The thrill of a week camping in places like Cornwall during the 70s and 80s was a common treat across the UK after a hard year’s work. The adventures of long, hot car journeys, somehow made easier by indulging in tinned travel sweets, followed by an eventful wrestle trying to erect a tent are fond memories for many people. And motorway services were a central part of that journey.

Motorway services have changed a lot over the decades, and still, today are key locations for UK tourists and commuters. Fast food, refreshments, shopping, arcades, fuel and EV charging all draw in very high footfall numbers which peak and trough over the year. As media planners, our role is to guide companies to the best value campaigns. By understanding these traditional patterns of flow, we can advise on the most valuable times for ROI.

Here is a graph to show how footfall at Motorway services ( MSAs ) typically flows over a calendar year.

Here at Priority Outdoor we place many campaigns across the MSA’s and it’s an incredibly powerful environment for advertisers at all times of the year, yet there are ways to squeeze extra value at certain times of the year.

Looking at the 2022 annual footfall across the MSA’s it is clear to see the peaks during the UK school holidays and capping during the summer holidays. The key fact here is there are no cost differences across the year on MSA advertising formats, meaning a billboard in January costs the same as a billboard in August. Clearly then some of the best times to book would be the school holidays, where you get extra footfall for the same cost. It is worth noting that all formats are booked on a first come first serve basis, and the main school holiday dates are highly valuable and get booked up early. Early bird gets the worm here, so we recommend booking in advance for these dates.

So get in touch with us today and find out how companies are using the high-value environment of MSAs to get the strongest responses for their budgets.