By Jackson Okoth

Big brands prefer spending a large portion of their outdoor advertising budgets in Nairobi.

This is because Nairobi is most important in terms of  population, GDP, disposal income and international arrivals. A survey by Weekly Business indicated that most of the top brands have dedicated a sizeable chunk of their outdoor advertising budgets on billboards located along most of the city’s routes and highways.

Industry sources say advertisements placed on billboards within the city represent leading firms involved in the provision of beverages, banking services, food outlets, insurance, telecoms and motor vehicles industries among others.

“The most consistent brands to be found in almost all the major highways and outdoor sites include brands such as Coca-Cola, Beiersdorf — NIVEA, Unilever’s Dettol and Lifebuoy brands and cellular handset manufacturer Nokia,” said John Muema, General Manager at Media Edge Limited.

Big spenders

Mobile service provider Safaricom has been dominant and a big spender on airport advertising space, especially around Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

A glimpse into Nairobi’s busy highways reveals an entire spectrum of consumer brands. For instance, a drive through the busy Mombasa road coming from the Haile Selassie round about junction with Uhuru Highway through to Nyayo stadium has a wide selection.

The list of brands on this route’s billboards and lamp posts include Huawei, Standard Chartered Bank, Trust, Richot, Picanna, Access Kenya, DStv, Visa Card, Ecobank, Daima Milk, Weetabix, Nivea, MPesa and Mitsubishi vehicles.

Erratic business

“Although revenue in the outdoor advertising business is erratic, some of the most consistent and traditional big spenders in this space are telecom companies, dealers in fast moving consumer goods, financials, dealers in beverages and the alcohol industry,” said Muema.

The most competitive and highly priced outdoor advertising site is airports. For instance, the areas around Jomo Kenyatta international airport (JKIA) is the most expensive outdoor per square metre, raking in revenue to the tune of Sh200 million per year.

At present, mobile phone operator Safaricom is the most dominant, accounting for over 60 per cent of all revenues. It is followed by Commercial Bank of Africa and Coca Cola in that order.

However, there are other sites whose billboards do not attract huge interest by advertisers. Quite a number of these billboards remain empty for months.

“A company can splash a campaign on the billboards but this will only run for several months. Revenues in outdoor business are therefore up and down”, said Muema.

But interest in billboards could be steadily waning as new platforms for reaching consumers emerge.

Dealers in more progressive products are now seeking to use more interactive digital platforms to reach consumers. “The lifestyle of an upward mobile Kenyan is also changing with more people spending less time on traffic as roads improve than in shopping malls,” said Muema.

Brand managers are therefore moving their product placements from highway advertising spaces to such places as shopping malls as well as digital and online platforms.

A spot check at major highways in Nairobi, including Jogoo, Langata, Thika Superhighway and Mombasa road reveals a number of empty billboards.

Poor visibility

“It is those billboards with poor visibility and also considered not strategic enough that remain empty for long because clients do not want to put up their messages on these sites,” said George Mugendi, Managing Director-Posterscope (E.A) Limited, an advertising agency. A client intending to place an advert on a billboard has to provide information on their communication and marketing objectives as well as target market. It is from this that a media buying agency recommends on the appropriate site to deliver the messages.

“In deciding where to place the outdoor advert, sometimes we have to consider also the target audience’s mindset both to and from work for example. This is why some billboards face traffic towards the city centre while others are placed facing away from it,” said Mugendi

While one can hear a campaign on radio, watch it on TV or read it on print media, outdoor media cannot be delivered to one’s house or office.