Our new digital OOH concept targets everyone it can reach, says Andem, Iris Exposures
Schola Andem is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Iris Exposures, a subsidiary of SO&U. In this exclusive interview with MARKETING EDGE, Andem discusses her agency’s new digital out-of-home concept and target audience. She also reveals reasons why the OOH concept is stationed at premium locations such as the airport and lounges.
What informed your new digital OOH concept?
Iris Exposures is primarily positioned for the outdoor and out-of-home market. Iris Exposures is the youngest company within the SO& U Group and beyond offering outdoor advertising services, we want to be known for innovative and high tech ambient marketing services – and of course, make money while doing this. Within the SO&U Group, there are several companies including the flagship advertising business, SO&U Limited, Maxi Media, SoulCOMMS, Lucid and Virus. Iris Exposures is the group’s effort to also capture the teeming opportunities within the Outdoor Advertising space.
But we did not start this abruptly. Earlier in the year, for instance, we hosted a drive-in-movie night at the airport in Ikeja. This was done in partnership with Silverbird and Pepsi. It was a pilot run and was a very successful event. We were able to leverage the concession we currently have for the rooftop on the car park building of MMA 2 and created a thrilling experience of watching a movie on a large screen straight from your car parked on this rooftop at night. As a pilot runner, there was a drive-in-movie night. We were in partnership with Silverbird and Pepsi that night. It was really interesting. Despite the short notice and a quick two-day campaign, a lot of people turned up. We have so many other ideas and experiences planned for that location next year.
Who is your target audience?
We have a very wide target audience and that includes pretty much everyone who can be reached by any out-of-home advertising platform. Our first project, which is the Retina LED Board at the airport, specifically caters to a more premium market. We have clients the likes of oil and gas companies and Financial Institutions. You can tell the kind of target audience they may want to reach. For anybody to get into that space, you must be flying, meaning you must be on some certain level of comfort to be flying often to see the campaigns that run on the board.
But, it doesn’t mean our targets are just premium customers, because eventually, we will establish other locations that will reach out to a broader audience. So, it’s really the target market for every outdoor and ambient marketing. For ambient marketing, for instance, where we already have concession for the rooftop – it could target anybody. It could target SME brands. It depends on what brand is using the space for and who the target market is. So, it’s basically everybody we can reach through our platforms.
Why the choice of premium locations like the airports and lounges?
Like I mentioned earlier, premium boards aren’t all we focus on. That’s what we decided to start with. We decided to start with this as a statement of our brand’s intention to be innovative, bold and offer something fresh and unique to the Outdoor business in Nigeria.
The departure lounge was an interesting catch for us to launch with because people stay longer there. At the airport, people wait for an average of two hours. While some passengers come in and rush off, most flights are usually delayed majority of the time, or passengers simply arrive early. And even if your flight is not delayed and you have to sit, usually people like to get to the airport ahead of time and rest before boarding.
So, that period of waiting, some get agitated and restless. Not everybody goes on their phone to watch something. People look around a lot. But the screen is in your face, even from the VIP of premium lounge. Reaching the premium lounge and everybody else was a good bonus for us. After this, we can move on to outside the terminal and other locations across Nigeria, by God’s grace.
You should look forward to other initiatives we will be introducing next year. By God’s grace, we intend to bring in more creativity into the Outdoor space.
Are these location choices exclusive to premium brand or is it open to all brands?
It is open to all brands and this is its first time in such location. We do not intend to be overly expensive, and we’re not cheap because it’s premium. But, at the same time, we’re selling in such a way that everyone can be part of this even if they’re not in the class A kind of brand (I’m not saying any brand is lesser than another). But, realistically, we have all sorts of industry and different levels of brands.
We want to bring the kind of out-of-home services that everyone can be part of across every level of industry, brands – we’re out for everyone. So, even if you’ve never been on a billboard, you can experience what it is like to be on a billboard. Very soon, we will introduce new projects that will provide smaller brands with the opportunity to be on such platforms where they’re more visible to their target market.
Is it running as an independent initiative of a new subsidiary company or is it under SO&U?
Iris Exposures is operating under SO&U. SO&U is a group and we’re a subsidiary of the group.
Basically, we intend to bring excitement and excellence that SO&U is known for into the out-of-home experience. We refused to be the usual. Outdoor is outdoor and it is exciting. For me, outdoor reaches more people than any other platform. Everybody has their opinion, but I believe, to a large extent, people go out of their houses every day, drive through certain routes every day. So, you get to see campaigns on billboards in traffic, whether you like it or not. Subconsciously, it stays in your mind.
Iris Exposures intends to bring into the out-of-home business the much-needed excitement and to make the industry more interesting. This way, we will help brands and their campaigns stay in the minds of their target audience for much longer.
About Schola Andem
Schola possesses a strong background in Branding, Public Relations, Advertising, and Sales. She has worked across a spread of major industries both at operational and managerial levels, presenting over a decade worth of experience
She graduated from the Lagos State University (LASU) with a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication. Schola has a knack for driving the overall financial performance of an entire business, be it growing the business afresh or rebranding it. She balances this with creating and implementing overall brand strategy, ensuring the business enjoys the right perception in ways that enhance marketplace performance. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria.
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