OOH media includes advertising tools such as wallscapes, billboards and posters. While some may consider this form of advertising ‘out of date’, you’ll be amazed at the incredible results you can achieve through OOH advertising, especially when you pay careful attention to the placement!

In this article, we’ll give you five factors to consider when it comes to OOH placements so that you can get the most return for your effort and advertising investment.

Visibility

The number one thing to take into consideration is the visibility of your advertisement. It should be front-facing and preferably visible from various angles so that as many people as possible can view your message. There shouldn’t be any visible interferences such as trees, powerlines, other advertising, etc.

Expected Traffic

You want to advertise in an area where your billboard will get a lot of people passing it. Whether these are people in vehicles, pedestrians, or both. Placing billboards or posters in a quiet area will not bring you the results you’re looking for.

Your Target Market

Before deciding on placement, it would really pay off to do some market research to get to know more about your audience demographics and which areas they live in, shop in, and travel to frequently. This will give you an idea of what areas will effectively reach your ideal customers.

Rush Hour Traffic

Choosing a location that can be seen by those in rush hour traffic will definitely help boost your results as your message will be seen by a larger pool of people. Even if everyone is not your typical customer, you never know who could be looking for what you’re offering.

Budget

The last thing you need to consider is your budget. OOH advertising, especially billboards, can be expensive, so you may not be able to afford your ideal placement. It is important to compromise and find a solution that fulfils your needs as well as your budget,

Need help with your OOH campaign and OOH placements? Speak to the experts at Face First Media today, and we can ensure that the chosen placements are the most effective ones! We’d love to handle all your OOH advertising! Get in touch today.

Billboard advertising has been exceptionally popular for decades and is a highly effective tool that allows you to capture the attention of thousands of people. 

In recent years we have seen adaptations and technological improvements of the traditional printed billboard, with digital billboards increasing in popularity. But most recently, a new billboard phenomenon has been introduced and quite possibly holds the future of advertising: 3D billboards!

What Are 3D Billboards?

3D billboards incorporate some of the latest technology to create a three dimensional, often moving projection as a form of advertisement. 3D billboards are quite expensive to keep running, but through innovations and adaptations, these billboards should soon be more accessible to smaller businesses who do not have the advertising budgets of multi-million rand corporations.

What Can 3D Billboards Do?

The main appeal of 3D billboards is that they are able to create a highly realistic image as depth is created by using two different images that have been captured from two different perspectives. If you have never seen a 3D billboard in person before, you will undoubtedly be captivated ‒ even if the product being advertised is not exactly your cup of tea. They give visual pleasure and excitement to the viewer that few advertising methods have done before.

Can 3D Billboards Be Used To Advertise Any Product?

Viewers tend to respond best to 3D advertisements that have beauty and are aesthetically pleasing. Popular 3D billboard adverts have included natural imagery such as waterfalls, whales, cats and other animals. But if you work with the right advertising team, you can come up with an effective 3D component that will have an impressive impact, no matter what your product or service is.

Are 3D Billboards Available In South Africa?

3D billboards in South Africa are still very new and we do not have nearly as many as places like America, Japan and Europe. However, the technology is slowly being adopted, and we are excited to see what South African graphic designers can come up with for 3D billboard designs.

Are you interested in using 3D billboards to promote your product or service? Speak to the billboard advertising experts at Face First Media today!

Yes, billboards are larger than life and appear overpowering and maybe a bit intimidating. But if you are keen to get your brand noticed and remembered by zillions of people, there is no better way than billboard advertising. If you haven’t ventured into this space yet due to a fear of how it works, this blog is for you. We break it down into a few simple steps so you can gain a clearer picture of exactly how billboard advertising works.

Step 1: Find A Billboard Advertising Agency 

The first step is to find an experienced, specialist billboard advertising agency in your area that will advise you on the best location for your billboard. Most agencies rent plots of land on which they place their billboards to give advertisers maximum reach. A good agent will lead you in the right direction in terms of a prime location and how many billboards you will need for your marketing goals.

