1st Hybrid Billboard in SA – Offering the Omni-Presence of Static and the Flexibility of Digital Billboards

Johannesburg, May 2021 – Outdoor Network has strengthened its market-leading position in the South African Out of Home (OOH) industry by launching an innovative hybrid billboard that is set to provide advertisers with an enhanced media solution designed specifically to deliver greater levels of impact and recall of brand communication.

In the process it continues to set the standard in the industry, exploring new and innovative ways of communicating through OOH.

The hybrid billboard concept marries the benefits of static and digital OOH and is the first of its kind in South Africa, as Outdoor Network continues to drive innovation in the industry through solutions that are bold, iconic, impactful, and deliver tangible results for brands.

The hybrid billboard takes the form of a 4.5m x 15m static billboard with an integrated 4m x 3m digital screen. Outdoor Network plans to roll out a network of these innovative billboards across Gauteng and in Durban and the Western Cape in the coming months, with a focus on reaching high-LSM consumers travelling along key highway routes and main arterial roads.

“In this way, brands are able to get the best of both worlds and benefit from both static and digital,” says Jacques du Preez, CEO of Provantage Media Group. “The static element provides complete ownership, brand awareness, brand affinity, and the opportunity for bold creative, whilst the innovative addition of digital allows for day-to-day communication, adaptable creative, product and price promotion, and bespoke messaging. Together, they make for a compelling offering on one ‘canvas’, as both static and digital OOH have proven their ability to hold their own in today’s multifaceted advertising landscape.”

Outdoor Network has already unveiled its first hybrid billboard on the M1 Ben Schoeman highway, north-bound, in Woodmead, Johannesburg, with automobile manufacturer Ford the first brand to see the potential and sign up for this new, attractive offering, in a deal put together by Group M.

“As a future forward brand, Ford SA needs to use an OOH platform that matches its ethos and attitude, which is why Outdoor Network is a perfect partner for the brand, giving Ford SA the new and exciting platform, it needs to communicate effectively with the rest of the country,” says Doreen Mashinini, General Manager, Marketing – Southern and Sub-Saharan Africa Region, Ford Motor Company.

In addition to the highly-engaging combined static and digital offering, Ford can expect to reach 687,000 consumers at a frequency of six and a total of 3,8 million impacts monthly from the site, which is situated in close proximity to key shopping destinations (ROAD2016/17/18C).

“We will continue to drive innovation in the billboard category,” says Du Preez. “Brands want to stand out and innovate, and with our new Hybrid billboard network we offer brands a cost-effective and very innovative offering that they can own. Hybrids offer complete ownership,

combined with the flexibility of digital OOH. We take innovation seriously and will continue to deliver value and results for our clients, and Hybrids are a very good illustration of that”.  

These iconic and ground-breaking hybrid billboards are expected to effectively deliver on reach and frequency due to their key high-traffic locations and unique, innovative, and engaging offering.

Outdoor Network, a division of Provantage Media Group, has a Level 1 B-BBEE rating and is 52% black-owned and 39% black female-owned, proving that not only does it remain at the forefront of innovation in South Africa, but also continues to drive meaningful change and empowerment in the country’s OOH industry.