Advertising During Power Outages Will Work Differently: What Brands Should Consider

The autumn-winter period is traditionally one of the most important for many categories of business: from October to February demand grows, and advertising activity reaches high levels. However, the season of 2026/27 may unfold according to an unusual scenario — prolonged power outages can change not only consumer behavior but also the availability of particular advertising channels.

Blackouts should already be accounted for in the media plan.

Earlier, power outages could be perceived as a separate factor that did not necessarily need to be considered when planning advertising. Now the situation is different, so brands should proactively check whether their media strategy remains effective under different energy-system operation scenarios, according to a Tavr Media study.

For the season of 2026/27 it is not enough to compare media only by traditional metrics — reach, contact frequency, and advertising cost. Equally important is to ask another question: will this channel be available at the moment when the brand especially needs to reach a potential buyer?

It is impossible to predict the duration of possible outages in advance. At the same time, the risk of extended outages can no longer be considered secondary. In 2024 year, the Center for Combating Disinformation modeled scenarios in which power could be absent from 12 to 20 hours per day.

On the eve of last winter, former head of Ukrenergo Volodymyr Kudrytsky made it also likely that outages could last 14 – 16 hours under adverse conditions. The final scenario, as before, depends on a set of factors.

Three scenarios brands should prepare for advertising.

Tavr Media suggests advertisers not to rely on a single forecast, but to beforehand check the media plan against several scenarios. The options are as follows:

Optimistic. Local or short outages — electricity may be absent for a few hours per day.

Baseline. Light is absent for a noticeable part of the day, so it is necessary to check the availability of each channel and distribute advertising contacts across different media. In such a situation FM radio can become one of the stable sources of reach.

Pessimistic. Outages are long, home internet works unstably, and mobile networks are overloaded. Then channels that do not require a constantly-on screen, home internet, or a stable power connection become especially important.

Tavr Media infographic.

This approach allows you to see the campaign’s weak points in advance, rather than reworking it after problems begin.

A separate risk is mobile connectivity. According to the Ministry of Digital Transformation, 92% of base stations of mobile operators are equipped with batteries able to operate for up to eight hours. More than a third of base stations have generators.

However, during outages the load on the mobile network increases sharply. When users switch en masse from home Wi‑Fi to mobile internet, the load can rise by 3 – 4 times.

Which brands should especially prepare

The most sensitive to these changes may be categories for which autumn and winter are a period of increased demand. Among them:

pharmaceuticals and health products;

FMCG;

retail;

e-commerce;

financial and insurance services;

home appliances;

household goods;

automotive segment;

children’s goods.

For retail and online stores, the active season starts even before the holiday season. First brands compete for consumer attention in autumn, then Black Friday arrives, followed by the pre‑New Year period.

In the pharmaceutical segment seasonality is also noticeable. According to the Ministry of Health, the influenza and ARVI epidemic season 2025/26 lasted from 29 September 2025 year to 17 May 2026. The highest level of illness was recorded 16 – 22 February. The previous season’s peak also fell in February.

Accordingly, it is during the period of growing demand that advertising load increases as well. If a brand loses part of its contact opportunities with potential buyers at this time, the consequence could be not only fewer sales at that moment but also weaker demand in the future.

Seven problems brands may encounter.

1. One channel can operate differently under different conditions.

An advertising channel that reliably shows good results in normal times may lose some availability during extended outages. According to Tavr Media’s scenario model, mobile digital availability during blackouts can be about 72%.

At the same time, the company emphasizes that this is not a ranking of channel effectiveness and not a forecast. The model is needed to show how contact availability could potentially change depending on the situation.

Tavr Media infographic.

2. Digital does not disappear, but it’s better not to leave it alone.

There is no reason to abandon digital advertising due to the risk of outages. The state and mobile operators continue to strengthen the autonomy of infrastructure. In particular, the government reported that operators purchased more than 15 thousand generators to prepare for possible interruptions.

However, digital should be considered as part of a blended system. It can effectively work with search, site visits, retargeting, and conversions, while other channels can provide additional reach in case of digital infrastructure problems.

Tavr Media infographic.

3. The greatest number of digital contacts may occur during a challenging time.

For digital, the evening period is important when people actively consume online content. But it is precisely in the evening during outages that mobile network load may increase. Radio follows a different consumption pattern. It can be listened to in the car, on the way to work, during the workday, or at home — without needing to constantly look at a screen.

