Power-ful billboard wins big

It was a proud moment for Johannesburg-based Net#work BBDO when it walked away with a Yellow Pencil at the recent D&AD awards in what is believed to be a South African first in the enhanced poster category, normally dominated by the US and UK – for a solar billboard that powers up a kitchen, in a Johannesburg township, for client Nedbank.

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Commented creative heads Mike Schalit and Julian Watt, who were in London to accept the award, “The billboard's reason for being is more than just advertising. It benefits the lives of over 1000 school children. We feel gratified this duality was recognised by the global judges of the most reputable annual awards on the international award's calendar.”

More significantly, this particular billboard has become a precedent for a more eco-friendly model for outdoor advertising, normally the biggest perpetrator of crimes against urban blight. Schalit says they are trying to lead the world in showing how they can convert urban pollution into urban renewal. Watt says this billboard concept is something that never dies on a media schedule.

This prototype is now in the process of being rolled out throughout SA and a patent is currently being explored to export this ‘channel' throughout the world.