Step 2: Decide On Print Or Digital Billboards 

Print billboards have been the trusted go-to method of billboard advertising for many years and still have their advantages as a clear, static image that attracts the right kind of customer attention without being too distracting. Enter the age of digital billboards. You now have the option of a digital billboard advert, which works with LED lights and a digitally animated image or text to convey your brand message. This cost-effective method saves on paper and printing resources and establishes your brand as an innovative one. Ask your agency to help you decide which method is best for you.

Step 3: Supply Your Artwork

When designing your billboard, remember to show rather than tell your message. The less text the better, since motorists will only have a few seconds to glance at your billboard. It’s important that your advert is creative yet not distracting. There is no need to try and be too clever; just be clear, powerful and memorable. Supply any relevant logos or artwork to your design team and make sure that image resolutions are high enough to be clearly visible to your audience.

Step 4: Admire Your Billboard And Note Any Feedback 

Once your billboard is up, this is your time to sit back, relax and reap the benefits. The hardest part is over. Now you can observe how well your ad is received. Be sure to keep track of any leads that come from your billboard advertising so you know what’s working and what needs improvement. Pay attention to the feedback you receive so you can implement any recommendations for future success with your outdoor advertising campaigns.

For highly effective, targeted billboard advertising in SA, in print and digital forms, contact Face First Media, an established, expert OOH ad agency behind many of the familiar brands we know.

You may have recently heard the words ‘digital boom’ or ‘online marketing explosion’ mentioned in the media. So as we find ourselves in the centre of this digital era, are outdoor billboards still effective? Is out of home advertising still worth spending your budget on when the media is telling us that most South Africans are in their homes and on their phones and laptops more than ever before? Here are some mind-bending reasons why billboard advertising totally rocks in 2022 against the odds.

Diamond In The Rough 

Billboards remain effective simply because they stand out from the crowd and demand your attention. While social media presence is crucial for any business in the changing sphere of marketing, it’s easy to get lost in the blur of brands scurrying for attention online. With lockdown restrictions significantly eased, life is pretty much back to normal and motorists are out there in full action day and night. As the roads come alive, your billboard advert simply cannot be avoided, and maximum visibility is as achievable today as it was years ago.

Entertainment For Mahala 

Let’s face it: People want to be entertained, especially motorists stuck in peak hour traffic! Billboards allow endless possibilities for creativity and brands can have plenty of fun with this. With a powerful image, eye-catching colours, a few carefully selected words or daring punctuation, some wit and a thought-provoking or humorous line, consumers will thank you. In contrast, many online adverts or TV adverts are brushed off as intrusive because they interrupt the viewer’s entertainment. Billboards provide a welcome relief to an uneventful drive home with entertaining messages and brand awareness ‒ free for your customer and cost-effective for you. It’s a win-win!

The Trust Factor

Companies that use billboard advertising gain trust and credibility from their customers because billboards have a commanding, authoritative presence. A billboard ad with your logo on it says you are big, confident and capable. Since billboards are not invasive, your message may also be better received and, most importantly, leave a lasting impact.

Intrigued? Get in touch with Face First Media, a leading billboard advertising agency for specialised, highly effective outdoor advertising.

One of the stand out stars in the advertising world is out-of-home advertising, or OOH advertising for short. This type of advertising includes a wide range of promotions that customers and potential customers will see outside of their homes.

Such things as billboards (static and digital), adverts on buses, posters, bus shelters, train stations and point of sale advertising all fall into the category of OOH advertising.

Read on to find out why this form of advertising continues to be popular in promoting both products and services.

OOH Advertising Is Very Effective

It has been proven that OOH advertising is a highly effective form of advertising that gives excellent bang for your buck. The reasons for this are varied, including:

• Being able to target a specific audience by careful selection of target locations.
• Competitive pricing for constantly visible advertising versus other forms of advertising that can be “turned off”.
• The constant presence of this form of advertising fosters brand familiarity and brand loyalty.
• Companies using OOH advertising report perceptible increases in sales due to the increased exposure generated for their product or service.

