Singer Elvis Blue and a humourous tagline on one of Continental Outdoor Media’s billboards have seen sales of a local magazine, Easy DIY, increase two-fold (the magazine’s cover, featuring Elvis Blue, was advertised on the billboard).
The play of words: “Elvis hasn’t left the building, he’s busy fixing it”, have clearly attracted the attention of DIYers in South Africa, who were seemingly surprised that a DIY magazine would portray a young and trendy popstar on its cover.
“While we sell the space to our advertisers, we always encourage the clever and creative use of our medium – which has a lot of scope and potential,” said Lyn Jones, marketing manager, Continental Outdoor Media.
Client Sandra Gordon explained that the out of home medium was a very effective way to increase interest in Easy DIY magazine: “Research shows that people spend a lot of time out of home and that they are most exposed to the outdoor medium. It is always a challenge to grab the attention of consumers, but our short and sharp message seems to have been remembered, hence the uptake in sales.