Abstract:
Out-of-home (OOH) advertising media have expanded worldwide and the shape and format of these media
globally, as well as in South Africa, have changed considerably. Until recently, the OOH advertising media
landscape consisted primarily of outdoor advertising or billboards reaching vehicular traffic, but now has
expanded to include a wide range of OOH advertising media types which aim to reach a mobile audience
wherever they live, work, play, drive, shop or commute. Currently there is no coherent contemporary framework
to compare and select the most effective media options to reach a selected target market in a specific OOH
audience environment. This article draws from academic and practitioner sources to propose a classification
framework for OOH advertising media in South Africa comprising four major platforms: outdoor advertising,
transit media advertising, street-and-retail furniture advertising, and digital and ambient OOH media channels.
The framework serves to inform marketers of viable and cost-effective traditional and contemporary OOH
advertising media options. It also indicates what platforms are appropriate to reach specific audiences
effectively in a variety of environments outside their homes. This is the first framework of its kind for the South
African context that offers an orderly, integrated basis for future research.