Primedia Outdoor has unveiled South Africa’s first roadside LED-screen billboard on a national road.
Measuring 4.5m by 18m, this piece of prime digital real estate gives exclusive client, MTN South Africa, one-of-a-kind status on one of the country’s busiest freeways. Situated on the N1 South between the Malibongwe and Beyers Naude off-ramps, it will capture the attention of driver of 1.696-million vehicles per month.
CEO Dave Roberts says the launch was the culmination of many months of planning and co-ordination, not to mention securing rights and obtaining approvals. The LED-screen billboard is “a huge coup”, he says. “This is the first time Sanral has approved a digital board along a national road,” he says. “We’ve now taken the medium into new territory.”
Roberts says the new sign is also the best-quality LED screen ever seen along a South African road. The world’s premier LED manufacturer, Daktronics, manufactures the new freeway super-screen. The South-Dakota-based company supplied many of the LED screens for the recent Olympics and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
It carries 4.2 tons of LED technology on board and comprises 836 352 individual LEDs made by top-of-the-range Japanese LED brand, Nichia. These new-generation LEDs use up to 75% less power than equivalent low-cost screens sourced from the East, to achieve the same brightness. By running cooler, the LEDs will deteriorate far slower, giving this board longevity unlike any other.
The flighting and rotation of creative content will be remotely controlled by Spectrum the visual network company responsible for the Primedia Outdoor LED network in Sandton.
MTN South Africa is the first brand to take full advantage of the entire screen has to offer. The cellular network’s signature yellow will dominate the screen and its stretch of freeway, 24/7, for the next three years.
“As a brand that is focused on connecting people to the potential of the digital age and the limitless opportunities it provides, the Primedia Outdoor billboard is the perfect platform to connect us with our customers,” says Serame Taukobong, chief marketing officer at MTN SA. “We are proud to be aligned with heralding a new dawn in the way brands reach out to their customers through innovative communications channels.”
Primedia Outdoor is currently pursuing approvals for additional sites, and anticipates erecting a number of new LED-screen signs within the next few months.
“As always, we’re doing this by the book,” says Roberts. “This first LED screen is fully compliant with local by-laws and Roads Agency regulations, which paves the way for future approvals.”
