---
id: "concept-work-location-proximity"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["§ Work location matters as much as home location", "¶16"]
tags: ["mobility-data", "daytime-targeting"]
related: ["concept-relative-proximity", "prereq-programmatic-ip-targeting"]
definition: "Targeting consumers based on the relative proximity of their workplace (daytime location) to a retail store, rather than just their home address."
sources: ["tail1"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail1"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-tail-115-location-based-advertising"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/03/a-better-strategy-for-location-based-advertising"
sourceTitle: "A Better Strategy for Location-Based Advertising"
---
# Work-Location Proximity

Most location targeting relies **exclusively on residential data**, but consumers frequently shop during commutes. This concept extends [[concept-relative-proximity]] from home to work.

## The finding
Work-location proximity functions **identically** to home-location proximity: a customer whose **workplace is relatively closer to your store than to a rival's** is highly responsive to your ads — *even if their home is not*. By incorporating **daytime location data as a proxy for work**, advertisers reach persuadable customers that a home-only strategy would completely miss.

This is **particularly critical in urban markets**, where commuting patterns create large geographic separations between home and work. Executing it depends on modern delivery infrastructure (see [[prereq-programmatic-ip-targeting]]).

## Enrichment context
Mobility and commuting research strongly supports the idea that **commute routes and workplace proximity influence where people shop** (especially grocery/convenience), and proximity-marketing tools increasingly use daytime-vs-evening geo-behavioral profiles. The stronger claim — that work proximity matters *as much as* home proximity in ad responsiveness — is a **reasonable inference from the authors' data** but is not broadly quantified elsewhere.