OOH Advertising Is A Way To Increase Marketing Exposure Across Other Channels

While out-of-home advertising is effective as a stand-alone effort, it also has the knock-on effect of increasing access to other marketing and communication channels with your organisation. In this digital age of instant gratification, what is the first thing a potential customer will do after being attracted to your OOH advertising? Reach for their phone and look for you online on their favourite channel, like searching for your website or blogs, or connecting via a social media app.

To guarantee the best possible outcome, your coverage on other channels should continue the potential created by your OOH adverts. This multi-faceted approach will strengthen your marketing campaign and lead to the positive results that you are looking for.

So the question you should be asking yourself is why you are not using this highly effective tool in your marketing campaign? The hype is justified because OOH advertising is a proven method of building brand loyalty and increasing sales.

When choosing the marketing strategy for your organisation, a good place to start is to be reminded of the four basic principles of marketing. They are also known as the 4 Ps: product (or service), place, price and promotion.

The one of interest to us here is promotion. Promotion includes activities such as advertising, public relations, direct marketing, personal selling and sales promotions. The good news is that OOH advertising (out-of-home advertising) is an excellent form of promotion that will tick many blocks for your marketing campaign.

What Is The Purpose Of Advertising?

The core purpose of advertising is three-fold:

• To inform – Advertising should create awareness of your brand, your product or service and provide pertinent information about the values and objectives of your organisation.
• To persuade – The objective is to sway customers’ perceptions to believe that your products or services are the best quality, value or best suited to satisfy their needs and wants.
• To remind – Advertising serves to remind customers about your product or service and reinforces information about the features, benefits and opportunities it will provide to them.

How Does OOH Advertising Help To Achieve These Purposes?

OOH advertising, like billboards, are an excellent way to achieve the intentions set out in any advertising campaign by targeting people who are looking to purchase your product or service.  They create a desire for purchase right at that moment, but they also promote long-term growth and loyalty to your brand by their presence over an extended period of time.

In addition, this type of advertising will target specific markets that may be overlooked by more traditional forms of advertising like TV, radio or print adverts. By strategically selecting the placement, frequency and location of your OOH advertising, you are in a unique position to target specifically identified audiences.

And unlike other forms of advertising, OOH advertising has a constant presence. It can’t be turned off, turned down, or page turned, so the message is broadcast on a continuous basis, increasing its visibility potential.

OOH advertising is a cost-effective tool to include in the advertising portion of your marketing campaign.

There are many types of advertising possibilities available to business owners. However, some are more effective than others and yield more interactions with clients and foot traffic in your store or online platform. Why not create a familiarity among the population who encounter your OOH advertising? This will keep you relevant, talked about, and on the tip of everyone’s tongue.

Building Trust

As any business owner knows, creating a sense of trust or a connection between you and the consumer is necessary for future interactions and continuous exchanges. Focusing on cultivating this trust will benefit your relationship with consumers in the long run. It’s important to choose messages on your advertisements that have the ability to relate the consumers to your products or brand. Draw them in with scenes and narratives that they can identify with and put their trust in. This is a great way to build rapport with the individuals engaging with your OOH advertising.

Familiar Faces

Utilising familiarity with your customers is hugely beneficial – proximity breeds familiarity, and familiarity breeds trust. By this logic, the more an individual drives past your OOH advertising on their way to and from work every day, the more they will begin to resonate with your brand. Customers who identify with your company are more inclined to engage with your business and purchase your items.

Catch Everyone’s Attention

Reaching an incredibly wide range of individuals simultaneously is one of the perks of OOH advertising. Not only are you reaching large numbers, but also a very diverse target market. People from different socioeconomic backgrounds, interests, ages, and more. There is no doubt your brand will pique the interest of many consumers being exposed to your advert.

Innovation

With digital screens and more of the population accustomed to watching the screen for extended periods, it is obvious that a digital advertisement will interest most consumers. The digital screen also opens up doors for innovative and creative advertising that will catch the attention of a diverse range of people among the audience.

Reach a wider target market, build trust and connection with your consumers, and show off your innovation with out of home advertising. These are all amazing reasons to invest in this advertising medium.

