While it may reach as much as 82.5% of South African adults (Amps 2004), very often it has to put up with being an afterthought on the media schedule. An accurate measurement for outdoor’s share of total advertising spend is difficult to get, since a number of players still don’t give their figures to Nielsen Media Research’s AIS/AdEx.
The medium’s “reported” share, however, is a mere 4.4% of the pie (R517-million, according to AIS/AdEx Jan-Dec 2003), compared to 9% in the UK, and anything from 8% to 60% in other sub-Saharan countries. (Adspend for Jan-July 2004 is already at 4.7% of total spend, but this growth is due in part to Comutanet’s and GMR’s joining the AIS/AdEx fold.)
Most operators feel there is plenty room for the medium to grow. “Outdoor in South Africa should not attract less that 8% of all adspend,” believes Bazil Lauryssen, managing director of Clear Channel Independent. And a number of developments in the industry could help the medium reach that magic number.
For instance, Primedia Outdoor’s managing director, Pete Piccione, feels that the continued fragmentation of electronic and print media will leave outdoor as the only “broadcast” medium with high frequency and a relatively low cost-per-thousand. Then, the medium’s increasing ability to regularly change and rotate material ensures greater impact, which, he says, makes outdoor a more attractive option.
Another positive is the shortening of contract terms from the traditional one-year minimum. FCB Headspace media director, Joanne Scholtz, says this has enhanced outdoor’s appeal as a tactical medium, and has removed the “barrier to participation” for clients with smaller budgets.
Flexibility and shorter contracts also mean the medium can support more than the typical ‘pack and brag’ treatment — “Price and product promotions can easily be supported, as we’ve seen with the launch of a number of new vehicles, fragrances and cell phones,” says Lauryssen.
Finally, Piccione points out that lower production costs, particularly on digitally printed Flexface material, further reduces the cost of entry into outdoor.
But, from a media owner’s perspective, one major barrier to growth is unlikely to be removed soon — outdoor’s potential, it seems, continues to be hampered by legislation. “It is becoming very difficult to obtain new advertising rights from local authorities, which limits our ability to compete for other media’s spend,” says Lauryssen.
“Some councils are notoriously slow to implement changes to their bylaws which would enable the outdoor industry to conduct its business professionally.” As an example, he says that Durban has been in the process of amending its bylaws to accommodate the industry for at least four years. “To date, we are still awaiting changes,” he says.
The red tape is equally frustrating from a user’s perspective. Shirley Franz, a director at MindShare SA, one of the biggest users of outdoor locally, says her agency battles to get positions in Cape Town, and, to a lesser degree, in Durban. “The difficulty of finding sites in these areas can make you wonder whether outdoor is right for a national urban campaign.”
One solution is the smarter use of space, which has the added benefit of growing the demand. “The continued search for innovation, and designing aesthetically pleasing advertising structures, has driven spend from other media into outdoor,” comments Lauryssen.
Alan James, chief executive of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Great Britain, agrees that innovation is a key factor in outdoor’s success. He says that in the United Kingdom the huge investment in the medium by big players has seen improved plans and a steady stream of innovation, such as six-sheet panels that play music, squirt scent, and download information to commuters’ cell phones. “It is this innovation in outdoor that is currently exciting media agencies and clients.”
While back home we may not yet be able to smell our outdoor, there is nonetheless an attempt to introduce the kind of innovation that grows the pool of traditional advertisers. Comutanet recently launched reflective vinyl on taxis. Citilites can now be mounted over freeways at bridges. You can book almost a kilometre of ad space along the JIA’s travellators, or put your message on Streetpole Ads’ new illuminated mini-billboards. There is even innovation in washrooms, thanks to Afrilink’s digital screens.
But innovation must also extend beyond structures and materials and into the use of the medium. As billboards become more saturated, especially in Johannesburg, Scholtz says that smart advertisers will be seeking highly creative ways to break through the clutter. Clear Channel Independent’s recent corporate branding for MTN, which included painting walkways and turning the usually green-lit Sandton City a bright shade of “Yello”, is a good example.
Of course, while innovative sites and uses surely up the impact of the medium, the trick is to prove it. Better measurement could help outdoor to better demonstrate the return on investment, convincing advertisers that the medium shouldn’t be an afterthought.
The outdoor industry is eager to go ahead with the new research tool being offered by the South African Advertising Research Foundation (Saarf), which uses personal electronic devices about the size of a cell phone, and GPS technology, to accurately measure who was able to see the outdoor ad.
