by Craig Page-Lee (@cpl_ignite) We know outdoor media on the rest of the continent is highly effective when packaged in the right combinations for the hundreds of millions of African consumers. Unfortunately, there are instances where unsuspecting advertisers are seriously overcharged for out-of-home (OOH) media.
Rate cards vary significantly from region to region, and the media platforms may even appear erratic, unstructured and cluttered at times.
A multitude of levies and other duties
The powers that be (government and outdoor-industry regulatory bodies) have very quickly understood the efficacy and power of the outdoor advertising as a medium and have set in place a multitude of levies and other duties that are passed on to media owners, which in turn are passed on to unsuspecting advertisers.
In some instances, the annual rates quoted for key sites are far higher than it should be. This is nowhere more apparent than at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja (both in Nigeria).
Arriving at Nnamdi Azikiwe, one is pleasantly surprised by the magnitude of the airport (although the majority is designated for state-usage only) and the supposed sophistication of infrastructure. One even gets to disembark from one of the two jet bridges connecting one to the international arrivals terminal.
Probably the most expensive ever encountered
Do enjoy the journey and please take in as much of the advertising displayed on these two bridges as they are probably the most expensive I’ve ever encountered when seeking out opportunities for global clients.
These two will set one back a mere €1.2m/year or €100k/month. That equates to R1.412m/month or R16.944m/year. This cost excludes production and the standard 5% VAT levied in Nigeria.
A set of 18 jet bridges, covering both domestic and international terminals at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, will cost one just over 25% of that rate.
Plan a European campaign for less
One can also plan a multinational European-based airport jet-bridges campaign for less than the rate card of the two at Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport.
Arriving at Murtala Mohammed is equally a major surprise, not because of the cost of jet bridges but because of the impeding chaos and frustration that one will experience when collecting one’s baggage and trying to navigate one’s way through customs control without having to hand over wads of cash to be “fast-tracked” through the process.
Once one does make it through, with passport and Yellow fever certificate still in one’s possession, one is confronted by one of the largest billboard signs that one will ever experience, a 121m long x 5.8m high spectacular sign attached to the airport’s perimeter fence. This 702m.sq face will set one back a mere €1.116m/year or €93k/month. That equates to R1.313m/month or R15.757m/year. This cost again excludes production and the standard 5% VAT levied in Nigeria.
Largest OOH in Nigeria
This is probably the largest OOH location and display opportunity currently in Nigeria, and the first outdoor billboard that one sees when one leaves the airport. A billboard of similar impact and size (504m.sq) is located in the heart of Lagos and the rate card is in the region of approximately €740k/year or €62k/month.
The rate card for a 18m long x 4.5m high, digital LED panel along the N1 in Johannesburg will be in the region of R350k/month and will expose your brand to over 1.7m vehicles daily, while the rate card for 20 faces of a similar-size gantry network in the peri-urban/rural areas of KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape will be in the region of R300k/month, reaching almost half of South Africa’s rural communities.
The rate card for a 16m long x 4m high gantry on the approach to King Shaka International Airport outside Durban will be in the region of R80k/month, while the rate card for a large format drivers’ right billboard on the approach road to Cape Town International Airport will be in the region of R125k/month, and a well-located head-on billboard on the approach road to OR Tambo International Airport will be in the region of R60k/month.
Five months vs one month
An advertiser could buy these three media touch-points for five months, reaching a substantial portion of travellers in SA, in comparison to the one-month rate card for the spectacular sign at Murtala Mohammed!
In the interim, it is important to understand that these rates are absolutely not reasonable compared to what is obtained elsewhere in the world but that regular factors influencing rate cards around the world apply — such as maintenance costs, the need to provide generators for backup electricity in Lagos, and that the site is within the airport vicinity and therefore on concession from government agency to the respective media vendor.
Is it because the rest of the continent presents more than five times the population exposure to brands, when compared to SA, that it warrants such a premium?
This is how it is
Whatever the factors, the rate cards are in place and there is a long way to go before the results of the OOH industry measurability research are released and genuine market-related rate cards are established.
Craig Page-Lee (@cpl_ignite) is the group MD of Posterscope South Africa. He has over 21 years of working experience across the disciplines of architecture and retail design/brand communications and marketing management/advertising and media, across 11 pan-European and six pan-African regions. Craig’s monthly column on MarkLives, “Beyond Borders”, focuses on doing business in various African markets. Also remember to tune into his #eBizRetail slot on www.ebizradio.com.
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