Beyond The Billboard
00:22:31 · Samy Naidu
[00:22:31] S0: So as we're aware, OMCs adopted the VAC, which is your visibly adjusted content. And our measurement matrix is sort of transitioned, if you wanna call it for a better word, from simply just counting vehicular traffic to a much more focused methodology of how, you know, static and digital is viewed. Okay. Things like proximity to the billboard, time of day, localities, all now play a part and immediacy within a specific meterage from the billboard, etc, all play a specific role in measurement of that VAC, okay, together with SDK data, which they've overlaid now. So I think one for for me is we look at static advertising, we know that that advertising is on there. It doesn't change too often. So your measurement is based on a single panel visibility in that respect. While digital is slightly different, it depends on a number of factors. One, what is the length of that loop? How many advertisers are in that loop? And how how long is that billboard operating for? Because not all digital boards operate twenty four seven. And that's some of the criteria that's taken into consideration when a VAC measurement is done on a billboard. So you will find that if you have a static board and a digital board in close proximity, the digital board vac would be based on an impression model based on each of the of the flightings instead of the entire board. The importance of that is one, having a robust measurement system because it leads into so many other things. As we're aware that buying right now on out of home has become impression based, it's become audience based. We've now transitioned from everything else that was measurement in the past. The second thing is the importance of that is what it gives you is flexibility in terms of dayparting, programmatic buying. It gives you a whole lot of new options that were were never there previously without a robust OMC measurement format. Of course, yes, you know, you you still have a one in six or one in 10 a VAC number versus static, but it is still the most accurate measurement out there at the moment.
00:25:13 · Kirsty Carlson
[00:25:13] S2: Thank you for sharing that. And I think it gives great perspective as to how those differ and why, what is put into the model, why it's important. And I think something else to just raise is for those that do have access to RDS and use the tool to do performance runs, you know, we're talking about the combination of static and just out of home working together and how they work perfectly and strong on their own and how they work well together. Something you can do in the tool is you can layer your static out of home with your desired of home runs and upload your desired of home spot plans into the tool so that you can see your combined performance. For example, if you had, you know, your digital out of home was only running for two weeks because it was a tactical burst, you were driving price and product and promotion as an example, and you had your static that was on for three months, you could do that combination through the RDS tool and you can see your combined performance. So you don't always need to always look at your static out of home and your digital out of home separately, which I think is really fantastic. I think it's really important that the measurement has come to this evolution of factoring in all these elements that you were speaking about now, Samy. And it also even facts in the speed of the road. The speed to the as well as any fixed obstruction. So if there's an actual building that blocks half the screen or corner of the screen, that's also factored in. So it's not just ignoring what is actually in the landscape that's factored into the satellite imagery and into the model. And I think it's important that the measurement has come to this evolution. Very exciting to see what we layered into the new releases of the measurement. But I think we've reached a point in our industry where not having measurements is not acceptable anymore. I think as an industry, I think there is so many measurements and data offerings in the market. There's multiple partners, we know MC is our currency, and a robust authenticated survey methodology. But there's a lot of other players and I know we've spoken about all Unite before with Provantage and the type of data that they provide. We've spoken about other data players. There's no excuse anymore not to have measurement for out of home.
00:27:08 · Kirsty Carlson, Samy Naidu
But I think it's important that when we talk about digital out of home, that all those aspects that Samy was mentioning is factored into that methodology. [00:27:18] S0: And I think there again, you know, certain people try and compare a static VAC to a digital VAC. And the questions get asked, and I think that your digital VAC is a lot less than a static VAC. But but there's reasons for that because of the number of advertisers and the loop, etcetera, that all has a factor in terms of that measurement. And I think people need to understand that. But what what's brilliant about digital is that digital provides the immediacy. While static, the ad stays static, as it may say, you change it once a month if you're lucky. With digital, the agility comes in, and I think that's what's so key mixed with that audience measurement. [00:28:06] S2: I would like to move us on to some campaign examples. As we head towards the close of this episode, I think it's really important that we talk about some amazing use cases of the combination of the power of static and digital out of home. Just to spark something for the industries, for some of the brands that might be in categories for their planning for the 2027 strategies. So, Samy, top of mind, what are the subtypes of categories or brands that you feel can find this amazing mix and balance between the use of both of these? Or have you got any campaigns that you'd love to share with us that have inspired you in this space?
