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Defining smart boredomThe smartphone / connected device-enabled shift to “converting all pockets of time into productive, worthwhile, or fun activity…to engage in non-taxing activities and fill[…] downtime with easy yet useful or rewarding tasks”- The Foresight Factory

“Clever ways of coping with the moments of “minor boredom” experienced in public places, on the bus, in line, and during breaks at work or school… what was idle becomes occupied, and what was annoyingbecomes absorbing”- www.biweekly.pl/article/4907-smart-boredom.html

Smart boredom is a description of the smartphone-enabled shift to filling points of previously unproductive time with activities that are either useful, or fun, or both.

Often, completion of particular activities at points which before would simply have been unoccupied means that at another point, time is freed up for more fulfilling, enjoyable pastimes. Smart boredom can make people more efficient and give them back precious moments of spare time in today’s increasingly busy world.

The on-train environment’s mix of high dwelltime – the necessary, potentially unoccupied journey; an affluent, hyper-connected audience, and noticeable Traincard advertising makes it the ideal time and place for smart boredom’s benefits really to kick in.

Traincards:putting the 'smart' into 'smart boredom'

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The advent of smart boredom solutionsSmart boredom is not a new phenomenon. As Susan Matt, American cultural historian and author of the book “Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stupid”, which looks into experiences and definitions of emotions in the modern, social media-enabled age, against those felt prior to the internet, explains: “Smartphones are not the first technology that people have turned to, to relieve boredom... In the 1920s, 30s and 40s it was the radio – people would often say “Thanks to the radio, I don’t have to sit in solitude in my house”".

The radio is just one of the ways that people have leveraged advances in technology to fill unoccupied time more productively.

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising is, at least in part, an early attempt to get some benefit from smart boredom, giving people something to look at and absorb, but initially it was one-way communication, directing people to remember to do something; they had to act on that prompt themselves.

With the growth of the smartphone OOH has become increasingly sophisticated and effective in what it can achieve. It’s not solely distracting with a prompt or a message; it’s nowdistracting with a prompt or a message,and then being able immediately to act on that message in some positive way.

And OOH prompts positive feeling by helping people win mental brownie points through reminding them of things they need to do, maximising unavoidable spare time by filling it with necessary activity. Tasks ticked off in this way mean more time off later in the day.

“In the mental arithmetic of maximizing time use, by consciously filling each available fleeting moment with worthwhile activity – whether during the commute home, while waiting in line, or in an unexpected half-hour opening between meetings – we see ourselves as earning a major “switch-off” later for rejuvenation.”- The Foresight Factory

Some smart boredom solutions through the ages

Sources throughout the document: TGI, Dipsticks, Retail Economics

Acceptingmoments

of boredom

OOHadvertising

Leaflets Newspapersand magazines

on the go

Radio TV Music onthe move

Mobilephones

Smartphones

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Influential audienceLooking at the basic demographics of frequent rail users, over a third are aged 18-34 and more than half are aged 18-44. Most of them work full time – and are, therefore, likely to be more time-poor, less frequently exposed to most advertising channels and more open to the benefits of smart boredom. They’re also well-off, therefore more likely to be able to affordthe best technology solutions, which equates to the greatest likelihood of using them to fill enforced dead time with productivity.

Audience basics:Are the audience and the environment influential enough for advertising to make a measurable difference?

The KBH Traincard network reaches six million individuals and 4.8 million commuters every two weeks.

The audience is highly influential.

SEG ££££

Traincards’ hierarchy of smart boredom solutionsTo create Traincards’ hierarchy of smart boredom solutions, we’ve borrowed the well-known concept of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. According to Maslow, working from the bottom upwards, the needs within each tier must be totally, or nearly, satisfied before there can be progression to the needs on the level above. This fits well with defining an effective environment for maximum smart boredom benefits. To achieve this environment, each of the criteria must be ticked off before the end goal – advertising effectiveness – can be proven.

We will now show you how the on-train environment fulfils the criteria for smart boredom effectiveness set down in each tier, culminating in Traincards’ proven effectiveness for advertisers.

