Bathroom Advertising | Gender-Specific Advertising

Washroom advertising is the pinnacle of pervasive marketing. Not even the bathroom is free from the constant barrage of "buy me now" promotion. Still, from a marketer's perspective, washroom advertising is extremely attractive. Studies show that around three-quarters of diners in a restaurant will go to the toilets at some point during their meal. Clubbers go around 2.9 times during an average evening at a nightclub. Statistics from the UK suggest that the number of motorway service visits result in almost 100 million impacts for washroom ads each month.

Admedia leads the UK market in washroom advertising. In operation for ten years, the company now owns 25,000 washroom panels in 1,700 venues, including 200 shopping centers, all of the 131 service areas on the motorway network and a growing number of bars, clubs, and fitness and health centers.

Glenn Gowen, head of marketing and public relations at Admedia, convincingly argues the advantages of washroom advertising. "First you have got a captive audience with little to do other than read your advert. The long dwell times—an average of 105 seconds for women and 55 seconds for men—give people plenty of time to take the information in. We have found that because of the one-to-one nature of the communication, there is high recall: up to 100% recall, and 78% prompted awareness.

"People recall specific details," he continues. "Roadside posters are usually an image and a few words. And there is a measurable increase in sales too." A four-week campaign by Lucozade in male and female motorway service washrooms led to a 563% increase in sales of Lucozade Solstis, and a significant boost in sales of other Lucozade varieties.

David Turner, president of the Indoor Billboard Advertising Association (IBAA) and owner of Johnny Advertising, agrees that washroom advertising works. He has heard about women reading the ads in their stalls aloud to each other, and one adoption agency reportedly once took a phone call from a girl in tears after she had read one of its ads in a restroom.

"The billboard is the media darling at the moment and there are so many broadcast opportunities," he notes. "This is advertising to the masses, but if you don't have a product that fits the masses you need to be targeted. Indoor advertising is more targeted."

When it comes to gender, Turner says, you don't get more-targeted audiences than in the washroom. "It is the only medium that is truly gender-specific. There's no fear of the other gender finding out what you are saying."

"If you only want to talk specifically to men or women, this is definitely the place to do it," stresses Jim Prior, managing partner at The Partners creative agency in the UK.

"You might have thought that the only products that you could advertise were those related to toilets or bathroom-cleaning products," Prior says. "But that's not true—anything goes, from cars to food and drink."

Prior does recognize the unusual circumstances of the communication, however. "It is a ridiculous situation: you are standing there having a wee. It's not exactly a situation for a dialogue with any brand."

Nevertheless, any communication is a brand touchpoint. The real question is whether the washroom environment is ever inappropriate for some brands. Prior is adamant that it is not. "At end of day, it is just a piece of advertising. The issue is not whether the ad is in a loo or not in a loo. It's just that people have got an opportunity to read. People have taken the newspaper, which is full of advertising, to the loo for centuries and this is not really much different. I don't think people will think worse of a brand just because they saw some marketing in a restroom somewhere. Far worse would be to have an ad that people thought was lame and boring."

Admedia's Gowen stresses that the advertising has to be appropriate for the venue, not the immediate context of the washroom itself. He cites the Lucozade campaign, and recent work with T-Mobile that targeted washrooms in clubs and bars. "The washroom panels aimed to target young adults when they were out socializing and in a venue when they were likely to be with their friends and texting.

"We would never say that washrooms would not be right for a brand. I don't think there's anything special about them—people don't see them as an inappropriate environment."

If you are one of the few for whom privacy is important, then prepare for disappointment. According to IBAA's Turner, the market is picking up. "Washroom advertising is hardly new, but it is emerging as an important player. We are finally getting the national buys that the medium deserves."

So public toilets will no longer be such a safe haven. But a trip there might be more fun.

[9-Oct-2006]

Edwin Colyer is a science and technology writer based in Manchester, UK.


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