New Billboards & Signage Information Portal

This site is a first of its kind in South Africa, where the site will cater for subscribers who want to increase their awareness in the market of above the line advertising and the related industry and for visitors that need information on all role players in a specific advertising market sector. This site will provide all subscribers an equal opportunity to be contacted by visitors, potential clients and buyers, locally and world wide. This being of particular benefit to some of the smaller players in the market.

The SEARCH facility on the site allows a visitor to easily search for role players in a specific category and area of operation. INDUSTRY NEWS on the site would also provide news worthy information relevant to the industry as a whole and editorial contributions would be welcomed.

Perhaps the most unique feature is the E MAIL A SUBSCRIBER facility that lets visitors type one E Mail, on the site, and then merely click on recipients in the subscribers list to whom that enquiry is to be sent. The recipients will receive that E Mail confidentially as a blind carbon copy and not know whom else received the same E Mail. Recipients can then reply to the sender as requested.

Vic van Zyl, brain child of www.billboards.co.za is quoted saying:

"Let’s imagine the concept of BILLBOARDS to include all signage media, from a large steel hoarding to a printed pamphlet or a sign on a building. We aim to provide companies directly and indirectly involved with the signage media industry, a vehicle to expose and market their respective Contact Details, Company Logo, link to a Web Site, E Mail Address and Company Description on the Internet. We believe that this site is long overdue and will become a benchmark for the industry and so become a reference for all things to do with billboards and signs and the related industry.

"By listing on a specific web directory exposes a company to everyone that owns a PC or Network Terminal, world wide

"The success of this concept will depend largely it’s marketing and utilisation."

This website and the service it provides will be physically advertised on billboards where the display would be walked between the major cities. Editorials about the site and advertisements will also be placed from time to time in relevant publications.

This site will also be regularly indexed and updated to the various Search Engines. Click on www.ananzi.co.za and SEARCH FOR BILLBOARDS. Note that www.billboards.co.za features very high on the SEARCH RESULT. The site will further be promoted by listing with various other Advertising and Marketing Web Directories.

The site will further be directly promoted to Agencies and Marketers.

Van Zyl concluded in saying:
" www.Billboards.co.za is intended to benefit and become another TOOL for the Billboard and Signage industry to use internet technology as a medium to communicate, collect information and for advertising purposes. This URL ADDRESS can easily be placed on a PC desktop FAVOURITES for easy future reference.

Elana De Swardt from FCB Lindsay Smithers is quoted saying:
"With all the media opportunities available to media planners these days, sites such as www.billboards.co.za are welcomed. It makes life much easier when one can select from a computer screen the options one wishes to consider. The email option saves hours of time. One now gets different offers from more than one outdoor media owner via email instead of making four to five telephone calls and meetings. It's really great. Especially in this day and age when alternative media options are increasingly becoming higher in demand. Most of the alternative media options fall in the Out Of Home (OOH) environment. I would encourage all the OOH media owners to get themselves listed on www.billboards.co.za "

Jacques Olivier from Media Initiative is quoted saying:
"I believe the site will be valuable to agency planners because they will be able to view all the currently available outdoor options in one place. With so many new media owners joining the ranks of the outdoor industry, it's very difficult knowing about every single one of the new media types out there. This site can provide all the details on what's available and can assist planners in finding exactly the right medium for their clients' campaigns."

Dave Granville-Roberts from Optimum Media is also quoted:
"I think the idea of centralising is a good one. Perhaps the timing is right and of course the thing that will determine the viability of the site will be if all players come on board."

Comments can be sent to info@billboards.co.za. Any suggestions to improve the service of the site and how the site can be of use to the industry would be welcomed.