact, has been building its brand at the airport for almost twenty years.
Customer: Fortum
Energy company Fortum has already been using airport advertising for purely brand advertising for years. Fortum’s operations are strongly connected with the functioning of the whole society, so it is important that Fortum’s stakeholders understand why Fortum exists and what its goals are. Therefore, it is extremely important for Fortum to pursue close cooperation with its stakeholders, and the airport is an ideal place for communicating the company’s strategy and goals.
A unique and safe environment for brands
Why, then, is the airport an ideal place for Fortum? As we said, the airport is a unique environment, where long-term brand building campaigns are reasonable and effective. First of all, the airport provides a modern, high-quality setting where brands can be advertised safely. Brands advertised in a premium environment at the airport are considered to be of high quality and reliable.
”The advertising surfaces at the airport offer a good possibility to build the brand and generate an emotional response to it: people have time, they are often in good spirits and the media surfaces are big and impressive - a venue that offers vast opportunities,” says Jussi Mälkiä, Fortum’s Brand Manager.
The airport is not just a transit area but a comfortable space where passengers spend an average of two hours. A visitor is likely to encounter your advertisement many times in just a few hours, so the airport is a great environment to remind and inspire a customer and build a top-of-mind.
The claim that people are in good spirits is not without foundation either. According to a study conducted by ToinenPHD, people start their holidays in good spirits and are also ready to spend more money than usual. Advertisements are seen in a positive state of mind and they will be remembered: 70% of passengers1 consider the airport to be a good advertising environment and 50% of passengers1 remember an advertisement seen spontaneously at the airport.
“Compared to many other media, people also spend a lot of time at the airport, which makes it possible for the Fortum brand to attract attention in a way different from quickly passing channels and communicate the company’s purpose in more detail,” Mälkiä says.
vastly different targert groups
Campaigns will reach a huge number of active consumers with purchasing power. Large numbers of different target groups move through the airport, ranging from B2B decision-makers to families with children. In addition, international target groups, such as Asians and Russians, are of course emphasised.
The airport is also a great place to reach Finns, regardless of their age, gender or place of residence. In fact, the international dimension and diverse target groups are important for Fortum, which has many important stakeholders. Which target groups does Fortum seek to reach at the airport?
”Fortum has always been an international company and will continue to be so even more in the future. At the airport, we can effectively reach representatives of our foreign stakeholders, while reaching many Finns. Another important thing, in addition to different nationalities, is the possibility to effectively reach specific target groups who are emphasised among air passengers. They may include decision-makers, investors or the representative of other companies,” Jussi Mälkiä explains.
Solutions and results
There are several different advertising solutions available at the airport, with options for different needs and budgets. Many of the advertising surfaces are completely unique and cannot be found anywhere else. The large digital screens at security checks and along the shopping malls, for example, offer a good way of building the brand. Fortum uses the airport purely for brand advertising and makes use of large advertising surfaces.
”We have many advertising solutions at the airport. In all of them, we have made an effort to choose big, impressive surfaces that together with creative implementation simply force people to stop and find out what the advertisement is all about. The solutions chosen offer passengers the possibility to spend time with the brand and help create an emotional tie between the brand and the passenger.”
The airport’s solutions are also suitable for other types of visibility. For example, the advertiser’s message can be part of the service experience, it can appear on unique and impressive advertising surfaces or it can reach the passenger through the entire airport through our advertising network.
For example, service branding and partnerships help bring the brand closer to the consumer through advertising, which is a positive and comfort-enhancing part of the travel experience. They deepen customer’s brand awareness and also provide a tactical benefit. Fortum’s Jussi Mälkiä underlines the importance of high-quality implementation.
”The airport is such a diverse place that it can accommodate different types of campaigns - from tactical campaigns to extreme brand building. However, you must have a good idea and implementation to ensure that the brand stands out in a competitive environment that has a lot of stimulating elements.”
The ongoing challenge in long-term brand work is measurement. The effects of tactical and sales campaigns are usually seen very quickly, whereas the results of brand advertising may only be visible after years. Brand advertising is nevertheless very important for companies as it creates a basis for future sales. The effort is not wasted even if the results are not visible immediately.
”Measurement is not always easy even though we have a lot of experience of our ads having been noticed and caused people to think. We are pleased with having been able to implement quite ambitious campaigns at the airport, and not just basic solutions," Mälkiä says.
Smooth cooperation will also continue in the future
The cooperation has lasted for years and has borne fruit. We always seek to find the right solutions for our customers so that the campaign is as successful as possible. In particular, Fortum appreciates customer orientation.
“Cooperation has been really smooth – our colleagues at Clear Channel are very customer-oriented and always seek to find the best possible solution for the customer. Also, Clear Channel actively offers new solutions instead of always using the same old concept,” Jussi Mälkiä says.
Cooperation and Fortum’s brand work at the airport will also continue in the future. The airport reform at Helsinki Airport is well under way, and we will receive new, impressive advertising surfaces through which it will be even easier to delight customers in the future. We will turn our eyes to the future when we are again free to travel.
”I believe that cooperation with the airport and Clear Channel will continue in the next few years in the same format as now – we want to build our brand with a positive mindset – communicating who we are and what we do, and thereby creating a connection with our stakeholders. Of course things can always be done better, and we must never become passive. I can already promise that Fortum will be visible at the airport even more diversely in 2021,” Mälkiä says.
Finally, Fortum wants to say thanks for long-term cooperation.
”It has wonderful to cooperate with Clear Channel and Finavia for over 10 years! Now the next hope is of course that we can take care of the coronavirus crisis so that people can again travel safely.”
Sources
1) Clear Channel & ToinenPHD, Airport study in Finland 2013