According to Kantar Ukraine DAR W2'25, among radio listeners in cities with populations over 50 thousand people:

49% listen to it through the car stereo;

46% – with the help of a computer or smartphone;

32% – via a radio receiver or tape recorder.

This gives brands the opportunity to distribute contacts throughout the day: use FM for more stable daytime reach, and digital for demand and conversions during periods when digital infrastructure operates more stably.

Tavr Media infographic.

4. A brand may disappear precisely when a consumer is ready to choose.

For seasonal products it is not enough to just launch an advertising campaign. It is important to remain visible at the moment when a person moves from general interest to a specific choice. For example:

in pharmaceuticals, the appearance of first symptoms;

in retail — looking for deals and offers;

in e-commerce — comparing products;

in financial services — choosing a particular product.

Therefore, the campaign can be distributed into several stages: preliminarily form interest, intensify presence during the peak demand period, and afterwards continue brand support.

5. One advertising creative may be insufficient.

An unstable season requires greater flexibility in advertising communication. Instead of one audio creative or one brand message, it is worth preparing several variants in advance that can be used at different stages of the campaign.

To test how memorable the advertising is and its impact on the brand, TAVR Media suggests using Radio Recall Test.

6. In a peak-demand season there may be a shortage of advertising inventory.

In autumn and ahead of holidays brands compete not only for the consumer’s attention but also for available advertising inventory. A monitoring by Communication Alliance for the first half of 2026 year showed periods of high load for direct advertising and sponsorship.

For companies that plan to advertise actively during Black Friday or the pre-New Year season, this means that placements should be booked in advance.

Tavr Media infographic.

7. Campaign results may become visible with a delay.

Another mistake is evaluating ad effectiveness only by sales immediately after the campaign ends. A person might see or hear an ad today but search for a product, visit a site, or make a purchase after several days or even later.

Therefore, when analyzing a campaign, consider not only direct sales but also other metrics:

brand awareness;

branded search;

direct and organic traffic;

number of leads;

sales;

delayed advertising effect.

Why radio can help during outages.

One of radio’s key advantages under unstable electricity supply is that people do not need to constantly look at a screen. Radio can be listened to while driving, on the way to work, during the workday, or while doing housework. Therefore, this channel can support reach and contact frequency when some screen media become less accessible.

Kantar Ukraine data also show that audiences use different listening methods. Almost half of radio listeners in large cities use car radios, and a significant portion use a computer or smartphone.

According to TAVR Media, radio has already undergone similar “stress tests” during previous outages. In certain periods its audience even grew, in particular thanks to online listening.

Tavr Media infographic.

Tavr Media infographic.

How to check if a media plan will endure a blackout.

TAVR Media recommends evaluating the resilience of an advertising strategy based on several data groups:

open information from state bodies, including the Cabinet of Ministers, Minprom, and the Ministry of Health;

industry research and media data from Kantar Ukraine, Communication Alliance, and Tavr Digital Audio;

the company’s own scenario models.

At the same time, these models are not official forecasts of future outages and do not replace primary research. Their purpose is to help advertisers assess how the role of different media may change depending on infrastructure availability.

Tavr Media infographic.

What brands should do before the season begins.

Preparing an advertising campaign for the autumn-winter period, you should start not from choosing a single channel, but from checking the entire strategy under different conditions. Practically this means:

Test the campaign in three scenarios — normal, moderate, and challenging.

Calculate potential reach and frequency in each of them.

Check the channel’s availability without constant dependence on a screen.

Do not abandon digital, but do not make it the sole basis of the campaign.

Use FM for reach, especially during the daytime.

Combine FM and Digital Audio to obtain different types of contacts with the same audience.

Distribute contacts throughout the day, rather than concentrating all activity in one time slot.

Prepare several advertising creatives before the season starts.

Advance bookings of advertising inventory, especially for Black Friday and the pre‑New Year period.

Evaluate not only sales but also brand awareness, search demand, traffic, leads, and delayed effects.

Tavr Media infographic.

Thus, Q4 2026 and Q1 2027 may become periods when the resilience of the media plan is as important as its usual reach and cost-per-contact. Therefore, blackout considerations should be factored in at the planning stage, not after a problem arises.