New outdoor media takes off

Indiza Media, a subsidiary of Primedia Outdoor, embraced the opportunity to create a landmark to celebrate the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The result is an imposing soccer ball seven metres diameter and 10 high – an iconic landmark clearly visible throughout the day and an illuminated beacon at night.

“We were considering various opportunities to leverage 2010 for our clientele and it was essential that this be an out-of-home idea. Out of various suggestions the soccer ball as an outdoor medium was born,” says Mzi Deliwe, MD of Indiza Media. “This new media platform is sold as a package to one company, who scores the unique branding opportunity to have its name in lights around 10 ACSA airports.”

Every year more than 16 million passengers pass through O R Tambo alone and this is growing at a rate of 7% per annum. Cape Town International Airport and Durban International Airport have seven and four million transient passengers respectively, increasing at 9.3% and 7.7%.

At this rate, more than 100 million travellers from all walks of life will view the soccer billboards during their tenure at these three airports. The huge impact of the dramatic spike in air traffic expected for the actual world cup is not reflected in this figure.

Design challenges

To create the icon demanded by Indiza Media and ACSA, many design challenges had to be overcome. In the original design, the ball appeared static, so Indiza Media tilted the structure by 12 degrees to give it a more dynamic look.

Comprising 12 pentagons and 20 hexagons, built separately to facilitate transport to the various airports, were then assembled on each site. Each panel piece – 1400 pieces in total – were laser-cut to ensure a maximum size variance of 0.1 mm.

The ball had to be illuminated from within, without any shadows being cast on the face from the internal supporting structure. This meant that the supporting structure had to be designed to be almost invisible and the framework kept to the absolute minimum. No visible mechanical fixings were placed on the outside of the ball and the panels had to be internally secured.

“It was an opportunity that Indiza Media and parent Primedia Outdoor, proud soccer 2010 supporters, simply couldn't miss out on,” concludes Deliwe.