Provantage enhances brands through bus and commuter shelter advertising

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In recent years we have witnessed dramatic changes in the transit landscape - we now have the Gautrain, Gautrain buses, the Rea Vaya in Johannesburg, the MyCiti in Cape Town and we are beginning to enjoy the efficiency of passenger rail thanks to the massive integrated public transport developments undertaken by PRASA (Passenger Rail Association of South Africa) and other stakeholders.

The bus environment in particular has changed considerably. In the past, buses transported predominantly lower LSM workforces from the outlying areas into the city center. Over the past few years it has evolved into a daily integrated commuter system servicing economically active people across the entire LSM spectrum. For advertisers wanting to reach this audience through a cost-effective out of home platform, this is particularly noteworthy.

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With regards to visibility, consider these numbers: the average bus operates 12 hours per day, makes nine trips and travels 315kms. Furthermore, there are 3.15million people using the bus weekly, with an equal male/female gender split and the majority fall into the 15 - 49 year old age group. Now consider what this does for OOH advertising.

In Cape Town, a city notorious for creating barriers to OOH advertising, the bus is the perfect vehicle for getting a message to consumers. It is a moving billboard that works 12 hours per day and is seen in the same geographical locations by millions of commuters, motorists and pedestrians daily. In addition, MyCiTi bus branding is further enhanced with BRT Bus Station branding, ensuring that an entire journey can be seamlessly "owned" by a brand. This not only gives the environment a more aesthetic appeal, the messaging is delivered to a captive commuter audience.

In Johannesburg, where historically each public transport operator would have to motivate for the placement of a bus shelter, they are now all managed under one umbrella and are accordingly called Commuter Shelters as they service taxi, Metro Bus, Rea Vaya Bus, private bus companies and Gautrain Bus passengers. This opens up an immensely wide audience base for advertisers to access.

Furthermore, this effective integration of commuter shelters is a dream come true for brands as it means that they only need to liaise with one provider - Provantage - to access greater Johannesburg's entire network of Commuter Shelters. This comes after Provantage, in partnership with the Taxi Operator Investment Company, and operating under the name Public Transport Media, won the advertising rights to all Commuter Shelters within the Johannesburg Municipality.

There are already thousands of Commuter Shelters that are used by millions of commuters and many more new shelters are being placed - these boast a new, world-class design in line with international trends. Commuter shelters offer locality-based advertising allowing brands to pinpoint and target a certain audience. They are cost-effective and work seamlessly in conjunction with Bus Branding and Bus Station branding campaigns.

With the rapid segmentation of audiences, it is critical for advertisers to reach their target consumer effectively, with little wastage and high impact. Bus Branding and its various integrated offshoots reach consumers in a manner that is highly targeted. And in this day and age, this is the integral key to campaigns that positively affect the bottom line.

The Benefits of Bus Branding

• Excellent coverage: an average of 315 kilometres travelled every day.
  
• Mobile branding - allows for geographical targeting.
  
• High exposure to passengers, pedestrians and motorists: 3.15million commuters each week
  
• Billboard size and style of advertising as well as mobility.
  
• Cost effective, high reach, high frequency and high ROI
  
• High reach - generates 500,000 impacts per month
  
• Low wastage - route specific selection.
  
• Visual Impact - the size of the bus creates massive exposure.
  
• Economically active commuters - 83% of bus commuters are household purchase decision makers.
  
• Bus branding can be integrated with various other Transit Media formats including Bus Station branding, Commuter Shelter branding and TRANSIT.TV

Provantage provides advertisers with access to BRT, IRT, PRASA and Johannesburg Commuter Shelter branding. Give us a call. For more information chat to Skhumbuzo Nkosi, Media Director Provantage on 0861 776 826 or az.oc.egatnavorp@ns or go to www.provantage.co.za

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