There has always been something to be said about the great outdoors, and the past several years has seen many a clever ad campaign saying a great deal via the open-air medium. Once almost an afterthought to any self respecting campaign, outdoor has become an increasingly viable option within the media mix. Innovations in technology and a renewed interest in using outdoor as a sharp creative outlet have done a lot for the sector. But, while media planners and marketers are showing their newfound respect, outdoor has its own set of challenges as media owners and local councils attempt to manage a precarious relationship from which all would like to benefit.
Outdoor trades on a number of basic strengths, which today ensures it a solid place in the overall revenue tables – 8 percent of the UK ad market, 4 percent of the US, 11 percent of the French and 14 percent in Switzerland. Within South Africa, the medium has shown a remarkable growth of 58 percent for the period 2000 to 2003 – although admittedly off a small base, local market share over the same period has increased by 18 percent to 4,5 percent of total annual media spend (figures courtesy of Out of Home Media SA). As the renewed upward curve attests [see table, page—], many media directors are now giving the medium more than a cursory glance. “The plethora of innovation and new sites allows for broader reaching campaigns with tighter targeting. Added to this, given the increasing traffic situation in South Africa, outdoor is having an increased impact,” says Sue Rooney, pan-African media director at Universal McCann.
So innovation is a key feature in a sector where advertisers no longer have only a flat billboard as their medium of choice; the bells and whistles are getting louder thanks to both technology and the creative minds determined to ensure that their particular campaign stands out. Ever cautious, however, Barry Sayer, CEO of Clear Channel Independent, qualifies this quest: “We do not pursue every new media opportunity to earn the innovative label, we try to balance innovation and client needs with margin and good old-fashioned bottom line profit.”
Yet smaller players like Street Pole Ads have no choice but to think innovative if they want to take on the more traditional operators. “We have to be smart, by offering different products and ensuring we have more frequency and impact, if we are to stand out from our competitors,” says Street Pole Ads CEO Brent Herbert. Of course, beyond differentiation, creativity is always what sets the good outdoor campaigns apart. Mike Nussey, CEO of Mindshare, mentions Cell C’s “C for yourself” campaign as a good example. “The creative execution was original in that it broke with convention and was colourful and eye-catching. The visual mnemonic linked strongly to the brand proposition of being in contact and communicating. No-one else has communicated in that style.”
Much of the creativity angle, and another big part of outdoor’s newfound respect, lies in new technology. Pierre van der Hoven, CEO of Three Blind Mice Communications (TBM), says this is where the essence of his business is based. “We are constantly looking at new innovations. Two of the latest are live traffic information on the [electronic outdoor] screens and remote news ticker tape changing. This empowers the editors of newspapers to change news headlines on the screens remotely and instantly from their work PCs.”
Joanne Scholtz, channel insights director at FCB Headspace, says for her a big attraction of new technology is the interaction it facilitates. “I’m a big believer in interactive outdoor; outdoor that either interacts with the environment or that allows consumers to interact with it. One great example of outdoor that interacted with the environment is a billboard advertising bubble gum in India. Locally there was the Nandos example, where the grass around the billboard was burnt, because the food was so hot.”
Scholtz also mentions the relatively simple innovation of lights. “With the advent of Citilites [from Clear Channel] and Primelites [from Primedia], more clients are using outdoor than ever before. Even street pole ads are being impactfully illuminated these days,” she says. Rooney agrees, adding: “Technological developments are largely beneficial to all parties concerned and this is no different in the outdoor arena. Developments in site selection, sizing, illumination and placement all make the medium a far more attractive option.”
It’s no surprise, then, that the top two players in the South African outdoor media arena have invested significant time and resources in developing hi-tech kit for prospective clients. “Dynamic versus static, lighting effects, contouring, framing; these are all essentials in pleasing looks,” says Primedia Outdoor’s marketing manager Dashni Naidu. Similarly, Sayer says of Clear Channel’s offerings: “The most significant changes in my view have been the moves to providing advertisers the ability to buy mainstream media like our illuminated Citilites on monthly holdings, and to be able to walk the design faces on a monthly basis in the case of longer campaigns within the given target market area. There’s been a host of new media such as bowhead flags, pillar wraps, suspended banners, floor graphics and others, all springing up at high traffic areas such as the airports on a specific short term drive. The industry constantly evolves and reinvents itself.”
