Botswana billboard buying season now open

The common sentiment was strategic messaging. As a strategist from one of the large mobile networks put it, 'There is no point in buying everywhere if your message has no impact'. I suspect that this sentiment will translate into a more focused spend on highly targeted sites without losing sight of competitor activity.

Often, successful brands know almost everything about their own brands, and very little their competitors - how else does one truly compete? In addition, billboard stock is becoming fiercely competitive. The playing field has opened up tremendously, with a significant number of smaller, local players erecting high visibility, high quality structures. Distilling the data reveals in some cases a high number of copy-heavy adverts, diluting messaging and visual impact.

Enter the October 2012 Outsights Report.

With market intelligence set to be the ultimate bridge between successful media buying and selling, the Outsights Report is perfectly timed. It details the billboard landscape of Botswana's main economic belt from the Zimbabwe border, through Francistown, Palapaye, Mahalapye, Gaborone, Lobatse, South African boarders and several smaller towns in between. The result is coverage: 829 bought faces, 213 unique brands, 12 industries captured.

Interesting Outsights are:

• Primedia, Continental Outdoor and Alliance Media accounted for 71% of all sold faces covered by the report;
  
• Building and Hardware was larger than the telecoms industry in terms of number of boards, although Mascom and Orange Botswana continue to be the single largest advertisers;
  
• Stanbic Bank, Standard Chartered, FNB and Barclays Bank have the widest geographic purchasing spread in the financial services category;
  
• The food outlet sector is almost entirely dominated by South Africa based brands, led by Nandos, KFC, Spur, Wimpy and Bimbos.

With this level of market Outsights, both media owners and buyers will have the edge to transact more strategically. As the old adage goes - Information is Power!

Simply put, agencies will be in a position to compile appropriate and impactful strategies, brand managers will be better able to assess their market positioning and buyers will be empowered to make impactful buying decisions with credible, relevant, revealing intelligence before the buying season is up.