• by Anthony Petrillo , Op-Ed Contributor, April 26, 2016

Imagine this scenario: You’re walking down the bustling streets of Manhattan and see an OOH advertisement for a fashion brand. The featured shirt catches your eye and you must have it. So you look it up on your smartphone. Thanks to the brand's awesome mobile website, you can buy it instantaneously. Welcome to the newest and trending consumer journey. 

This fusion of mobile and OOH has created a unique consumer journey path, requiring no human interaction. Many industries and brands have adapted to this trend and are reaping the benefits. For the travel industry, this is crucial as they usually list as a high-ticket item with a lot of competition. 

Let’s start at the beginning of this journey, OOH. In 2015, the OAAA released a study showing that 22% of American consumers will research, engage socially or purchase a brand within 30 minutes of exposure to OOH advertising. Since mobile browsing accounts for 51% of adult internet usage, it’s a fair assumption that consumers are using their smartphones to take action. 

Travel is a high-cost service that warrants high volumes of research. Not only are consumers comfortable researching travel options from their smartphones, but they are comfortable booking travel as well. As of February 2016, over 50% of travelers research and book travel via mobile devices, up from 43.8% in 2015. So how does a travel brand optimize this trend?

JetBlue is one travel brand that is making a concerted effort to satisfy their customers along the entire journey. Starting the experience with inspiring OOH campaigns like #NYCTakeoff and A Better Wingman puts the consumer in high spirits, then closes strong with their mobile app. The app is consistent across all platforms, scoring a universal 4 of 5 star rating on both Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play. The consumer journey is nearly flawless and is recognized by continued first-place ACSI industry rankings. 

The OOH to mobile consumer journey is becoming a preferred model. For travel brands to succeed, they need to develop engaging OOH strategies and follow up with a strong mobile platform.

Editor's note: This article originally appeared on March 9, 2016.