Compliments of the season! We trust 2016 has been a successful and productive year for your company. All of us at DU opensource wish your company Merry Christmas and a Prosperous 2017.

Choosing the right supplier involves much more than scanning a series of price lists. Your choice will depend on a wide range of factors such as value for money, experience, quality, reliability and service delivery.

How you weigh up the importance of these different factors will be based on your business’ priorities and strategy.

The most effective suppliers are those who offer products or services that match – or exceed – the needs of your business. So when you are looking for suppliers, it’s best to be sure of your business needs and what you want to achieve by buying, rather than simply paying for what suppliers want to sell you.

In outdoor advertising industry, advertisers or media independent agencies care about service delivery. In Nigeria, it is a common knowledge that 60% campaigns are delivered behind schedules. Outdoor advertising agencies work mostly under pressure with short deadlines to deliver campaigns with proof of posting.

The items on the following check-list are necessary when choosing an outdoor media agency:

Manpower

Without adequate manpower and logistics, an outdoor media agency will find it difficult to deliver campaign with or without deadlines. The operations team must be experienced, knowledgeable in outdoor business and proactive. Admitted that sometimes delays may be a third party issue but that’s not an excuse for your client. That’s reporting your weakness and incompetence. The operation unit have to be staffed with the right and knowledgeable field operatives with the right working tools to get the job done and delivered ahead of deadlines. Jobs delivered ahead of schedules within prescribed specifications helps boost organisation’s image, reputation and a possibility for repeat buy.

Monitoring & Proof of performance

Monitoring and proof of performance are essential aspects of outdoor advertising business. Media Independent agencies insists on a specific standard for photo updates from OOH media agencies. Again, adequate manpower plays an important role in site monitoring, collation and submission of pictures updates since they are done manually.

Reliability

The peace of mind of knowing you are working with a reliable supplier relief your client the anxiety and headache associated with disappointments. Clients loves to work with reliable media partners or suppliers with a proof of track records of past projects. A recommendation letter from your old clients isn’t a bad idea. It will clear the doubts your clients might have about your capability.

Quality

The quality of service delivery needs to be consistent and continually improved. The memory of a poor and bad workman is very difficult to erase. As an entrepreneur, always insist on quality service delivery. Clients associate poor quality of service with the head or owner of the company. That could mean the end of a business relationship with your client.

Value for money

The lowest price is not always the best value for money. If you want quality service, prompt delivery and a touch of excellence from your suppliers, you’ll have to decide how much you’re willing to pay and pay at the agreed time.

Honour your contract payment terms promptly. If payment is uncertain on the agreed date communicate to your supplier promptly so he can plan. Supplier has fixed and unfixed financial obligations and overhead costs running simultaneously. They deal with vendors too and some vendors’ services or products are cash and carry. When a client fails to pay at the agreed time the effect spread across business operations and most times delays delivery.  It’s not enough to dish out a check-list of a must accomplish in your contract papers. It difficult to expect quality and timely service without prompt payment. Some customers aren’t worth the headache! They push suppliers to do more for less and sometimes without prepayment. Once a supplier says yes, he’s locked himself into a downward spiral.

Financial security

It’s always worth making sure your supplier has sufficiently strong cash flow to deliver what you want, when you need it. A credit check will help reassure you that they won’t go out of business when you need them most.

Reach More Gain More with Bus Seat Advertising

Bus Seat Advertising is a campaign banner place on the back of a passenger seat. It speaks directly to passengers with long and undivided attention. It delivers your message directly to strategic audience in an atmosphere of comfort devoid of distraction.

Brand gain a convincing mindshare with unadulterated ad displays at eye-level. It is a perfect campaign-support that extends your brand’s visibility and buzz to more areas.

With an average of 40 minutes or more for a full trip, brands has undivided attention of passengers to connect and engage them with Call-to-Action ad messages.

Your campaign reaches both commuters and passengers simultaneously. Longer reach and longer viewing time means longer mileage for your advertising spend.

Bus seat advertising is offered for free to clients running transit campaign with DU opensource.

FEATURES

Daily Average Passenger Traffic:  70 Passengers, seating and standing combined

8 Round Trips/10 Buses

5,600 impression at peak.

Format/Layout:                Compact Portrait/Landscape

Possition:                            Back-seat

Dimension:                         2X1 Portrait or 2x3ft landscape

• OTS (Opportunity To See)
• Frequency: Repetitive exposure over 8 round/return trips for OTS impact
• Reach: Target maximum number of passengers onboard
• Routes: Ketu-Ojota-Ikorodu Rd-Surulere-Outer Marina-CMS,
• Ikeja, Alausa, Agege, Pen Cinema, Ogba and Iyana Ipaja
• Viewing Impact: `Direct & uninterrupted exposure
• Cost inclusive of rental, printing, pasting & maintenance
• Less maintenance, maximum exposure, guaranteed ROI
• Distinct, delivers more impact.
• Affordable and cost effective medium for low budget advertisers
• Safe display material through–out campaign period,
• Suitable for product launch, promotions and change of product name

DUopensource is a start-up outdoor advertising media agency managed by young and savvy minds. Our vision is to build innovative OOH media solutions that guaranty Return on Investment for advertisers. Over the years we have been working with different category of brands and advertisers and have successfully delivered their campaign objectives. These results have kept us in business since 2008 till date. Feel free to contact us any time at 01-3427023 or send us an email at enquiries@duopensource.com

Thanks once again for your time and consideration as we look forward to speaking with you soon.

Wouldn’t you rather advertise with us?

Click here to learn more about the Advertise Now and Pay Later service or talk to a member of the DU opensource team for personalized quotations designed strictly for low budget advertisers by calling +234-1-342 7023 or Click Here to drop a message.

Join the discussion by connecting with us:
On Twitter: @DUopensource |
On Facebook: facebook.com/Duopensource |
On LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/du-opensource |
On BBM: C003C44CF

The Strategic Importance of Trust in Business

In the world of business today, trust is more important than ever, especially when it comes to relationships with clients, customers, employees and all stakeholders in your business.

But what do we mean by trust? Webster’s dictionary defines trust as the assured reliance on the character, ability, strength or truth of someone or something.

As an organisation, we firmly believe that trust is right at the foundation of the survival and success of any business. Without trust, there can be no sustainable business.

Trust is a strategically critical issue in any type of relationship because a relationship without trust is not really a relationship at all. Over the long term, business success is dependent upon a network of positive relationships.

Trust is invariably the critical component in enhancing business relationships. The moment an organisation is not trusted by a client, the chances for success within the company are dramatically diminished.

Business relationships that have been built on trust are an important sustainable competitive advantage because trust is so valuable and so rare.

There are certain components of trust that every client, customer or other stakeholder in your business looks for in doing business with you. There are several levels of trust.

 5 Levels of Trust

1. Technical competence and know-how. Clients and customers are looking for people or companies whose level of competence inspires trust. A statement such as “Just trust us or give us the benefit of doubt!” is woefully inadequate in today’s competition. There is an obligation and a duty for you/company to provide specific explanations that are clear and concise and not overly simplistic.
2. Ethical conduct and character. Your reputation and that of your company are paramount, and your honesty and integrity must be impeccable.
3. Interpersonal skills and relationship. You must ensure that your clients and customers believe that if they tell you something about themselves, their business or any sensitive information, you will handle it with the utmost respect and confidentiality.
4. Be transparent and open in your business relationship. A lack of transparency will make you much more vulnerable to damaging your business relationship. Avoid sharp practice, don’t cut corners. You receive referrals for more business once it is established you are transparent and open.
5. Be a “person of your word” and holding yourself accountable in all actions within your business relationships.

DUopensource is a start-up outdoor advertising media agency managed by young and savvy minds. Our vision is to build innovative OOH media solutions that guaranty Return on Investment for advertisers. Over the years we have been working with different category of brands and advertisers and have successfully delivered their campaign objectives. These results have kept us in business since 2008 till date. Feel free to contact us any time at 01-3427023 or send us an email at [email protected]

Thanks once again for your time and consideration as we look forward to speaking with you soon.

Wouldn’t you rather advertise with us?

Click here to learn more about the Advertise Now and Pay Later service or talk to a member of the DU opensource team for personalized quotations designed strictly for low budget advertisers by calling +234-1-342 7023 or Click Here to drop a message.

Join the discussion by connecting with us:
On Twitter: @DUopensource |
On Facebook: facebook.com/Duopensource |
On LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/du-opensource |
On BBM: C003C44CF

The Power of Transit Advertising 

Transit advertising is one of the most powerful methods of outdoor advertisement. Most of advertisers especially small businesses don’t know what exactly transit advertising is all about and how they can leverage on the benefits and advantages the medium offer.

Some years ago, our company proposed transit advertisement to a global payments technology company for one of its products in Nigeria. The company thought it was a nice idea and referred our marketing team to their media agency in Nigeria. After an inspiring and convincing presentations, we thought it was, we were told the product is a premium and niche product and do not consider transit media as a suitable communication platform for it. Regardless of the outcome, we still thanked them for the opportunity.

We knew a few things did not connect with our presentation, perhaps the decision maker did not see valuable reasons in our presentations to put the product campaign on transit buses, something they haven’t done before then or he wasn’t convinced with our value propositions. A few months later the same product campaign was on several mass transit buses virtually on all the major routes in Lagos metropolis. Though the project was eventually executed by another vendor, we were satisfied they finally bought the idea. Since then the product campaign has remained consistent on transit buses.

Some advertisers and media buyers deny their brands and clients the benefits of transit advertisement due to misconception about the platform. Some advertisers do not know where to buy, what it entails and what make a great transit advertising campaigns. Whose OOH agency has the requisite set skills and team to deliver impressive transit campaigns?  All of these questions will be answered in this article.

Let’s come to our first question of what actually is transit advertising? Transit advertising is an alternative outdoor advertising media installed on the body surface of mass transit buses. Although this site is a large format, it is advisable keep your copy simple. A bold message accompanied by a strong image and branding is the best way to gain maximum response. Light fonts can be hard to read.  If you do use a light font make sure there is a high contrast in colour with the background.

Transit advertisement campaign print is made of Self Adhesive Vinyl SAV. The SAV material is installed by a trained and experienced installer on the display areas of bus with the help of ad layout to avoid a mix-up.

Great Transit Advertising consist of high quality SAV print material for high quality output, final colour (original brand colour) , neat installation, smooth and dent free display area of bus and excellence supervision. Exceptional quality do not just happen, they are carefully designed and planned out so that nothing is left to chance and every variable is considered and calculated accordingly.

Transit advertisement traditionally offer brands the opportunity to advertise on city mass transit buses. It is a medium that reaches an economically active market through a high viewership frequency, making it an effective means of communication.

As media platforms evolve, transit media has really come into its own. While options for advertisers may have been underwhelming in years gone by, today’s industry is slick, creative and professional. This large mobile billboard goes where your audience goes, delivering exceptional impressions with unbeatable recall rate.

However, choosing the right OOH Company for your transit advertisement can seem like a daunting task. Attention to details, speed, careful planning and bottom-line value are core propositions of DU Opensource; which is why agencies like Starcom Media, Posterscope Nigeria, Universal McCann etc  and countless direct clients rely on us as their trusted Transit Media Partners TMP. Working with big brands and market leaders means paying extra attention to details.

Advantages of Transit Advertising

• Reaches high crowd density locations
• Generates valuable frequency
• Produces dynamic results
• Informs and influences
• Cost effective with higher ROI
• Ensures higher retention rate
• Increases visibility

DUopensource is a start-up outdoor advertising media agency managed by young and savvy minds. Our vision is to build innovative OOH media solutions that guaranty Return on Investment for advertisers. Over the years we have been working with different category of brands and advertisers and have successfully delivered their campaign objectives. These results have kept us in business since 2008 till date. Feel free to contact us any time at 01-3427023 or send us an email at [email protected]

Thanks once again for your time and consideration as we look forward to speaking with you soon.

So, wouldn’t you rather advertise with us?

Click here to learn more about the Advertise Now and Pay Later service or talk to a member of the DU opensource team for personalized quotations designed strictly for low budget advertisers by calling +234-1-342 7023 or Click Here to drop a message.

Join the discussion by connecting with us:
On Twitter: @DUopensource |
On Facebook: facebook.com/Duopensource |
On LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/du-opensource |
On BBM: C003C44CF

Positivity, Optimism and the Right Mindset

As an entrepreneur or employee, as we all know, there will be difficult days, hard times and stressful periods. Although it’s not easy to spot the silver linings, but having a positive attitude, optimism and the right mindset can help us overcome difficult times and emerge victorious.

Optimism is a trait that should become more common, judging by Winston Churchill’s famous quote that “a pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Optimism has been proven to improve the immune system, prevent chronic disease, and help people cope with unfortunate news. Gratitude is associated with optimism and has been determined that grateful people are happier, receive more social support, are less stressed, and are less depressed. Recent research indicates that optimists and pessimists approach problems differently, and their ability to cope successfully with adversity differs as a result.

Martin Seligman defines optimism as reacting to problems with a sense of confidence and high personal ability. Specifically, optimistic people believe that negative events are temporary, limited in scope (instead of pervading every aspect of a person’s life), and manageable. Of course, optimism, like other psychological states and characteristics, exists on a continuum. People can also change their levels of optimism depending on the situations they are in.

THE RIGHT MINDSET

Best-selling author, Rev. Chris Oyakhilome, D.Sc., D.D., President Believers’ LoveWorld Inc, (aka Christ Embassy) in his book The Power of Your Mind, says “who you are today is a function of your mind. Your personality is the expression of the contents and working of your mind. Why hold on to something that’s a connection to unhappiness? Did you know that negative thoughts could reconstruct your face and cause you to look older than you actually are? This is the reason some folks look ten years older than their age.

What you do with your mind is so important. Remember, you are the expression of your mind, and the quality of life you will live here on earth isn’t a function of your spirit but of the character of your mind. Your mind can make you poor or rich. It can place you on the pedestal of glory and greatness or dump you in the dust of suffering and shame”

Here are a few benefits optimism and positivity can bring, even in the face of adversity:

See Failure as a Challenge

Failure is not the end, in fact it is often the beginning of something great. When things are good, we coast along without making any quantum leaps. When things go bad, our world gets shaken up, which requires us to grow, see new things and start afresh.

Optimism allows us to learn from failures, pick up the pieces and move on to something greater. The greatest business ideas, and times in life, can be born from failure.

Be Expansive

Pessimism makes us contract and shy away from new or adventurous things. It causes us to fixate on the negative possibilities and be trapped by fear of failure.

Optimism, however, opens us up to new ideas, new experiences and new possibilities. It frees us up to consider new options and change our businesses, and lives, for the better. It helps us look to the future and create expansive, evolving realities.

Think Positive

Dwelling on negativity isn’t healthy. Not only are optimists generally happier and less stressed, but also they tend to have healthier hearts.

Focusing on the positive, instead of the negative, improves mental well-being, which can motivate individuals to take better care of their bodies, as well.

Spread Good Vibes

Optimism is contagious. Having an upbeat attitude can inspire everyone around us.

Attitude is everything. Optimistic leaders can help motivate and engage their employees. A positive team will be driven to accomplish goals and work together to move things forward.

It Is The Best Choice

There is no better alternative to optimism. Pessimism doesn’t achieve much, and doesn’t have any benefits over optimism. Being optimistic obviously doesn’t mean seeing rainbows 24-7 or walking on the red-carpet. Everything won’t always be great. But optimism helps us see new opportunities, learn from different situations, and keep moving. In life, movement and growth is essential, which optimism helps us achieve.

DUopensource is a start-up outdoor advertising media agency managed by young and savvy minds. Our vision is to build innovative OOH media solutions that guaranty Return on Investment for advertisers. Over the years we have been working with different category of brands and advertisers and have successfully delivered their campaign objectives. These results have kept us in business since 2008 till date. Feel free to contact us any time at 01-3427023 or send us an email at [email protected]

Thanks once again for your time and consideration as we look forward to speaking with you soon.

So, wouldn’t you rather advertise with us?

Click here to learn more about the Advertise Now and Pay Later service or talk to a member of the DU opensource team for personalized quotations designed strictly for low budget advertisers by calling +234-1-342 7023 or Click Here to drop a message.

Join the discussion by connecting with us:
On Twitter: @DUopensource |
On Facebook: facebook.com/Duopensource |
On LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/du-opensource |
On BBM: C003C44CF

Build Your Business Through Referrals

Referral selling is your biggest competitive differentiator! You score every meeting at the level that counts when you receive a referral introduction. Get in early, uncover problems, and your competition won’t know what hit them.

Since we are working with a variety of people from different industries and walks of life, we thought of checking if you would like to be part of our referral team.

The primary objective of this team is to support each other and assist when we can in sharing referrals and new opportunities to build our businesses. Each member becomes a resource for every other member, not only for providing new prospects but a resource for all our clients who might need or have an interest in our services.

If you feel that your services are in alignment with our ideal advertisers and vice versa, we’d be happy to talk with you so that we can learn more about your business and how you would want us to send you the referrals we generate for you. And if you come across someone who is interested in any of the benefits we offer, we would be happy to spend some time talking with them to see if our service is a good fit for them.

We have enclosed several communication channels. Please share these with anyone you want and feels would be interested. Most of all, please let us know how we can assist you! Feel free to contact us any time at 01-3427023 or send us an email at enquiries@duopensource.com

DUopensource is a start-up outdoor advertising media agency managed by young and savvy minds. Our vision is to build innovative OOH media solutions that guaranty Return on Investment for advertisers. Over the years we have been working with different category of brands and advertisers and have successfully delivered their campaign objectives. These results have kept us in business since 2008 till date.

Thanks once again for your time and consideration as we look forward to speaking with you soon.

So, wouldn’t you rather advertise with us?

Click here to learn more about the Advertise Now and Pay Later service or talk to a member of the DU opensource team for personalized quotations designed strictly for low budget advertisers by calling +234-1-342 7023 or Click Here to drop a message.

Join the discussion by connecting with us:
On Twitter: @DUopensource |
On Facebook: facebook.com/Duopensource |
On LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/du-opensource |
On BBM: C003C44CF

Economies and businesses the world over are facing several challenging times including Nigeria. Retail, manufacturing and service industries are complaining of huge drop in footfalls, sales and orders. Others are fighting each other to grab the few buyers still left in the market with declining purchasing power and lack of interest in buying new apartments is forcing cash-strapped real-estate developers to delay projects. 90% of outdoor media spaces are without campaign. Sales teams in many organizations and facing an uncertain future due to steep fall in performance.

Most corporate buyers and individual consumers are buying just the essentials and avoiding non-critical purchases in this inflationary and unpredictable scenario.

So, how does one sell in such difficult times? Is there a game-plan to beat the recessionary trends in the market?

Never Lose Sight of Your Best Customers 

In the booming market companies often ignored customers because there were enough buyers in the market. Service quality was poor. But in a recession suppliers and service providers need to pull up their socks and improve their performance. It’s important to listen to what your customers and consumers are saying, especially your biggest and most loyal customers, and serve them better. Retain your best accounts and you will have a steady revenue base to build upon. Downturns are good times to run loyalty programs that give your customers extra benefits and you additional business – try buy one-get-one free program.

Meet More Customers 

Yes, it’s time for everyone in the organization to leave their chairs and go in search of buyers. Make more visits, see more prospects and make your products more visible. Everyone in the organization should operate in the Selling mode – train non-Sales employees on your product portfolio and tell them to get leads for your Sales Team.

Be Seen As an Essential 

Can you develop themes that make your products/services indispensable? Can your offerings become part of your customer’s list of essentials?

Find Alternate Channel – Co-Selling Model 

This is not the time to stick to status quo sales strategy. It’s time to try new things, new sales methods to reach as many prospects as possible. It may be smart to find other ways to sell your product. You can work out a deal with another business to promote your products. The Internet is now available as a smart, low-cost way to reach more customers. What is your net-strategy? How good is your presence on the Internet?

It’s true that the economic scenario is bleak – but it’s not as if customers have disappeared, they have only become harder to find. You need to widen your net to catch them. Stick to basics! Economic downturns are good times to recalibrate your business objectives and to test your strengths. Improve your Sales Strategy and sharpen the skills of Sales Team because it’s in such times that you need them to perform at the highest potential.

At DU opensource, more than ever before, we deliver speed and value to the bottom-line conscious in our renewed approach to service delivery. Paucity of funds in the economy demand increased value and bottom-line from buyers and sellers alike.

Understanding our clients’ deepest felt needs is now a top priority for us and key to understanding the value of what we have to offer.

We have embraced a mindset to relentlessly pursue new opportunities, open to new ideas and become experts on what advertisers need and want.
So, wouldn’t you rather advertise with us?

Click here to learn more about the Advertise Now and Pay Later service or talk to a member of the DU opensource team for personalized quotations designed strictly for low budget advertisers by calling +234-1-342 7023 or Click Here to drop a message.

Join the discussion by connecting with us:
On Twitter: @DUopensource |
On Facebook: facebook.com/Duopensource |
On LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/du-opensource |
On BBM: C003C44CF

As a forward thinking out-of-home (OOH) agency we have been following and monitoring economic and business developments in Nigeria closely. We have adapted new service measures to meet advertisers’ needs with lean resources.

The current economic situation in Nigeria provides SMEs with new opportunities in so many areas. During this season, we have had to pause; reviewed, retooled and repositioned our team and service lines to effectively and efficiently deliver unmatched OOH media services that resonates with the needs and costs of advertisers. We believe this is the way to go right now as companies big and small embrace the tough times.

Regardless of how bad the economy may seem, people still buy and sell. Advertisers still have needs to fill, and DU opensource has got products and services that meet those needs. Our renewed pledge means delivering more impressions, visibility, mileage and value for every kobo spent on OOH media with us.

Our direct partnership with media owners gives us unrestricted access to new and refurbished mass transit buses for transit advertising without trip disruptions, distorted or tattered ads. The partnership translates into 30 percent increase in impressions and visibility reaching over 95% of busy on-the-go consumers who now rely mostly on public transports for their daily commuting. An added value for brands and advertisers!

Recent findings show an upward surge in passengers commuting by public transports in major commercial cities nationwide due to the recent hike in fuel pump price. A lot of people now prefer public transports instead of driving frequently to cut costs and mitigate the biting economic crunch.

The rise in passengers using public transportation means more impressions and increased visibility for brands using the medium for advertising. The benefits and ROI are overwhelming. Obviously the benefits outweighs the cost much less compared to other forms of OOH media. As the economy bites harder and advertisers are cutting advertising budget it is only logical to invest in result oriented and measurable OOH media.

Gigantic and iconic media assets are less fancied at the moment due to their premium price tags except for a few “big” brands for strategic reasons. Spectacular billboards, 48 sheets, rooftops, transit media (bus branding) and lamp poles etc. in strategic locations is the way forward for brands with shrinking advertising budget if they must play in the OOH space- where the real game is to remain top on consumer minds.

More than ever before, we deliver speed and value to the bottom-line conscious in our renewed approach to service delivery. Paucity of funds in the economy demand increased value and bottom-line from buyers and sellers alike. Prompt payment by advertisers will encourage OOH companies to focus more on delivering value for their clients.

Understanding our clients’ deepest felt needs is now a top priority for us and key to understanding the value of what we have to offer.

We have embraced a mindset to relentlessly pursue new opportunities, open to new ideas and become experts on what advertisers need and want.
So, wouldn’t you rather advertise with us?

Click here to learn more about the Advertise Now and Pay Later service or talk to a member of the DU opensource team for personalized quotations designed strictly for low budget advertisers by calling +234-1-342 7023 or Click Here to drop a message.

Join the discussion by connecting with us:
On Twitter: @DUopensource |
On Facebook: facebook.com/Duopensource |
On LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/du-opensource |
On BBM: C003C44CF

Nigeria’s economy in the last one year has recorded many firsts in several areas. The country’s foreign reserves have fallen to less than $27 billion, the lowest since 2005. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects economic growth of 2.3 percent this year, the weakest in a decade. Inflation jumped to 12.8 percent in March, while the unemployment rate entered double digits of 10.4 percent.  The output and result are the massive job losses being recorded on daily basis while the labour market continues to soar with unemployed Nigerians. The percentage of poor Nigerians continue to rise steadily.

Businesses, big and small are groaning under economic crunch and losses.  Outdoor advertising practitioners for instance appear to be the worst hit. Practitioners has been going through excruciating and unbearable experiences for sometime. The practitioners under the aegis of Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) among other things decried the inability of member companies and clients to access foreign exchange to bring in raw materials for production. President of the Association, Babtunde Adedoyin complained of high rate of charges by states on both redundant and occupied billboards. 70 percent of our billboards are redundant nationwide, he said.

Clients are cutting budgets. Some are not sure of what they want to do this year and some can’t even access foreign exchange to bring in raw material. Adedoyin also noted that the present economic situation is forcing clients to cut their advertising budget which has taken toll on the member companies.

The slow pace of the economy was partly blamed on the delay in signing the 2016 budget into law.

The budget was finally signed on 6^th May, 2016 by President Buhari. “The signing of the budget today will trigger concerted efforts to reflate the Nigerian economy, a key element of which is an immediate injection of N350bn into the economy by way of capital projects. To illustrate our renewed commitment to infrastructural development, the 2016 budget allocates over N200bn to road construction as against a paltry N18bn allocated for same purpose in the 2015 budget” stated President Buhari.

NIGERIAN STOCK EXCHANGE
Meanwhile the news that the President has signed the 2016 into law buoyed activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with the market indices growing by 0.54 per cent after declining for two consecutive days. The Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) main index has lost 10.75 percent this year, the worst among regional peers.

Beyond signing the 2016 budget into law, Nigeria needs urgent policy adjustment to deal with external and domestic shocks, according to the IMF.

“There is a need to promote fiscal sustainability. Reduce external imbalances, safeguard resilience and enhance financial system efficiency. Nigeria needs to improve competitiveness through structural reforms and infrastructure investment,” the IMF said in a May 2016 report.”

What are your thoughts on the state of the economy?

Join the discussion by connecting with us:
On Twitter: @DUopensource |
On Facebook: facebook.com/Duopensource |
On LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/du-opensource |
On BBM: C003C44CF

Whether you’re a startup or an established company, adding an out-of-home (OOH) advertising element to your marketing and communication campaign activities is a smart move. However, choosing the right OOH Company for your business can seem like a daunting task. To make the process easier, we’ve compiled 5 questions you should ask when looking to hire an OOH agency:

1. What industries do you work in?

Every industry is different. You want to make sure that the OOH Company you go with understands your industry and the demographic you are trying to attract. Going with an agency that has experience in your industry means less time will be spent learning your business and more time will be spent executing your campaigns. It also reduces the occurrence of mistakes.

2.  How do you report our growth?

As simple as it sounds, this question is rarely asked. Reporting is vital to understanding the progress (or otherwise) of any advertising campaign. You will want to make sure that the OOH company you choose sets up monthly or weekly “check ins” to report “Proof of Performance” on the status of each campaign. While this might seem time consuming, it is necessary. These reports will show you exactly what is working and what isn’t so that you know the true value that the OOH Company you hired is providing.

3. Who will manage our account?

Structure is very important in any client-agency relationship. The OOH agency you choose should have a dedicated team lead that manages your account. That way, you, as the client, would not need to call multiple people to get answers.

This person is usually called the Account Manager or Client Service Executive (CSE). He/she will be the person interfacing with the client on behalf of the OOH agency and the team. It is the responsibility of the CSE to maintain and improve relationship between the client and the OOH agency. This makes communication between both parties as efficient as possible.

4. Can they show us how their work has helped other brands to grow?”

It is usually standard to ask for case studies or job references when choosing an OOH company. However, you should take that another step by asking the OOH Company to walk you through their entire process and their media assets, state or national permit to practice or manage outdoor advertising agency. Reputable OOH agencies with exceptional track records of results won’t hesitate to show you how they have helped brands (#DUBrandStories) increase their market share.

5. Are they professionals or Quacks?

Too often, you find advertisers who make hasty selections of media vendors or suppliers without conducting background checks. Nothing can be as disastrous or embarrassing as discovering you have been dealing with an incompetent OOH company whose poor performances only become obvious at a later stage.  Below are a few documents to be on the lookout for to determine the competency of the agency:

1. CAC Registration
2. APCON certificate of C-level management staff
3. Active member of OAAN
4. State permit issued by State Signage and Advertising Agencies ( State regulators of outdoor advertising practice)
5. Known physical office address and key personnel contact details
6. Media assets own and manage by the agency..
7. Audited financial reports and tax clearance certificates as a responsible OOH agency.

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