“Up to now, Amps data only gave an indication of the reach potential of the medium,” says Saarf CEO, Dr Paul Haupt. “The new electronic tool measures ‘opportunities to see’, providing the industry with data that can be used to do campaign planning, putting outdoor measurement on a par with other media.”
Unfortunately, the tool cannot prove that people have actually seen and absorbed the message. “I don’t think a more accurate audience exposure system would bring in huge revenues,” says Harry Herber, group managing director of The MediaShop, explaining that, far more than other media, outdoor is questioned from a noting, rather than an exposure point of view, or what Franz calls an “efficiency versus effectiveness problem”.
The efficiency of the medium is known — how many people are exposed to it. “But are people actually taking in the message and understanding the concept, and how quickly does the board become just wallpaper?” asks Franz.
“This lack of effectiveness research can create a cynicism around outdoor, which all too often sees it being lumped with a ‘nice-to-have’ status, rather than a ‘must-have’,” Franz continues. MindShare attempts to solve this problem by doing its own outdoor effectiveness studies. A number of outdoor media owners also try to fill the gap with proprietary research.
“Proof of performance from the media owners’ perspective is playing an increasingly important role in building credibility for our medium, which will ultimately lead to increased trust and use of outdoor,” says Les Holley, executive director of Out of Home Media SA (OHMSA).
Encouraging greater use of outdoor, and overcoming whatever cynicism may exist with potential users, is the task of the industry body. “Owners still sell sites, rather than coverage, reach, and the ability to meet marketing objectives,” says Holley. Reminding users of the value of the medium must be a joint effort between all outdoor owners.
“One of OHMSA’s objectives is to actively market, as an industry, the use of all forms of outdoor and ambient media, as well as encouraging creatives to produce work specifically for outdoor advertising, rather than just converting print ads into posters. This will become a major focus over the next 18 months.”
Working together to sell the medium may seem like a pipe dream, but it can be done. The UK industry recently ran a campaign entitled “POW”, which showed the range of what is on offer, as well as demonstrated that media owners could (when needed) work together. Such a collaborative effort is certainly needed in South Africa, and with an industry body that now represents some 90% of all players, the time is right to show marketers exactly why they should be taking their brands outdoors.
The Gloves Are Off
The High Court action taken jointly by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) and OHMSA against outdoor owner Ad Outpost is still on the boil. The action comes after Ad Outpost’s erection of a number of billboards facing national roads, without the necessary SANRAL approval.
(It should be noted, however, that the rest of Ad Outpost’s holdings are not unapproved — “Every Ad Outpost board has local council approval,” says director Edward Vorster, who states he will happily show any sceptic the relevant documentation. On national roads both local council and SANRAL approval is required.)
Sound-byte from the OHMSA camp:
Les Holley, OHMSA’s executive director – “OHMSA finds the current practice of erecting unapproved billboards untenable. If left to continue, it will lead to chaos in the industry. Since our court action, we believe 30 sites have been built without a permit, most of them without even an application being lodged. We’re talking about R1,5-million generated each month off the illegal sites, and that’s a conservative estimate.
“Had the rest of the industry elected to disregard the laws of the land, they too would have had high value sites in positions that are not legitimate, and could also be generating large income streams from unapproved sites.
Businesses need to make a decision — will they operate ethically within the legal framework of the country, or do they choose to operate in flagrant violation of the existing laws? OHMSA appeals to responsible marketers to demonstrate their support for the fight against the irresponsible erection of unapproved outdoor advertising, by not using unapproved advertising sites.”
Sound-byte from the Ad Outpost camp:
Max de Jong, Ad Outpost’s marketing director — “There is no doubt that the outdoor legislation infringes on the right to commercial free speech, and the only question is whether such infringement is justified in terms of the constitution. If it is unconstitutional, then it is invalid and has no application. The onus is on the state to prove that the infringement is tolerable in a democratic society, and that the law is therefore not invalid.
“We therefore maintain that we are doing nothing wrong, and have several legal opinions to support us. We have always maintained that the dispute with Ad Outpost is fuelled by our major competitors, confirming a venture on their behalf for commercial gain alone. This is not about the legality of sites, but about money. Had we put up unapproved signs in the backwaters, nobody would have said a thing.”
The matter is due to be heard in the first quarter of 2005.