‘Quest for innovation creates Adpump’

The promoters of Adpump advertising model have said the quest for innovative way to doing things in the outdoor sector led the organisation into discovering the digital marketing platform, which is both technology and technical driven. Co-founder, S&T Media, Mr. Soji Ogundoyin said, “We are not the originators of this technology. We saw this technology in the states; it has been very successful there since 2006. When we came across the idea, we saw that it was a leach product that could cater for business owners as well as give bigger brands efficiency in advertising.”

And since the pilot test with OANDO, leading to having 17 to 20 locations in less than a year, the company, he said, has not looked back. But had there not been challenges? He said the fact that they rely on data and technology; there were issues in the beginning trying to make sure that they could remove content and updates anywhere across Lagos. “Within six months, we moved from five locations to 20 locations. We founded the company in 2014, and the pilot scheme came in August the same year, we piloted for six months just to ensure safety.”

On the organisation’s relationship with the outdoor advertising practitioners, he said there is no relationship between both parties, as they do not consider themselves an outdoor company. “We are a place based advertising company; we are only focused on private property where consumers interact with well-constructed structures. It is not like we are building a structure on the side of the road to start advertising to the general public. We are advertising to the private consumer in a retail space.”

Speaking further, Ogundoyin said that their interest is about democratizing advertising for small businesses. “If you were a small business owner in Lekki and you have a store in Lekki Phase 1, if you wanted to advertise with us with all the petrol stations around your area, it would be for much more affordable price than you would pay on a regular outdoor billboard. With us, we can reach the same number of people for a longer period of time, 30 seconds is what we offer to advertisers, whereas the billboard, you only have two seconds to view the message as you drive pass. So for a longer period of time, a captivated targeted audience for a cheaper price, this is what we are trying to push. You can say we are born out of necessity to allow smaller players have an impact in the outdoor market.”

Is the concentration of the Adpumps just in Lekki areas? He said that there are a lot of locations on the mainland; Isheri Berger, Yaba and Ijora with plans to have a network of locations across Lagos, so that advertisers can choose and pick where to be.

On the response from advertisers, he said there had been positive feedbacks, with big spenders signing up. It is a new product in Nigeria and because it is data driven, there is data that could be given to the consumer. “If I would be honest, it is easier to sell a bigger media billboard to a Chief Marketing Officer of a company than sell little billboards, though our platform may make more sense.”

Is Nigeria ready for this innovation? The Adpump boss said advertising budget is being cut as a result of shaky economy, but advertising spendings are being reignited. “What we are hoping for is that advertisers would be able to look at our platform reminisce the potential in meeting a captivated and engaged viewer.”

To get content for its platforms, he said they have very strong agreements with Channels television, pulse.ng, and other major content partners, who provide them contents everyday.

Speaking on the projection of the company in the next five years, Ogundoyin said that the plan is to see Adpump on every major pump and every major city in Nigeria, developing a network system where anywhere in Nigeria; an adpump signature would be seen.