KFC has the most billboards in South Africa. Banking is the most active sector using billboards, and FNB is the most active banking brand. Eating out is the second most active category. These are some of the findings in Posterscope’s latest out of home media audit. Glenda Nevill reports.
Twice a year, in January and again in July, the specialist out of home media agency does “extensive” fieldwork throughout South Africa. It audits all the billboards in South Africa, recording key advertiser, site and media owner information. The audit assesses and evaluates the use of billboards as a key OOH media advertising platform by brands across South Africa.
“With each audit we pick up more and more on how specific brands, and brand categories, are using the space,” says Daniel Steyn, strategist for Posterscope. In terms of trends, he said this audit “identified how only a small number brands are using the channel to target holiday makers over the festive season, especially outside of Cape Town and Durban. Similarly we gain valuable insight into media owners’ inventory, such as who has the best overall quality of sites through our propriety Posterscope rating score for each site which is derived from the audit data”.
The data collected is used to analyse brand activity, develop contextually relevant client insights, and to strategically inform OOH media planning, says Steyn.
The January audit checked 10 000 billboards in all nine provinces, travelling 25 000km to do it; 25 fields of data captured; 500 towns visited and 50 000 photos taken.
Steyn says the information collected for every billboard includes current advertiser, size and condition of the structure, visibility and competitive environment, road type and traffic volume.
This information, he said, is used to reveal the Posterscope rating for each billboard, which uses an algorithm that results in an objective measure of every billboard’s quality. “Using this rating Posterscope is able to determine the quality of media booked by competitor brands, and ensure that our clients book the best available sites and get the best return on their OOH investment,” he said.
Steyn’s has three tips for media planners working in the out of home sector:
- Anything can happen! Always remember that we operate in the real world.
- Location, location, location. Context is very important when choosing a billboard. Insist on the most recent images. Posterscope images are updated every 6 months thanks to the audit process.
- Nothing beats seeing it for yourself. Go on field trips, and visit the places you’re proposing to a client. All the Posterscope planners and strategists have participated in the audit process.
