By Samantha Cook
Arriving at the Moloko hotel in Strathavon, Sandton, it wasn’t hard to guess the theme of out-of-home media company Provantage’s latest product launch – from greeters dressed as flight attendants to being handed ‘boarding passes’ upon registration, it was clear that aviation was meant to be the star of the show (and obviously, by extension, Airport.tv). But what is Airport.tv, and what benefits will it add to the advertising community?
It is a fully-fledged digital television network with audio, designed to target a very specific (and until now, difficult to reach) consumer market: air travellers. The platform, which has been developed by Provantage in partnership with Airports Company South Africa (ACSA), will be rolled out in nine airports nationwide by the beginning of June, with the more than 400 digital Airport.tv screens located at domestic departure and arrival terminals, security check-in points and meet-and-greet areas.
Provantage MD, Jacques du Preez, kicked off the short-but-sweet show by giving some background information and an overview of the project, admitting that he realised he was preaching to the converted, “but I just want to explain why we invested so much money with ACSA”. Talking about the potential inherent in harnessing the power of both out-of-home and television advertising, he added that television advertising still dominates in terms of ad spend in the global advertising space, but that significant growth is also projected in the out-of-home space, indicating the potential for even more growth when combined.
An advertising combo is essentially what the Airport.tv offering is all about. By inserting television capability into a traditionally out-of-home space, the potential for ad spend is significant, particularly as this is an attractive option for advertisers who would like to be able to flight television commercials on multiple platforms.
When it comes to the technology itself (which Provantage touts as ‘leading edge technology’), developers have clearly attempted to tackle some of the issues inherent in audiovisual advertising in busy public spaces. With a ‘high quality audio system’ supported by adjustable volume (based on the level of ambient noise), audio interfaces with paging systems allowing passengers to hear important announcements and on-site field technicians to provide proactive system evaluation seven days a week, Provantage has obviously put some thought into this. However, only time will tell how effective it is at breaking through the commotion and general hustle and bustle associated with air travel. That said, an entertainment offering comprising live news, sports coverage, lifestyle programming and business news (among the advertising, of course) should help in attracting the interest of the target market. In addition to the basics, Airport.tv (which will be broadcast between 5:00 and 00:00 every day of the week) will have a 55/45 ads-to-content split, with TVCs updated daily and programming updated hourly. A nifty additional feature is the fact that the station can be split regionally to allow for area-specific programming and advertising – a definite plus for city-specific advertisers.
If Provantage has got its figures right, advertisers using Airport.tv could potentially have access to a monthly average audience of 2.181-million passengers, which in turn translates into an estimated reach of 1.745-million per month. That’s a lot of potential customers. Add to that the fact that advertisers are guaranteed screen exclusivity for the duration of the commercial and extended exposure to affluent viewers with buying power, and it’s easy to see why Airport.tv could possibly revolutionise the out-of-home advertising sector.
For more information on Airport.tv, contact Jacques du Preez on 0861 776 826 or
jdp@provantage.co.za.