
Life is funny! You know how you speak about a specific topic and later on it becomes the center of attention or you read an article about it? This is what happened to me.
On Wednesday I was at the Chicago ORD Airport ready to take my flight to Paris and was telling my husband that, according to me, print advertising is still very important in airports, and above all, when you are waiting at your gates. Some of the ads actually really catch your attention while you are walking calmly to your gate and have nothing else to do but browsing around. A Playstation area, like in Paris CDG airport, is obviously way more engaging, but I was pretty firm about print advertising in waiting areas.
After a 7+ hour flight, I arrived in Paris and had to walk quite a long way to get to Passport control and the baggage area. On my way to the CDGVAL (the airport shuttle) and before going through migration, I was stopped by a survey guy regarding a print ad I supposedly passed by. Apparently, I walked by this car ad so he showed it back to me and it vaguely rang a bell... I was feeling bad for the guy but I tried to stay objective: no I couldn't remember the ad and so clearly it left me completely indifferent. Unfortunately (and surprisingly, ah!), the survey was completely biased: no "I did not notice the ad" option... So of course, all the questions that followed I answered whatever suited best if I had noticed the ad!
It's pretty sad to think a brand will actually use the results of this survey!
In a international terminal, where people land after long hour flights and think only about go through migration and get their bags, why would you spend money on an ad not related to their stay (hotel, tourism, car rental....) and invest even more in a biased survey? Oh advertising!
I really believe print ads in airports are relevant, but please let's use some common sense!
On Wednesday I was at the Chicago ORD Airport ready to take my flight to Paris and was telling my husband that, according to me, print advertising is still very important in airports, and above all, when you are waiting at your gates. Some of the ads actually really catch your attention while you are walking calmly to your gate and have nothing else to do but browsing around. A Playstation area, like in Paris CDG airport, is obviously way more engaging, but I was pretty firm about print advertising in waiting areas.
After a 7+ hour flight, I arrived in Paris and had to walk quite a long way to get to Passport control and the baggage area. On my way to the CDGVAL (the airport shuttle) and before going through migration, I was stopped by a survey guy regarding a print ad I supposedly passed by. Apparently, I walked by this car ad so he showed it back to me and it vaguely rang a bell... I was feeling bad for the guy but I tried to stay objective: no I couldn't remember the ad and so clearly it left me completely indifferent. Unfortunately (and surprisingly, ah!), the survey was completely biased: no "I did not notice the ad" option... So of course, all the questions that followed I answered whatever suited best if I had noticed the ad!
It's pretty sad to think a brand will actually use the results of this survey!
In a international terminal, where people land after long hour flights and think only about go through migration and get their bags, why would you spend money on an ad not related to their stay (hotel, tourism, car rental....) and invest even more in a biased survey? Oh advertising!
I really believe print ads in airports are relevant, but please let's use some common sense!