00:28:37 · Samy Naidu
[00:28:37] S0: So firstly, I think from a global perspective, and we know and I just want to touch on that as well, with regards to the evolution of digital and where it's actually progressed globally. So two things. I mean, one, we, you know, digital out of home has sort of transitioned to more than 50% of the total out of home inventory currently globally. And I think that's set to grow. So so we're going to see static sort of, you know, shrink a little bit more in time as new digital screens come come on board, and less static inventory being available. But it's definitely static hasn't lost its, essence and ethos, and I think it will always remain there for many years to come. Second thing for me is is that, you know, programmatic digital has started to catapult globally. I think last year, the the spend on programmatic has been in excess of 1,300,000,000 US dollars globally, which is amazing. But and the reason why I say that and why I actually sort of frame that is if I look at countries like The US, Northern America, Europe, etcetera, where they've utilized both digital and static quite effectively and strategically is in the launch of car brands and keeping key car brands top of mind in those communities, etcetera. And I've seen that work very well. Where, you know, the likes of Ford, Chrysler, Kia to a certain extent, Hyundai, and you've seen Hyundai do a lot of promotion and sponsorship events, etcetera. They've kept the brand top of mind through static advertising. But what they've clearly done as well is utilize digital for the car brand, model releases, for bringing in, you know, pricing strategies for countdown on new your features, countdown on new models being launched, as well as hyper local in terms of where, car dealerships are located, etcetera, and advertising those on the digital format. If we look at South Africa, and within my context and within our business, I think for me, one vertical that really stands out is the retail vertical. And I take it back to a few campaigns that we've executed and undertaken. The very first one that comes top of mind for me is ShopRite. ShopRite's done an amazing job where they've static branded or branded taxi ranks and they've branded commuter corridors that lead onto retail locations and transport nodes.
00:31:31 · Samy Naidu
And they've then supported this with price and product advertising via digital screens, our transit TV networks, and those screens, they change ads on a weekly basis. They advertise their new products, they advertise pricing, they advertise specials, but the brand has always remained top of mind in those environments through their static advertising. Very similar executions have been done by Pep, SPAR, Pick n Pay. And I think, you know, while that's just one vertical, a lot of other advertisers could learn from exactly the same principles. Is we know that static is relatively much cheaper than digital by far, even on a long term basis. So you... You're yielding long term brand affinity. And to come in with a strategic tactical campaign or burst with a digital just reinforces what you've achieved on your static advertising, which is key for me.
00:32:38 · Kirsty Carlson
[00:32:38] S2: I love that you raised retail because I think it's such an amazing way to do the combination on the effectiveness of the use of static out of home with digital out of home with that brand building and then the price product promotion and changing the creative, you know, and adapting the creative. I think that's such an incredible showcase of a vertical or category to really show this combination. I also think another one would be QSR. So your fast foods using your ecstatic very much for your brand build and then using your desired home for your breakfast, your lunch, your dinner, or your price products or special specials that you're doing or occasional, you know, Easter special festive specials. I think QSR is quite a nice category to play in that, that magic of combining those two together in a way that can be effective for them. When you were speaking about the stats globally, and you're speaking about programmatic, and we're I think we're tenth in the world on the latest programmatic Desert of Home Global report, when it comes to the percentage, we're the first South Africa on the continent to from driving programmatic and a Desert of Home spend point of view, South Africa on the continent. But what I find quite interesting is the spend percentage of digital out of home, and that we're nearly hitting that we're in the 49% mark based on World Out of Homes global report spend report is that we're nearly at that 50% mark of global out of home spend. So interesting to see what's happening at a global level, and to monitor what is going to happen here. But we know that dish out of home is still growing in our market, there's still more screens being put into ground. And there's still a lot more brands learning how to use the format.