Think about the essence of your brand messaging? Can you convey that in 5 seconds? This is precisely the concept that billboards make possible. It is one of the most common forms of outdoor advertising, particularly among large corporations. And it gives your brand the power to create impressions on the subconscious minds of thousands of drivers, passengers and pedestrians who pass by on a daily basis.

Even in a fast-paced world, the power of large-scale visual impact advertising can not be underestimated. We look at the traditional billboard advertising advantages below.

Immediate Audience Responsiveness

Ads on billboards are free to passers-by; they do not subscribe or pay to view your media. In this way, an audience’s will already be more responsive to your brand messaging. It’s up to you to create the most impactful, thought-provoking and engaging content for them to view.

Although this does not mean that you are just giving away media without a measurable return on investment. Did you know that 71% of people claim to consciously look at billboards when driving, according to a Driver Engagement Study? That guarantees a very wide audience reach.

Quality Billboard Real Estate For Quality Leads

Billboards are considered valuable real estate; the reason behind this is every location in which a billboard is placed targets a very strategic demographic. Factors such as travel speed, travel destination and proximity to businesses, neighbourhoods, educational institutions and business parks can all be leveraged for the highest return on investment. Certain placements can guarantee a high level of traffic at different intervals.

Through data analysis, most advertisers will be able to advise locations where your messaging will have the highest impact.

Billboards Build Brand Awareness

Billboards do a lot to build trust and brand association. Just like a functional website or a brick and mortar shop gives your brand credibility, a billboard is an excellent indicator of the longevity of your business.

An eye-catching design that attracts attention and sparks conversation is a memorable way to introduce your business concept or vision to prospective customers. When people see the same billboards on a daily basis, they build a strong brand association and are often more likely to refer to your brand or seek out your services.

Working Around The Clock

One of the most remarkable advantages of billboard advertising – it’s a marketing tool that works around the clock. So even when your business shuts down for the day, your billboard is still active, still reaching a targeted audience and spreading brand awareness.

The goal should always be to make your billboard as impactful as possible, with original content, strategic placement and a high standard of workmanship to represent your brand identity adequately.

Billboards have been in our history for most of the lifetime of anyone reading this today. There is a lot of emphasis on Television commercials, digital marketing and even social media platforms as the most relevant types of advertising. But billboards have evolved with current technologies and are one of the most effective mediums for communicating a brand’s message.

Digital Screen technology has changed the world, and they are everywhere. You could see one on a highway offramp or dotted across a city metropolis; you can even interact with it and get directions in shopping malls. Digital ad displays are part of our daily lives but have you ever wondered how they work?

How Are Images Displayed?

Digital billboards can display multiple adverts throughout the day, and with smarter technology, they can also track audience metrics and engagement in real-time.

Digital displays on billboards work similarly to digital photographs, made up of pixels perfectly aligned on a grid. On an electronic billboard, pixels are made up of LED light. Each individual dot of colour is formed by a single red, green, and blue LED light bulb. By varying brightness in each colour, any shade or hue can be recreated.

Unlike a digital photograph, the resolution is determined by how close the pixels are together rather than the number of pixels on the board. Therefore, the closer they are, the more vivid and realistic the image that is generated will be.

How Are Images Transferred?

Now that you understand how an image is displayed, you may be wondering how it got there in the first place. Information is transferred via relevant software on a designated PC using what is known as a sending card and a receiving card.

To establish a connection between screen and computer, the sending card is inserted into the PC while receiving card goes into the screen display. The advertiser is then able to control what display feed is received by the screen and make relevant changes. This is called a Synchronous system display, and it is heavily reliant on the capabilities of the designated computer.

An Asynchronous system display relies only on a sending card with storage and autoplay functionality. The card is placed in a cabinet on the digital billboard and will display the data it contains as programmed. In order to change or edit the display, the card is removed and altered on a PC as needed.

Digital media impacts our lives on a daily basis; both indoors and outdoors, we are subject to media exposure. It’s easy to take for granted, but the digital display technology that has evolved with us as civilizations is truly fascinating and worth having a functional understanding of.