Airwallex reported triple-digit brand growth from a multi-format out-of-home campaign aimed at business decision-makers. The lesson is that brand advertising is measurable when you define the audience and the format mix.
Five times the reach of a billboard-only plan did not come from spending more. It came from spreading across the formats the target audience actually moves through.
Airwallex, the Australian payments business, has reported triple-digit brand growth from its first major Australian campaign, a multi-format out-of-home push planned by Accenture Song Media and delivered through oOh!media. The numbers are big. A 386% lift in awareness, a 267% rise in familiarity and a 180% increase in consideration among the audiences who saw it. The campaign generated more than 184 million impressions and five times the reach of a billboard-only plan.
The detail that matters is the mix. This was not just billboards. It spanned airport environments, Qantas lounges, office towers, retail, street furniture and metro rail, all aimed at high-value business decision-makers. The goal was to shift how those people saw Airwallex, positioning it as a modern alternative to traditional business banking.
Why it matters
Out-of-home is often dismissed as a brand-awareness luxury with no way to prove it worked. This campaign is a counterpoint. It set a clear audience, used multiple formats to surround that audience and measured the brand lift it produced. That is OOH treated as a measured channel, not a vanity billboard.
The B2B angle is the useful part for Australian businesses. Airwallex did not blanket the country. It targeted business decision-makers in the places they spend time, airport lounges and office towers, and built a format mix around their day. Reach without relevance is expensive noise. Reach aimed at the right people in the right places is what moved the numbers.
The lift in brand awareness Airwallex reported among audiences exposed to its multi-format out-of-home campaign. Source: B&T
What to do about it
Define the audience before the media. Airwallex won by knowing exactly whose perception it wanted to shift, then building around them.
Think in format mix, not single channels. One billboard is a placement. A coordinated mix across the places your audience moves is a campaign.
Measure brand lift, do not assume it. Awareness, familiarity and consideration can be tracked. If you are spending on brand, set the baseline and measure the move.
Match the environment to the buyer. Airport lounges and office towers reached decision-makers. Pick the places your customers actually are, not the cheapest available space.
Give brand work time and room. Triple-digit lifts come from coordinated, well-targeted spend, not a lone poster left up for a fortnight.
Brand advertising is not unmeasurable and it is not a luxury. Done with a clear audience, the right format mix and proper measurement, it moves the numbers that eventually move sales. The billboard was never the point. The plan around it was.