Audi Canada went from 0 to 52 weeks in near-record time to secure Astral Out of Home’s newest premium property.
The luxury automaker has locked up exclusive advertising rights on Astral’s so-called “Grand Central Wall” at Vancouver International Airport (YVR) for the next year.
The deal brokered by GroupM agency MediaCom also gives Audi first right of refusal for the premium-priced advertising face. The company is currently using the screen to promote its new A4 sedan and Q7 luxury SUV.
The 12-foot by 21-foot high-definition LED screen is the first of several new digital advertising faces that Astral plans to introduce as part of the eight-year contract with YVR it won last year.
The new screen dominates the entrance to the airport’s domestic departures lounge, and is visible to all Air Canada passengers. Domestic passengers account for an estimated 52% of the 20.3 million people that pass through the airport each year, spending an average of two hours and 41 minutes in the departures area.
An estimated 36% of YVR users are business travellers with a high household income, which Astral’s vice-president of sales Jordana Fatsis said makes the screen particularly attractive to companies such as Audi.
Fatsis said Astral planned to add up to five more digital screens in the airport’s domestic and international check-in areas, as well as its domestic arrivals area.
Those screens will also be available on an exclusive 52-week basis, though the company plans to introduce digital networks in areas such as the baggage carousel that will be capable of accommodating multiple advertisers on a loop.
“It gives clients flexibility without having to be locked in for 52 weeks,” said Fatsis. “It gives clients with different budgets the ability to use digital technology without it being long-term only.”
Astral plans to launch similar products at both the Halifax Stanfield International Airport and Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport, both of which are relatively new additions to the company’s growing airport inventory.
The company currently has multi-year deals in place with five airports across the country, including Montreal’s Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport and Quebec City’s Jean-Lesage Airport.
