Suzanne Styles, who was the joint managing director at Airport Media company, has sold it to Avusa, and taken on a whole new career. TheMediaOnline caught up with her to find out what gives, and ‘the secret’ behind Bob Proctor’s upcoming visit – it kicks off with a gala dinner on October 31 – to South Africa.
Q: You recently sold Airport Media to Avusa and became a consultant to the company. What was the process of ultimately selling to Avusa?
A: The sale of our final tranche of shares to AVUSA and our resulting transition to consultants was relatively smooth taking into consideration Avusa’s unsolicited offer to purchase. Being a consultant allows me to have a continued involvement in a advertising medium that I have been very successful in but still affords me the opportunity to explore other interest and passions.
Q: The company is relatively young. What made it so successful that it was sold to one of South Africa’s biggest media companies?
A: Surprisingly Airport Media will be 10 years old in November and be that as it may, from the outset wanted to do it differently and positioned Airport Media as the ‘thinking man’s media owner’. Our inherent conviction was that we would be driven by profit share not market share as ACSA requires fixed site rentals regardless of whether sites are in charge or not, and this is what contributed to AVUSA finding us an attractive acquisition.
Q: What are the current challenges and opportunities in the outdoor / advertising climate?
Currently the challenges facing the airport advertising arena can be broken down into three segments:
– The worldwide economic meltdown has finally reached airports, previously as predominantly ‘ego’ purchases airports remained unaffected by the economic climate, and even during the tobacco advertising ban and the 9/11 terror incidents when all airlines withdrew their advertising we didn’t experience as bigger reduction in spend.
– Post World Cup blues, the heyday atmosphere of the World Cup and the influx of spend over that period has seen a decline in interest over the first half of 2011.
– Media Agencies have intimated to us that advertisers are reluctant to pay the extremely high rates for airport space at this time and are diverting their spend to major arterial routes.
Q: What are you embarking on now?
A: I will continue to consult to Airport Media for as long as I am afforded the opportunity to do so. Last year my husband and I trained and certified as a Master Coaches, specialising in individual, business, entrepreneurial and relationship coaching. We are also certified hypnotherapists. We have a deep passion and desire to help equip people with the tools to help themselves on every level, but our core focus in to 2012 will be ‘relationships’.
We have realised through our own experiences and those of loved ones and friends around us that we live in stressful times and that certain work and economic stressors have a cataclysmic impact on relationships and families causing heartache and pain. If you have a happy, secure and loving home life you can put into place the coping mechanisms required for the workplace.
Q: TheMediaOnline believes you are bringing Bob Proctor to SA – who is he and what wisdom can he give the media – or any other – industry?
A: We couldn’t believe our good fortune when we acquired the rights to such a wonderful and practical teacher. Bob’s teachings are ideally suited to everyone who wants more, but in effect he provides and imparts knowledge around being financially successful. For the media industry, this is all about sales; we are all selling something, from space across all media types, to creative services, client services, media planning, research and monitoring etc.
In the current climate, where clients are looking for more value propositions to be included in the SLA’s than ever before and in an extremely cutthroat market in terms of acquiring brand-spend, Bob’s teaching around ‘Habits, Attitude and Discipline’ go straight to the sales ethic of all in the sales arena.
Bob Proctor is described as “one of the most sought-after speakers in the world for professional coaching and company seminars”. He was also a teacher in the popular film, The Secret. He is the best-selling author of “You Were Born Rich” and has transformed the lives of millions through his books, seminars, courses and personal coaching.
About the SA trip: https://www.makesyouthink.co.za/news
https://www.makesyouthink.co.za/get-tickets
For more on Proctor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLzAxtjZGlQ
