The Out-of-Home (OOH) advertising sector in Africa is poised for significant expansion, bolstered by a strong year of growth and favourable market conditions. Discussions at the World Out-of-Home Forum in Africa highlighted the high proportion of ad spend attributed to OOH in the region, with forecasts indicating even more growth ahead. Research shows that in key African markets, OOH advertising generates roughly 13% of advertising revenue, with South Africa at 17% and Kenya reaching nearly 40%.

Narrowing our focus to Kenya, we find the nation is largely controlled by four media owners, together commanding an impressive 85% of the market. Magnite, for instance, claims substantial market shares in Nairobi (70%), Mombasa (90%), Kisumu (60%), Eldoret (63%), and Nakuru (57%). Other players like AdSite, Look Media, and Firm Bridge are also making inroads into the Digital Out of Home (DOOH) sector. Alliance Media, with its extensive reach across over 30 countries, boasts one of the continent’s largest networks. Other countries such as Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Ivory Coast are also experiencing considerable OOH activity, showcasing impressive year-on-year growth rates.

Infrastructure development, reduced costs, and technological advancements are fuelling the explosive growth of OOH advertising in Africa. The continent’s economic growth, coupled with media fragmentation, creates an ideal environment for OOH to serve as an effective communication vehicle, reaching sought-after consumer segments. Additionally, the diversity of media options, including electronic and print offerings, further enhances the opportunities for OOH campaigns in vibrant African markets.

“Digital has exploded across the continent with forecasts reflecting double digit growth over the next five years,” says Howard Lonstein, Trade Marketing Specialist at JCDecaux Africa. “Locally it is forecast to account for 40% of OOH spend in the next four years.” Digital has been, and will remain, a key area of focus for all the major media owners. This bodes favourably for OOH, contributing to continual growth in the industry, he says.

The demand for digital OOH (DOOH) advertising is on the rise, driven by international companies and large infrastructure projects. Mobile OOH (MOOH) and multi-channel advertising are set to dominate the landscape, capitalising on the widespread use of mobile devices throughout Africa. Traditional billboards are gradually giving way to digital media, programmatic buying, and multi-channel campaigns.

Africa holds immense potential to become a key player in the global OOH advertising industry, leveraging favourable market conditions and ongoing progress in the region. With a growing market, evolving technology, and an enthusiastic audience, the future looks promising for MOOH and DOOH advertising across Africa.

The Future of Smart Buying with Geospatial Analytics

Taptap, an eminent programmatic ad tech company and partner of A.M.A Digital Media’s location-centric digital products, has pioneered digital out-of-home campaign measurement with its innovative attribution measurement system. Utilising geospatial intelligence and deterministic and geospatial data-based predictive models, Taptap delivers accurate and scalable DOOH campaign impact measurement.  Taptap’s Sonata platform enables global brands such as Dior, Adidas, Dyson and Samsung to track campaign performance and store visits through an intuitive dashboard.

This innovative DOOH attribution measurement tool provides advertisers with actionable insights for more informed decision-making on omnichannel campaigns. The platform integrates geospatial data, providing deeper audience insights, enabling precise targeting and optimisation of OOH and DOOH campaigns.

What distinguishes Taptap is the integration of additional data such as weather, local events, and real-time traffic, offering timely and impactful messaging. Its expansion into Kenya and plans for other African markets underscore its vision of transforming African advertising through targeted, data-driven strategies.

Taptap’s platform presents unique opportunities for advertisers to strategise omnichannel campaigns, utilising location data and OOH as a primary vertical. It allows advertisers to group screens based on audience affinity, optimising campaign settings and creative elements. Brands and agencies can broaden their reach and enhance OOH campaign effectiveness with Taptap’s location intelligence platform.

After acquiring TYRCeo, Taptap integrated its APIs into the META walled garden. This now allows for the extraction of crucial location data from key postal codes, adding social media insights to audience analysis. Taptap’s platform fosters impactful, hyper-targeted advertising strategies, shifting the advertising landscape, particularly in emerging markets like Kenya and South Africa, and soon other African regions.

(Credit: AMA Digital Media, Nairobi by gender)

(Credit: AMA Digital Media, Social Media insights for Kenya)

(Credit: AMA Digital Media, Cape Town family and pet owners)

(Credit: AMA Digital Media, SA Gaming audiences by postal code)

(Credit: AMA Digital Media, all DOOH screens available in South Africa)

(Credit: AMA Digital Media, All DOOH screens available in JHB)

Hyperlocal Campaigns in Practice

• In a compelling case study, Taptap partnered with Dentsu and ABSA to demonstrate the effectiveness of their MOOH software in driving efficiencies and performance for the brand.

The campaign focused on ABSA’s goal of communicating to SMEs about their access to working capital through their services. Taptap meticulously profiled the audience, identifying business owners in key suburban areas with an interest in finance, business travel, and investment. They also targeted users who had previously visited ABSA branches, as well as those in key industrial areas and competitive zones within the past 90 days.

Implementing geofencing techniques, Taptap served the campaign to the identified audience set within one kilometer of ABSA Nairobi branches, leveraging their mobile devices. The objective was to drive them to the ABSA website and encourage exploration of loan applications. Although the ad did not have a specific call-to-action to visit the stores, Taptap successfully measured visits to ABSA branches.

The results of the campaign were impressive, showcasing omni-channel success. Taptap generated nearly 10,000 clicks, with 10% of the clickers actually visiting ABSA branches. Notably, the cost per visit was 86% lower than the typical benchmark for ABSA Kenya. This demonstrated the effectiveness of MOOH advertising in reaching consumers through their mobile devices, achieving campaign targets at a reduced cost.

This use case highlights the power of Taptap’s mobile OOH software in hyper-targeting specific audiences, driving engagement, and delivering measurable results. By combining precise audience profiling, geofencing, and effective messaging, Taptap enables brands like ABSA to optimise their OOH campaigns, reach their desired audience, and achieve their campaign goals.

• Another recent fascinating use case involved leveraging location intelligence to overlay a schedule of roadside OOH billboards for a national insurance brand. By utilising geospatial intelligence, the brand was able to focus on mobility and key roads/highways to drive extended reach and value. The geospatial analysis allowed the brand to identify areas with high concentrations of their target audience, enabling them to launch cookieless one-to-one digital campaigns in those areas without DOOH coverage, thereby sidestepping missed opportunities. This strategic approach showcases the power of geospatial intelligence in optimising OOH campaigns and maximising audience engagement.

(Credit: AMA Digital Media, JHB OOH mapped over key highways)

(Credit: AMA Digital Media, OOH Mapped over key Cape Town Roads)

• Finally, luxury brand conglomerate, LVMH, in collaboration with agency Publicis Media Luxe and media partner Taptap Digital, has implemented a DOOH strategy using Taptap Digital’s geospatial intelligence platform, Sonata Location Intelligence (Sonata LI). This approach combines heritage and quality with advanced technology in advertising. By leveraging audience and contextual data, the DOOH campaigns have successfully reached nearly four million users and realised over 600,000 playouts. Sonata LI enables targeted advertising, privacy protection, and synchronisation across multiple channels, resulting in increased engagement and viewer actions.

Taptap Digital is also developing advanced features such as DOOH visit attribution and real-time measurement of impression volume and population mobility to further enhance campaign performance. The collaboration between LVMH, Publicis Media Luxe, and Taptap Digital confirms the effectiveness of geospatial intelligence in driving performance and success in the luxury brand industry.

The future of MOOH and DOOH across Africa is promising, as evidenced by the growing adoption and effectiveness of geospatial intelligence. With the integration of advanced technology and data-driven strategies, advertisers can leverage geospatial intelligence to precisely target specific audiences, optimise campaigns, and drive business performance. This approach offers unprecedented opportunities for brands to reach their desired audience segments and to not only achieve but overshoot their campaign goals. As the African advertising landscape continues to evolve, the use of geospatial intelligence in MOOH and DOOH advertising will play a pivotal role in driving success and unlocking the region’s vast market potential.

Position your brand at the forefront of the advertising revolution by tapping into the immense potential of precise targeting, data-driven strategies, and optimised messaging. Contact us today and let geospatial intelligence propel your campaign performance in Africa’s abundant and lucrative market.