OMA #stayathome campaign confirms ‘Out and About is where we want to be’

As the masses moved indoors during these times of physical isolation, the outdoor signs went (theoretically) silent, providing outdoor media industry players with the challenge of an audience that now travels less and makes very different trips.

“The perception is that we are all staying at home, but the observation is different. Nine out of ten people left home every day before the pandemic. During the pandemic it is more like six out of ten people leaving home and they’re making very different trips, hyper local trips. In this COVID world our signs are narrowcasting to a variety of audiences who are traversing shorter distances, usually by foot, to exercise, to shop, and to work, from home,” says Charmaine Moldrich, CEO, OMA.

“Our lives in COVID-19 have added a new dimension to the word ‘home’. The introverts among us may be enjoying not having to interact, but most of us are also craving the freedom to move about and enjoy our cities and public spaces. Travel has become functional and essential, not the playground of choice it once was. 

“All this is making us realise that the outside world is as much our home as the place where we lay our heads at night. We look with optimism to a time when we can go back to being social and being outside.

“During this time of COVID we have embraced the notion that society is more important than the individual or, in fact, the economy. For me, this has been heartening and reassuring, as we collectively made the social contract to self-isolate, to protect the most vulnerable in our community. We are all in this together.  

“When we started the #stayathome journey seven weeks ago, we did not know how