Effectivenessof Traincards’

smart boredomsolutions

Do Traincardswork for advertisers?

On-train spend potentialAre Traincards able to access and

influence sufficient on-device retail spend?

Breadth of smart boredom solutionsAre Traincards proven relevant for the

widest possible range of advertiser objectives?

Audience connectivityIs the on-train audience sufficiently connected

to enable the action advertisers require?

Audience basicsAre the audience and the environment influential enough

for advertising to make a measurable difference?

44% female, 56% male

38% AB (+33%)67% ABC1 (+16%)

Average family income 24% above KBH region averageAverage personal income 41% above KBH region average

49% work full time (+31%)

15% 18-24 (+28%)21% 25-34 (+25%)18% 35-44 (+7%)18% 45-54 (+7%)

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Eye-contact avoiders find advertising useful

And finally, the unique situation of commuting, where a number of strangers are forced into close proximity, guarantees that rail users like to look anywhere but at each other. This reluctance to engage accidentally makes them prime candidates for smart boredom activities when on the train with strangers.

They also appreciate on-train advertising, at least in part because it prompts them to get on with various activities at that point in their day, when they have capacity, time and capability to do so.

Positive on-train journey experienceThe on-train environment is also influential because it’s a positive point in rail users’ days, and when people feel positive they are more open to advertising influence. A 2017 study by Yahoo showed that when people felt positive or upbeat, advertising effectiveness increased by 24%.

KBH commuter panel research has proved – perhaps surprisingly – that on-train time is positive time. When comparing the journey to the rest of their day, 46% felt more relaxed, 46% happier and 42% more focused. In fact, strikingly, for the latter, when compared to the rest of their day only 29% said they felt more distracted on the train.

Average journey time:have a journeylonger than that40 minutes 39%

Substantial dwelltimeThe length of dwelltime is one of the most unique aspects of the on-train environment and plays a significant role in Traincards’ overall effectiveness, certainly in the high ad recall and activation levels we consistently see within our campaign awareness research studies.

The average journey time is 40 minutes, but almost two in five commuters have a journey longer than that. That’s a lot of time to fill, and, crucially, there’s a lot of potential to get things done on the journey, getting on top of personal and professional tasks at a point which previously featured enforced idleness.

57% agree they avoid making eye contact with other travellers through a variety of activities

48% agree that they find advertising on trains / in rail stations useful

Happier More focusedMore relaxed

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Hyper-connected audienceThe on-train audience is proven to be hyper-connected. In KBH research, almost nine in ten people we asked had used their smartphone on the train that day. Rail users are spending increasing amounts of that journey time on connected device, too: almost two-thirds of their journey, an increase of over a quarter in just two years. As smart boredom becomes the default in situations where people have time to occupy, we can expect this number to increase.

This is reinforced by the fact that shopping on-train is the most popular ‘third space’ (neither home nor work) for mobile purchases to be made, with 31% saying that the purchase they’d made via connected device was made on the train.

When looking at motivations for shopping while travelling by train, all the responses we received were in some way smart boredom solutions. People used their devices to fill the unoccupied journey time, whether this was because they appreciated the free time, they found it convenient to shop at that point, or even explicitly because they were bored.

On-train shopping motivations are smart boredom solutionsThe percentage of people aged 18-34 who said that boredom was a main motivator for on-train shopping rose by 29% when compared to all respondents, and by a phenomenal 57% when comparing responses from those aged 35+ with our ‘Millennial’ respondents. It’s clear that the on-train smart boredom phenomenon – and, consequently, its benefits for advertisers – is only set to increase as the purchasing power of the younger demographic also increases over time, and as even more connected, smart boredom-savvy consumers join the on-train audience.

Breadth of smartboredom solutions:Are Traincards proven relevant for the widestpossible range of advertiser objectives?

By now, this paper has shown that the on-train environment and levels of connectivity both enable advertisers to make the most of smart boredom’s opportunities.

Rail users have browsed and bought from a wide range of retail category sites during their journey. They are also prepared to use on-train time and connectivity to buy a wide range of goods, not immediate retail purchases, but events and experiences too.And finally, we know that smart boredom helps tick more tasks than simply shopping off the to-do list.

