Kena Outdoor's move to programmatic digital advertising: A bold stride into the future

Nelson Mandela Square continues to be one of Africa’s most exclusive dining and lifestyle destinations.

In response to the growth of the digital market and a hybrid approach of static and digital, we took the decision to broaden our inventory by adding a premium selection of digital sites. With excellent customer service being at the core of what we do, we had to respond to our clients’ needs for digital screens which would elevate their brands to a new level.

A natural choice for our first digital screen was one of the most iconic outdoor media locations in South Africa: Sandton Library overlooking Nelson Mandela Square. It is no exaggeration to describe this site as akin to the Times Square of Africa. Africa’s richest square mile. A central business district, luxury hotel courtyard, shopping, dining and lifestyle destination. Surrounded by restaurants, visitors from all over South Africa – and Africa – come to be photographed at the feet of Madiba’s statue, across from which towers our six-meter-high digital screen.

This digital screen is rooted in a history between us and the Sandton Library that has been ongoing for many years. Kena Outdoor’s first stride into digital in 2018 had the Dubai global airline giant Emirates as our pioneer client. Fast forward to 2021, we have a digital screen alongside two static billboards right at the entrance of the Sandton Library, the perfect illustration of our dynamic outdoor media offering.

Beyond being a direct response to the market’s needs, digital screens have proven to be the advantageous answer to Out Of Home advertising in 2021 and beyond. These screens allow us to provide the same high impact site to multiple clients at the same time, therefore allowing us to showcase just how effective our strategies are to more than one client.

Moja Café, our first digital site at one of Soweto’s most trafficked hotspots.

Kwa Lichaba, a high traffic site in Orlando, Soweto which boasts impressive car and foot traffic throughout the day.

One of our most sought-after screens was erected in 2020, at Orlando’s Moja Café—a hotspot which draws all kinds of people, as many come from as far as Sandton for their infamous #MogoduMondays.

We followed this installation with screens at Immink Drive in Diepkloof and Old Potch Road in Pimville.

The decision to expand our digital rollout to Soweto was intentional and informed by our roots, having started Kena Outdoor in Soweto over twenty years ago. Additionally, Soweto is a prime location that caters to people of varying social and economic standings thus making it the excellent choice for more innovative outdoor advertising.

To expand our reach and provide our clients with the best engagement possible, we did not convert any of our static sites to digital but rather acquired brand new sites. In doing so, we manage to create strategies that allow clients to reach audiences more than ever before.

Although most of our digital screens are in Gauteng, we are working towards a digital reach that is as extensive as our static media. Located in the Free State, our Bloemfontein Central digital screen is our first step at taking our digital approach across the country. Our digital rollout is one of our main focus areas for 2021 and 2022, as we aim to have 25 screens across the country by mid-2022. Producing our own digital screens allows us to erect sites quickly and offer competitive rates to our clients.

While we are at the early stages of this journey, Kena Outdoor has proven itself to be a worthy competitor in the digital market. We will continue to lead and innovate in outdoor media, providing our clients with high impact advertising and engagement opportunities nationwide.