By Helen Miall, CMO at VIOOH
For years, advertisers have been optimising programmatic digital out of home (pDOOH) campaigns around airports, train stations and on the side of the road, capturing those precious moments when executives rush between meetings.
In fact, research from JCDecaux’s global airport study confirms the enduring value of these environments, with 77% of flyers taking at least one action after seeing airport advertising, and 70% actively enjoying product exhibition stands, shops and advertising displays at the airport. Indeed, airport advertising continues to outperform online and social media across key metrics including brand image enhancement and attention.
However, recent research from VIOOH and ECN has revealed an additional goldmine for reaching business travellers that isn’t just at their destination or during their journey, it’s actually before their journey even begins.
Despite predictions that virtual meetings would permanently reduce business travel, it seems nearly half of business professionals expect to increase their travel frequency over the next 12 months. This aligns with JCDecaux’s findings that global passenger traffic fully recovered in 2024, with projections showing continued growth to 10.1 billion passengers in 2025 and 132% of 2019 levels by 2030.
Business travellers remain a significant segment, representing 42% of all flyers and demonstrating distinctly premium characteristics. Globally, senior executives are driving this growth. Over half of C-suite executives travel three or more times per month, compared to just 23% of middle managers.
This isn’t just about volume; it’s about purchasing power and decision-making authority. When 56% of your most influential audience segment is consistently out and about, the implications for pDOOH ad campaigns are profound.
The office as the new media battleground
Here’s what caught my attention: 65% of business travellers book their travel from the office, and 55% arrange accommodation there. This isn’t incidental behaviour, it’s systematic. The office has become the primary environment for business travel decisions.
What makes this even more compelling is that 78% of business professionals are in the office three or more days per week. Office environments therefore offer repeated, predictable impressions. For ad campaigns, this consistency is invaluable for building brand recall and influencing purchase decisions.
The trust factor amplifies this opportunity. Forty percent of respondents trust indoor OOH advertising on digital screens, and this jumps to 46% among c-suite executives and 44% among employees at large firms. When you combine high trust with high purchase intent in a consistent environment, you have the perfect conditions for impactful pDOOH activation.
Premium mindset, premium prospects
Business travellers demonstrate a distinctly premium mindset that advertisers should leverage. The VIOOH-ECN study revealed that nearly half choose Business or First Class for short-haul flights, rising to 64% for long-haul journeys. This premium orientation extends beyond air travel, with 46% opting for First Class rail travel, and the majority access airport lounges regularly.
The premium nature of airport audiences is confirmed by JCDecaux’s research: 43% of flyers are high-income earners compared to 35% of the general population. Business flyers show even stronger premium credentials with 51% high-income earners. Crucially, 85% of flyers spent money at airports in the past 12 months, with 42% spending over $100 and 17% spending over $500, demonstrating significant purchasing power in these transit environments.
The complementary nature of these touchpoints is particularly powerful: JCDecaux’s study reveals that travellers often window-shop at airports before completing purchases at their destination, with 54% purchasing advertised goods and 62% considering purchases after airport exposure. This creates a natural synergy between airport advertising (building awareness and consideration) and office-based messaging (reinforcing and converting).
For advertising placement expectations, airports remain dominant for luxury and travel brands, while offices are emerging as the preferred environment for business banking and financial services advertising. This shift represents a significant potential for marketers to reach business audiences in less saturated environments.
Practical pDOOH strategies
There are tactical approaches advertisers can tap into when targeting business travellers, to maximise the impact of their campaigns, which include:
- Prioritise Central Business Districts (CBDs)
Large companies with frequent business travellers are predominantly city-centre based. Focus pDOOH inventory on CBD office environments where this audience concentrates daily.
- Layer contextual targeting
Use time-of-day and location data to serve productivity-focused messaging during office hours and premium lifestyle content during travel periods. The ability to tailor messaging to specific environments is where pDOOH truly excels.
- Leverage trust signals
Indoor office environments combine high trust with high purchase intent. Use this credibility to introduce new products or drive direct response actions, particularly for B2B solutions.
- Think beyond episodic touchpoints
Rather than viewing office and transit environments as competing channels, consider them complementary touchpoints in the customer journey. Build campaigns that complement episodic travel advertising with steady office-based messaging to create multiple brand encounters across the business traveller’s day.The C-suite executives aren’t only passing through airports twice a month, they’re present in CBD offices every single day, actively planning their next business journey.
Advertisers who look beyond episodic travel touchpoints to embrace the consistent, high-value environment where business professionals spend the majority of their time, will undoubtedly tap into an underutilised competitor advantage and potential for business growth.
Combined with investment in premium airport environments where these same audiences demonstrate high engagement and purchase intent, brands can build powerful multi-touchpoint campaigns that reach business travellers in different moments across their professional journey.