Commuters carry out a wide range of activities that mix business and pleasure but all of which enable them to be more efficient across their days in general. This breadth of activity provides opportunities for advertisers in a wide variety of categories, not just retail, to use Traincards to take advantage of smart boredom time.

88% used their smartphoneon the train that day

64% of average journeyspent using connected

device; +28% in two years

free time

convenience

boredomdon't feel time

pressured

enjoy browsing forproducts on the train

Audience connectivity:Is the on-train audience sufficiently connected to enable the action advertisers require?

Having demonstrated the first stage of Traincards’ hierarchy of influence on smart boredom solutions, we move onto the next: connectivity.

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Wide range of on-train on-device activity

Wide range of on-trainon-device activity

gaming

use search engines

visit dating app

meditate

study shop

chat in person

research purchaseswatch / listen to content

check train infomake plans

phone

worke-mail

read

social media

musicmessaging

managing finances

present purchasing

impulse buying

travel tickets event tickets

take-aways

groceries

electronics

tech

holidays

presents

price comparison sites

fashion sites

supermarket sites

other retail sites

travel sites

It’s worth drawing attention to the fact that this is sometimes surprising behaviour – such as the range of financial activities commuters are prepared to carry out during their journeys.

Already, over two in five commuters have carriedout banking activities via app while travelling by train. As mobile banking becomes more prevalent and more trustworthy, commuters - as technology early-adopters- are at the forefront of this change. This is a great opportunity for finance brands to tap into points ofsmart boredom with their own messaging, confident that it’s likely to be relevant and timely to those exposed to it.

Entertainment options are ideal smart boredom solutions and are popular with rail users. Commuters pre-plan their use as well as acting on impulse – thanks to ever-improving connectivity and generous mobile data packages - when they are exposed to a prompt for something that appeals. 47% of rail passengers watch TV or films while on the train, with 12% doing so daily. Along with music and books, these are both downloaded and streamed during the journey, as well as being pre-downloaded in preparation for travel.

On-train spend potential:Are Traincards able to access and influence sufficient on-device retail spend?

It’s clear that the on-train audience has the appetite to act on prompts from a wide variety of advertiser categories. As a result, the on-train environment offers great potential for communication from brands in all these categories. And there is substantial spend potential from the audience available in the on-train environment.

Rail-only commuter commerce accounted for 4% of total online retail spend, £2.6 billion in a year. As commuter commerce – and the benefits of smart boredom to brands – grows, this on-train on-device spend is expected to leap by 75% to £4.6 billion by 2022.

Rail-only commuter commerce spend:

4% of total online retail spend£2.6 billion spent online is spent by

a commuter on the trainin every£1 £25

transaction average

£28.19every day they commute

£4.87by 2022

+75% to £4.6billion

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Evidence has, so far, demonstrated how the on-train environment – through its unique audience, dwelltime and connectivity – provides the perfect environment for advertisers to leverage the principles of smart boredom to their benefit. And if those advertisers do this effectively, the potential revenue generation upside is truly significant.

So, the final question to answer is whether Traincards work to influence these factors?

KBH research shows that the answer is yes. Traincards build awareness – they are noticeable and proven to drive product consideration.

Traincards are also proven to prompt activation. Almost two-thirds have followed up on a Traincard ad, and those who frequently notice Traincards are more likely to make a purchase while on the train.

A third have bought something seen advertised on the train, and of those, a fifth have done so immediately. The numbers for researching and talking to someone about on-train ads are equally impressive.

Campaign awareness and activation research conductedby KBH through Dipsticks over a number of yearscontinues to reinforce the value of Traincards in achieving advertiser objectives.

Our research also shows that the effectiveness of Traincards extends beyond the journey, with messages staying with commuters and encouraging them to act once the campaign has finished.

This short collection of case studies shows the benefits for advertisers when all the conditions for effective smart boredom solutions are met.

