Briefly…PenQuin and Sony Ericsson; Penguin flies outdoors, TLC invades ACSA and Primedia buys into digital advertising platform.
PenQuin International has landed Sony Ericsson’s media buying account. “Since 2008 we have been Sony Ericsson’s creative agency. We are ecstatic to announce that we have now been appointed as the media agency as well,” says PenQuin International’s Wayne Flemming, “The account win comes from constant strategic focus with results driven objectives.”
Colin Williamson from Sony Ericsson says the company will benefit significantly from having one agency delivering both creative and media strategies. “The two are closely linked so it makes good business sense having PenQuin International steering them in the same direction and ensuring that together we achieve our desired goals.”
Penguin flies on outdoor
It’s not that often that one sees novels, especially great big blockbusters such as the new Lesley Pearse novel, “Belle”, on billboards. Yet the book has shot to number one on the local bestseller charts after just two weeks of flighting on Continental Outdoors’ Citilite range. The campaign has still two more weeks to run and will end on March 15, 2011.
Kate Powell, marketing manager for Penguin Books SA, is ecstatic with the results and adds “If outdoor worked this well for Belle we shall certainly look into advertising more new releases with Citilites and Continental Outdoor”.
The short-term tactical campaign was ideally suited to the Citilite format which is designed to reach audiences quickly and effectively by ‘walking’ to a new location every two weeks.
TLC in ACSA’s washrooms
Unlimited’s washroom advertising division, TLC, has secured additional rights in ACSA’s 10 airports to make a host of alternative media platforms available in the washroom space across the country. Since April 2007 TLC has been the exclusive washroom advertising concessionaire at ACSA. Since its inception, the airport washroom environment has been TLC’s flagship offering, mainly due to high traffic volumes at all times of the day and night, with these figures peaking seasonally even further.
“As a result of the demand for this advertising space, media owners need to be prepared to face the risk of a high rental versus turbulent sales cycles,” says TLC’s Steven Stuart.
“In an effort to combat this risk, TLC is extremely pleased to have secured additional rights to make use of alternative products within the washroom environment, not only to boost sales and reduce risk, but mainly to facilitate more creativity in this space,” he adds.
Captive audience for XP Digital
Venturing beyond its traditional business-to-business market, Primedia Unlimited subsidiary X/procure®, has launched XP Digital™, a division specialising in digital advertising platforms in pharmacies across the country.
The new division, blazing out of the starting blocks, has just closed a deal with pharmaceutical giant, Dis-Chem, to install two 42” full HD LCD advertising screens in each of its 56 existing pharmacies nationwide, bringing a new media platform to South African advertisers and an enhanced shopping experience for consumers. The new in-store screens assist consumers in passing the time whilst waiting in queues as they view advertising, educational and entertaining information.
JD Henderson, Managing Director of XP Digital™ explains, “With X/procure® being such a successful electronic advertising and procurement vehicle, our business was ready to diversify into new product offerings. As Dis-Chem is one of the major players in the South African pharmacy industry, the media opportunity was obvious. Research into the platform has revealed that 98% of audiences watch the ads shown on screen and 66% of consumers make a point of watching the content.”