But while creative juices have the opportunity to roam free, many in the industry feel restricted by the rules and regulations of the local councils – which have been issued in an attempt to balance financial imperatives against the environmental impact of the medium. “Since independence in South Africa there have been many new regulatory restrictions placed on our medium, and this fact combined with the demand for change from our advertisers has kept the industry in a perpetual state of evolution – especially over the last five years,” says Les Holley, executive director of Out of Home Media SA (Ohmsa), an industry body that represents outdoor on both the client and regulatory fronts.
So how restrictive are the regulations? Karuna Mohan, executive director of local economic development for the Ekurhuleni Town Council, asserts that one has to take a broad view. “Conflicting interests always come up and what needs to be carefully considered in the process is what is of benefit for the greater good. A lot depends on where a person is located. An official responsible for road safety would look for the most viable means of securing the safety of all on the roads, and may find outdoor media obstructive. An entrepreneur involved in the industry would see regulations that prohibit and restrict certain practices as a major obstacle. It is vital for the development of the industry that both these opposing sides find a way of meeting each other.”
Interestingly, this is a point on which most outdoor owners will not be drawn – and when they do, the comment is one of controlled diplomacy. Says Primedia Outdoor’s Naidu: “The role of municipalities insofar as our industry is concerned is to regulate the proliferation of outdoor advertising in terms of environmental and safety requirements, and not to prohibit this legitimate commercial activity. The rapid growth of our medium over the past 10 years has outpaced regulatory development and enforcement, resulting in delays in processing licence applications.”
Yet while there is acknowledgement from all sides that the council’s primary role is monitoring environmental and safety requirements, illegal sites still abound. Nussey avers that this impacts upon the entire industry. “What is most annoying is that site development is out of control and there are certain outdoor contractors who have taken the law into their own hands and have simply chosen to erect and be damned. This is hardly a responsible course of action given our young democracy. I believe that it is the actions of the minority that are going to have an impact on the majority, as all outdoor contractors will be tarred with the same brush. The extreme downside for the industry is that if the outdoor medium is ruled by anarchists, it is simply the less difficult road to not recommend outdoor, which will mean that the medium as a whole will lose market share and credibility.”
As eMedia reported in late November, the damage that certain operators can cause to the entire sector is a real danger. The article pointed to a company named Outdoor Co, a Durban-based outfit held responsible by Ohmsa and Johannesburg City Parks (JCP) for the unlawful felling of indigenous trees on a busy Jo’burg thoroughfare. Although Outdoor Co claimed in the piece that the felled trees were on private property, both Ohmsa and JCP disputed the fact and details were handed over to police. Said Howard Nel, JCP’s company secretary and legal counsel: “Unfortunately, it has tainted the image of billboards.”
It seems therefore that the medium’s upside – newfound respect amongst certain marketers and agents, a growing slice of the total advertising revenue pie, technologies that aid and facilitate creativity and differentiation – must be balanced against the injuries that can and do arise from stories such as those above. Nevertheless, optimism is still the attitude when media owners are asked about their predictions for the next five years. Van der Hoven emphasises once again that outdoor is booming internationally, that it will catch on here, and that to some extent it already has. Hilton Steinfeld, managing director of Adwraps, places a local perspective on the view. “Outdoor will continue to grow [but] will be dependent on bylaws as to whether it grows at its current pace or speeds up through relaxation of certain criteria. Certain areas will become saturated, which will lead to growth of outdoor in new currently underutilised areas.”
Maybe so. What remains to be seen is whether that growth will be managed by the authorities, and the industry itself, in a manner commensurate with the respect and credibility that all desire for the medium.