A framework for the planning and integration of out-of-home advertising media in South Africa

Abstract

The Out-of-home advertising media are far more expansive than they used to be, and the shape and format of these media globally, as well as in South Africa, have changed considerably over the past few decades. Until rather recently, the out-ofhome advertising media landscape consisted primarily of outdoor advertising or billboards; but these days, this has expanded to include other platforms, such as transit advertising media, street and retail furniture advertising media, and a wide variety of alternative out-of-home advertising media types. This proliferation of out-of-home advertising media, the scant research on out-of-home advertising media planning and the number of obstacles in the South African advertising- and media industry have emphasised the need for a clear understanding of the changing nature of out-of-home advertising media and the planning and integration thereof. No previous study has addressed the integration of different out-of-home advertising media platforms as part of an integrated marketing communication plan. Very little has been published on how out-of-home advertising media planning across platforms should actually be done, even more so in a developing country such as South Africa. It was therefore necessary to investigate this further, in order to propose a framework for guiding the planning and integration of out-of-home advertising media; and one that can be applied in the South African environment. The main aim of this study was to explore how experienced out-of-home advertising media specialists plan and integrate different out-of-home advertising media platforms, as part of an overall integrated marketing communication plan. This, together with an extensive investigation into the relevant literature, was then used to develop a framework for the planning and integration of out-of-home advertising media in South Africa. Purposive sampling was used to select ten out-of-home media specialists from within prominent media-only agencies, and out-of-home advertising media-specialist agencies in South Africa. The specialists selected were responsible for planning out-of-home advertising media strategies of several of the largest advertisers in South Africa. These advertisers included Coca Cola, Unilever, Brandhouse, Cadbury, Pantene, Pfizer, Vodacom, Cell C, MTN, Spar, Shoprite, KFC, ABSA, Standard Bank Nedbank, Visa, Sony, Virgin Active, Adidas, Green Cross, Kulula airlines, NuMetro and Eskom. In-depth interviews with these specialists were conducted, using a basic guiding framework or interview guide. Qualitative thematic analysis was applied to the transcribed interviews using the software program, ATLAS.ti. The qualitative findings revealed nine themes, related to three theoretical constructs, namely: the alignment of the out-of-home advertising media campaign with the overall integrated marketing communication plan; the planning of out-of-home advertising media; and the evaluation and research of out-of-home advertising media It was recommended that specialists who understand the requirements of coordination and integration on several levels should do the planning of out-of-home advertising media. These are firstly, the alignment between the out-of-home advertising campaign and the overall integrated marketing communication plan objectives; secondly, the co-ordination between the message strategy and an out-ofhome advertising media plan; and thirdly, the integration between different platforms and formats used in the out-of-home advertising media mix. To optimally achieve integration on all these different levels required vertical integration and communication between all the role-players involved: the advertisers, the advertising agency, the media agency and the out-of-home media specialists. Effective integrated out-of-home advertising media campaigns can no longer be treated as mere add-ons; they should be part of the planning right from the start.