The Out of Home (OOH) industry in particular was first to be hit. When we were told to stay home, we were literally turned off. But that's the thing about OOH: you can't turn it off. OOH is profound; it's here for you and me and it is here for a reason.

From the onset of lockdown, which was initiated towards the end of March 2020, OOH raised its voice in solidarity in support of the front line and essential workers who put their lives at risk in combating the coronavirus to protect our fellow South Africans.

Messages of thanks and praise across most Digital Out of Home (DOOH) billboards, which have eclipsed the landscape of South Africa. Primedia Outdoor utilised its dynamic optimised creative capable Social Wall platform with '#PrimediaBigThanks' to ensure messages from social media could be linked to the big screen of DOOH.

This made the nation's voice louder and prouder. Primedia Outdoor, in addition to the praise for our front liners, communicated preventative measures to help curb the spread of COVID-19 on all their DOOH roadside, mall and rank platforms.

OOH aimed to ensure that the public who was in need of — or in search of — a hospital or clinic knew exactly which way to turn to get there with the use of directional signage on different formats of OOH.

DOOH capabilities ensured that the nation was up to date on the statistics of COVID-19, as well as all regulation updates through the utilisation of live feed updates from Eye Witness News (EWN) on Primedia Outdoor's DOOH structures.

Primedia Outdoor took part in a global initiative '#SendingLove', which promoted messages of love that was positioned to unite communities all over the world during the fight against the effects of COVID-19.

The socially-enabled DOOH campaign was facilitated by The World Out of Home Organisation of which Primedia Outdoor is a member. 

The campaign was launched by outdoor specialist Talon Outdoor and saw advertising space donated by over 70 media owners across 153 cities. This made it the biggest user-generated campaign ever to screened on DOOH.

OOH has, without a doubt, been a formidable platform during lockdown that has played an important role for society going beyond selling and acted as a force for social good.

The first 21 days of lockdown and its contested extension in South Africa left clients in a state of confusion and wondering if anyone was going out. The number of times that one stepped out may have been significantly less but people still ventured out.

The Google Mobility Reports showcase this clearly, with residential trips having an increase of 20% up until Saturday, 2 May  after the extension of the initial lockdown. A key benefit of OOH is that its presence on a hyper-local level means that it works just as well as, or even better, than a billboard on longer journeys.

Indications from vehicle tracking company Tracker collated by data analytics company Lightstone and shows that on a national level, traffic was down 75% in the first week of lockdown.

But from Wednesday, 15 April there was an 80% increase in activity, with Lightstone reporting drivers making 40% of their trips they did before lockdown and over the following weeks continued to increase.

Six of Primedia Outdoor's Urban Digital Network billboards in Gauteng, located on main arterials, have intelligent cameras attached to them known as Prime(i). Not only do these cameras count the traffic passing each structure but can also tell what make and model of car is stationary in front of the billboard at the intersection.

These Prime(i) devices have shown a volume increase of over 160% from the first three weeks of April to the end of May and a volume level of 30% of February traffic on these specific locations.

Reports show positive signs for Level 3, reporting close to 60-70% of normal traffic volumes with approximately 8MIL employees returning to work from Monday, 1 June.

As an industry, we look forward to the increasing levels of audiences and the advertising opportunities for brands across our environments as lockdown levels ease up.

According to a recent webinar hosted by the Out of Home Advertising Association of America called Why OOH Should Be the First Place Brands Go Post-Crisis: Part 1, the following key points were raised as to why OOH will come out strong post-crisis:

  • DOOH and OOH is agile, flexible and tactile — especially when it comes to contextual messaging
  • People are focused coming out of lockdown; they have higher level of attention as they are remerging out from their homes.
  • OOH — the place to go where people need good and positive messaging, and
  • There is no other bigger broadcast medium than OOH.
When lockdown was implemented, shopping malls across the nation ensured that they created an environment that was safe for their shoppers, with social distancing measures in place and sanitisation stations everywhere you looked.

A recent survey conducted by the South African Council of Shopping Centres sets the scene perfectly for what has happened in shopping malls across the country during the initial levels of lockdown.

From level 4, malls reporting a 50%-60% on pre-COVID levels of volume with 38% reporting weekly (41% pre-COVID) shopping and 13% reporting more than once a week (24% pre-COVID).

Brand presence, price and product within the mall environment has always been incredibly important on the consumers purchase journey, especially because of the hyper locality of point of purchase to the store and relevancy.

The South African township environment has been a contested environment during lockdown, with issues relating to social distancing and the bustling informal economy that constitutes a way of life within the township setting.

Comments and reports that townships aren't in any lockdown are false; the fact is that the township has adapted. For decades, community members within townships have worked together to ensure the best for their community.

One thing for sure is that the businesses within the township will never let an opportunity slip by. During Level 5, spaza shops and informal traders were hit the hardest with their stores temporarily closed down.

But in Level 4, they rose to the challenge and utilised social media and online platforms for delivery of food and other essentials to ensure their customers received their products.

So here we are, Level 3 Lockdown in South Africa. The opportunities in OOH for advertisers are bountiful and appealing, with a growth trajectory based on recent global developments that resembles the familiar Nike tick.

OOH stands its ground as the most profound traditional media platform utilised for social good, brand building and point of purchase positioning. Primedia Outdoor is committed to delivering targeted, intelligent and streamlined OOH media solutions for all advertisers.

For more information, visit www.primediaoutdoor.co.za. You can also follow Primedia Outdoor on Facebook or on Twitter.