The Facts About Infligth Video Advertising

Posted by global on August 22nd, 2018

Is inflight video advertising effective? That is a question facing many advertisers and while the jury is still out, there are many signs that the two mediums, inflight and video advertising, are effective and work well together. Unanswered is how effective are they and are consumers responsive to either, both, both together or some iteration of both.

Inflight Advertising

According to several surveys, 85% of long-distance passengers remember some form of inflight advertising and on long flights, 90% of passengers will use their trays. Almost half of all travelers over 2 hours will watch some form of inflight video offering (Movie, promotional message, standard internet browsing using airline WiFi. On flights over an hour, almost 90% of passengers use their tray for a minimum of 15 minutes. 92% of airline passengers remembered advertising messages a few hours after reaching their destinations.

Video Advertising

If the inflight advertising opportunities are significant, they are dwarfed by video advertising opportunities. Over 80% of Twitter users watch video content and 45% of Facebook or YouTube members watch more than an hour per week. 87% of online advertising is some form of video content.

WiFi is Key

Inflight movies are a major form of advertising, but with over half of all video content viewed on mobile devices, WiFi for airlines is critical. In fact, almost a third of air passengers said they would consider one airline over another based solely on the availability of WiFi.

Video as Inflight Advertising

With those user statistics, the case for using inflight video advertising as a primary medium for inflight advertising is powerful, but it would stand to reason that the primary driving force is not inflight movies, but WiFi availability. While almost all major airlines offer inflight entertainment advertising and offer inflight WiFi for a fee, at least on domestic flights, the tendency of consumers is to want to view their own choices in terms of content, rather than a spoon fed slate of content via an inflight movie.

Personalization

As with most forms of advertising, personalization is also important. The more personal (without venturing into the creepy) an inflight advertiser can make a message, the more likely it is that it will be noticed, regardless of the advertising medium.

Opportunities

With statistics like this, it is clear that inflight advertising is a medium that works, as is video and the two together compliment each other. Add to that many advertising opportunities in airline magazines and on trays, boarding passes and even in overhead bins and there are multiple opportunities for an advertiser to get noticed.

With air travelers, inflight video advertising offers many opportunities, including utilizing WiFi as an advertising medium. The key is personalizing as much as possible and allowing as much choice as possible in determining what to watch.