The strategic case for airport media

Take Flight: The Fresh Start Effect

A Global & WPP Media Research Report

Overview

Take Flight is a joint research initiative from Global and WPP Media, making the strategic case for airport media as a premium brand-building environment. At its heart, the study demonstrates that airports do not simply deliver audience scale – they deliver a distinct consumer mindset. When people travel, routine is disrupted, positivity is elevated, and openness to new brands and behaviours increases significantly.

The Case for Brand Investment

Brand advertising has returned to the centre of growth strategy, and the data supports its prioritisation. Brands with strong equity consistently outperform competitors across three critical areas:

– Pricing power – strong brands command a premium and maintain sales even as prices rise with inflation.

– Resilience – stronger brands recover faster from market fluctuations and periods of disruption.

– Return on investment – a combined brand and performance approach can deliver up to +90% ROI versus performance media alone (Analytic Partners / WARC).

This shift is also reflected in advertiser intentions: 37% plan to increase their share of brand spend in 2026, compared with just 14% increasing performance spend (ISBA Media Budgets Survey 2026).

The Airport Audience Opportunity

Global Airports are home to one of the most commercially valuable audiences in media: Young Aspirational Adventurers. These are 18-34-year-olds who are ambitious, experience-driven, trend-aware and relatively affluent – a cohort that over-indexes significantly across Global’s airport network.

– Global Airports reach 48 million 18-34-year-olds (Paxsmart).

– 4 in 5 Young Aspirational Adventurers pass through a Global Airport.

– This audience is not only large – it is receptive.

What sets airports apart is not just the volume of people, but the state of mind they are in when they arrive. Consumers in airports are temporarily less habitual, more reflective and open to new messages – conditions that are difficult to replicate in other media environments.

The Fresh Start Effect

The central intellectual framework of Take Flight is the Fresh Start Effect – a well-documented pattern in human behaviour. People become more motivated to change habits and adopt new behaviours at meaningful transition points, known as temporal landmarks. These include New Year, birthdays, significant life events and – critically – travel.

The mechanism is psychological. Temporal landmarks create distance from past behaviour, allowing people to imagine an improved version of themselves and approach change with greater motivation. Crucially, these fresh starts are not simply about abandoning old habits – they actively involve seeking out new products, services and brands.

Airports act as powerful liminal spaces and temporal landmarks. They are the ultimate fresh-start environment. A liminal space is an ‘in-between’ state. The moment you enter an airport, you leave your routine behind. You are physically and emotionally in transit. People are thinking about where they have been and, more importantly, where they are going.

The positive effect this can have for brands is compelling: when people experience ‘life-changing’ events that spark a fresh start, they are nearly three times more likely to switch brands, compared with just 8% for those in ‘business as usual’ mode.

Source: WPP Media & Global Airport Habit Disruption Study, 2025

The Airport Environment Advantage: Departures

Airports offer a distinctly positive and premium brand environment. This halo effect is commercially valuable: brands that appear in airports benefit from the trust and quality associations the environment itself carries. In departures the mood is very buoyant and in order to be influenced, there are two main objectives brands should focus on in this space – brand building or fulfilling an immediate need – and both can also be done simultaneously

– 80% of travellers describe airports as trustworthy and reliable.

– 95% are in a positive mood in departures.

– 93% think ‘have I packed everything for my trip?’

– 83% think ‘do I have time for any last minute purchases?’

– 77% actively enjoy browsing to pass the time.

– 68% feel encouraged to be spontaneous.

– ¾ enjoy looking at advertising.

– 53% have more time to notice and absorb advertising.

– 97% have purchased a new brand or product at an airport as a direct result of advertising.

– 65% would go on to repurchase a brand they first discovered at an airport.

The Contemplation Zone

The fresh-start effect continues on holiday as a holiday presents a unique moment when people tend to evaluate their lives and contemplate new habits for when they get back. Lying on the beach with a cocktail or skiing in fresh snow provides escapism – a break from the normalities of life and mundane routines – allowing time for escapism and reflection. Home life feels like a distant memory, so this is a valuable moment to prime people with brands to think about while they are away.

– 85% say holidays provide time to think away from distractions.

– 76% say they reflect on their current habits and routines whilst on holiday.

– 84% say being on holiday gives them the mental space to plan a fresh start for when they get back.

Arrivals

While people’s focus often tends to centre on the outbound moment, there is an equally powerful – and often overlooked – opportunity after the holiday, when these same travellers return through arrivals. As they step back into the UK, their holiday may be over, but their story as consumers is far from finished. They are thinking about extending the holiday feeling and acting on the new habits they were considering while away. In fact, 86% of Young Aspirational Adventurers arrive back in the UK in a positive mood.

– 82% are already thinking about planning their next holiday on their return journey.

– 71% are reviewing their finances.

– 63% are researching new products.

– 62% are thinking about organising home improvements.

– 57% are thinking about joining a new gym or fitness plan.

– 49% are reviewing or searching for a new utility provider.

– 47% are reviewing or switching insurance providers.

77% are receptive to advertising on their return journey that can help them make lifestyle choices, and 48% would be encouraged to act on changes after seeing relevant advertising in arrivals.

Strategic Planning: The Three-Zone Framework

Take Flight recommends planning airport media around three distinct zones, each offering a different consumer mindset and a corresponding brand opportunity. Crucially, it is vital not to overlook Arrivals.

Key Takeaways

– Airport media reaches a high-value, high-potential audience at scale – 48 million 18-34-year-olds. 

– Airports create a unique mindset: consumers are more positive, more reflective and more open to change than in everyday media environments.

– The environment adds brand credibility – airports are perceived as trustworthy, reliable and premium, and that perception transfers.

– Use relevance in Departures and repetition in Arrivals to maximise impact at each stage of the journey.

– Airport media is where new brand behaviour begins and will take hold.