92%more likely to consider the product

compared to non-recallers

Traincard recall drives product consideration…

34% frequently…

56%33%

33% 38%

39%

21%

have researched something seenadvertised on board a train

have talked to someone (either in person or via connected channel) about something advertisedon board a train

have bought something seen advertised on board a train

straight away straight awaystraight away

62% have followed up on a Traincard ad in some way 59%Those who frequently

notice Traincards are

more likely to make a purchase of some kind while travelling by train than those who do not

notice Traincard advertising…

94%

Effectiveness of Traincards’ smart boredom solutions:Do Traincards work for advertisers?

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Amazon AudibleAudible is an ideal on-train smart boredom solution providing real ‘added value’ to commuter journeys. Consumers agreed that the Traincard campaign prompted consideration, improved their opinion of the brand, and showed them something new.

MonzoThis research study illustrates perfectly how well suited the on-train environment and the tech-confident, affluent early adopter audience are for fintech brands. By highlighting Monzo’s benefits at a point when potential customers have the chance to consider, research and make a decision, the campaign drove customer sign-ups for the brand.

BeroccaWhen a brand is aiming to shift perception, Traincards give consumers time to absorb and understand revised messaging.

Yahoo White Wine Question TimeYahoo saw a great result from using Traincards to tap into the smart boredom trend. The campaign drove an almost three fold increase in new podcast subscribers, and a very healthy increase in average weekly listens. Rail users really do appreciate ways to be entertained on the journey.

BabybelTraincards encouraged rail users to donate to charity through a combination of creative relevance (featuring some top quality rail route punning), showing thatsmart boredom can be leveraged for altruistic purposes as well as commercial gain.

77% of those who recalled the Traincard in situ would consider buying from Audible

52% agreed that the Traincard advertising had improved their opinion of Audible

54% agreed it had shown them something new about Audible

75% of those who recalled the Traincard would consider Monzo compared to 30% who did not

12% of those who recalled the Traincard became a Monzo customer, compared to 1% of those who did not recall it

Two weeks post campaign, 88% of recontacted consumers had taken positive action as a result of seeing the Traincard

48% of Traincard recallers agreed ‘Berocca can keep you energised throughout the day’ vs 36% of those who didn’t recall the Traincard (+33%)

20% of Traincard recallers agreed ‘I know more about Berocca and its benefits’ vs 8% of those who didn’t recall the Traincard (+150%)

During the campaign, 41% of respondents had donated as a result of seeing the advertising for Babybel, compared to only 18% of those who had not recalled it (+128%)

Two weeks after the campaign, 27% of those we recontacted had donated to Comic Relief

“We knew that rail commuters were the ideal potential podcast audience…The campaign results highlighted the fit between the advertised entertainment content and the audience. During the campaign we saw a very impressive 286% increase in new podcast subscribers and a 37% increase in average weekly listens.”Emily Wilson, Head of UK Consumer Marketing, Verizon Media

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In Summary

Ensuring the criteria for each stage of the hierarchy of smart boredom solutions is met, we know through KBH research that:

On-train smart boredom is, therefore, hugely beneficial for brands.

• The volume and make-up of Traincards’ audience is substantial and influential enough for advertising to that audience to make a measurable difference

• The audience is clearly sufficiently connected to act in the moment, solving smart boredom pinch points

• Rail users are proven to use their on-journey moments of dead time to carry out a wide range of tasks related to business, leisure and 'hygiene factor' (for example, banking) activities

• There’s a substantial pot of on-train spend potential for brands to get involved with, and Traincard messages can direct this investment

• And finally, case studies prove that linking all these factors together through a Traincard campaign ensures advertiser effectiveness both in branding and in activation.

Effectivenessof Traincards’

smart boredomsolutions

Do Traincardswork for advertisers?

On-train spend potentialAre Traincards able to access and

influence sufficient on-device retail spend?

Breadth of smart boredom solutionsAre Traincards proven relevant for the

widest possible range of advertiser objectives?

Audience connectivityIs the on-train audience sufficiently connected

to enable the action advertisers require?

Audience basicsAre the audience and the environment influential enough

for advertising to make a measurable difference?