Ada Analysis: The Effect of Restrictions on Suburban Audiences

Continuing our analysis of the effect COVID-19 has on Out of Home audiences and their behaviours, Ada, our OOH data management platform, has been used to understand the mobility of suburban audiences.

Suburban OOH Trends: High Street Mobility

Our analysis has found that suburban areas and local high streets are still attracting significant OOH audiences, due to their close proximity to residential hotspots. On average, the current local high street footfall across the UK is +5% above the expected level / baseline.

The analysis focused on examples from around the UK by identifying High street towns, defined as locations with less than 320,000 residents. The report covered various regions including Coventry, Norwich and Stockport whilst also examining OOH exposure in the London areas of Kingston Upon Thames and Stoke Newington.

In Stockport and across the North West, the city centre has become a popular destination for shopping and eating out, with OOH exposure peaking at +41% vs the baseline during September.

In Norwich, the city centre returned to normal levels during August and September. It is now at levels much higher than areas surrounding the city. Vehicle and pedestrian traffic flow has increased consistently across that period.

Within the London area, local surrounding suburbs such as Kingston Upon Thames with high residential populations are recovering at a faster rate than Central London. Kingston is now +6% above the baseline, continuing the growth seen in the weeks prior.

To account for these new audience behaviours, advertisers should be confident they can reach audiences in suburban areas across the UK, where we’re seeing consistently high levels of OOH exposure.

Our Ada data is refreshed on a weekly basis providing an opportunity for us to analyse and understand recent changes in regulations and the effect they have on OOH exposure. Using this insight, we are able to provide our clients with flexible planning and trading metrics reflecting actual audience levels.

For more information about Ada audiences, as well as our latest initiative showing audiences out of home, please see here.